7 Fun Things to Do While Camping with Kids

Camping can be an excellent way to take short trips or short vacations and get back to your roots.

When children come along, it can be a whole new ball game. Camping can still be great, but there are many more things to ponder over.

From the best camping tents which fit a family’s needs to the recreation activities. To make any camping trip fun does need plenty of thought.

More than enough beginners’ camping guide articles are dotted around, but some friendly advice and tips on making the most fun when kids are tagging along won’t hurt.

Camping with Kids

Pre-Planning Your Fun Camping Trip

This can be a crucial stage in making your camping trip a success. Although you now need two lists to make sure you have covered all the angles and haven’t forgotten anything.

You might have your gear list well and truly sewn up, and you can pack your camping gear with your eyes closed.

Now you have your camping with kid’s checklist, and this will be very different.

  • Comfortable sleeping gear
  • Dry clothes
  • Toys to take
  • Snacks to take – for the journey and while at the site

This is a brief example of things to tick off, and it can vary considerably depending on your child’s needs and age.

Keeping Children Occupied When Campingcamping trip

It doesn’t matter at what stage your trip is. Keeping children occupied and happy is easier said than done. There are fun things to bring camping that they will ask for or hope they will enjoy.

Here are some ideas you can think about to keep children occupied without resorting to board games or the toys that are packed away in the vehicle’s trunk waiting for that rainy spell.

Geocaching

This can be fun for all the family and is a fantastic way to get the kids away from the campsite and do some exploration.

This involves individuals from around the world who build a hiding place and stash a cache for people to find with the help of a GPS location device.

Apps are available for most cell phones, so locating these hidden treasures should not be a problem.

This is one of the camping activities for kids, which makes them feel like they are on a real-life treasure hunt. (Read How To Power CPAP Machine While Camping)
Just be sure to replace the cache with something you or your kids want to leave once you have located one.

Kid-Friendly Camping Games

There are plenty of camping games for kids that can pass the time away. These can include any of the following:

  • Scavenger Hunts
  • Camping Olympics
  • Glow-in-the-dark Ring Toss
  • Camping Charades
  • Obstacle Course

These not only keep them occupied, but they also take their mind off their gadgets for a few hours each day.

Hitting the Water

After countless hours of swimming, another way to occupy the kids is boating, but not sailing. Kayaking can be one of the best ways to introduce your kids to the wonders of nature. Once they have donned their PFD, they are ready for action.

Kayaking with kidsIf you are looking at kayaking as a long-term pastime, you can choose from any kayak brands that offer tandem kayaks .

These are great when your child is younger and too small to venture out independently. (Find the Best Youth Kayaks)

FishingFishing with kids

If you are close to a stretch of water, you can take the chance of teaching your kids how to fish. It might appear a little dull. However, once you explain they are fishing for dinner, it might make them more interested.

From baiting their hook with wriggly works or making sure not to harpoon mom with a hook while casting. There is plenty of things for them to think about other than sitting on a large boulder at the side of the water.

Bouldering

This will all depend on the location of your campsite. This is rock climbing for toddlers and without the need for a harness. With smaller outcrops of rocks, for the smaller kids, these will appear like real mountains. (Learn About Indoor Propane Stoves For Cooking)

It is safe with maybe an odd scrape of their knees and will help build strength and learning as they scale those dizzying heights. This, along with kayaking, can be a pastime your kids can enjoy well into their older years.

Bird Watching and Finding Flora

These are activities that get your kid involved with nature, from finding and identifying flowers with a magnifying glass and birds through a pair of binoculars.

Be ready for an onslaught of posing questions as their inquisitive minds run into overdrive.

Night Time Activities

When the sun sets, there are still plenty of hours where your kids need to be entertained. Luckily, many things can be done at night and can be as much fun as daytime activities.

A few ideas might center on the campfire, and this in itself can be an excellent activity for kids to be involved in. A good campfire will need plenty of dry wood to keep it going for a few hours, especially if you use it for cooking dinner.

Once it has been built safely and is roaring away, the things you can do at night are as follows:

  • Telling Stories around the campfire
  • Cooking S’more’s – an old favorite
  • Singing – don’t forget the guitar
  • Stargazing – after a large fish dinner, your kid caught
  • Night-walking – might scare younger kids

As you can see, there are plenty of fun things to do while camping and this list is a tiny portion of everything you can do to make the entire trip action-packed and fulfilling for little minds.

Your kids will quickly find the activities they enjoy the most and the ones they want to keep coming back to regularly.

Camping is excellent because you can do it at almost any time of the year, and the things your kids see and experience will change as much as the months do.

7 Fun Things to Do While Camping with Kids

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