Camping can be a fun and inexpensive way to enjoy time with family members and friends, whether you hit a large campground or set up a tent in the backyard. Along with relaxing by the campfire and roasting marshmallows, games are also a traditional part of camping culture. Playing games can liven the camping spirit and create a successful camping experience.
Family games for camping trips
Campfire Stories
You can include every camper in storytime. As you’re sitting by the fire, have one person begin a story. After a few lines, the first narrator stops and touches the person to his right. That person picks up where the last person stopped, and so on, until all the campers have had a turn. Stories can be scary, funny or dramatic.
Cobbler Cobbler
Cobbler Cobbler is ideal for small children and families. First, have campers sit in a circle and repeat the song: “Cobbler, Cobbler, where’s my shoe? Have it ready by half past two. If by half past two it can’t be done, have it ready by half past one.” Then one camper takes off her shoe or another object and passes it from behind her back around the circle. Each person passes the shoe to the next person while one camper sits in the middle of the group with eyes closed. After singing the song through once, the shoe stops in the circle. The middle camper then tries to guess where the shoe has stopped. She is released from the middle if she chooses correctly, and someone else is called to guess.
Bump in the Night
This game works better at nightfall with four or more people. Take a flashlight and designate one person as a curator while another is a visitor. Everyone else plays a statue. Keep all lanterns and lights off for full effect. Statues move through the darkness but must be quiet. The curator shines his flashlight as he and the visitor walk around, trying to find statues moving. If a statue is noticed moving or talking, he becomes a visitor and joins the curator in eliminating other statues.
Hiking Fun
Go on a scavenger hunt hike. Have one camp member list items for which the group should look. These objects can be anything, such as a certain tree, animal tracks or a specific plant. As campers hike, have them scratch each item they see on their list. When you return to camp, review each person’s list to see who found the most scavenger hunt items. Another fun object to search for is animal evidence. Have each camper make a note of animal tracks and attempt to guess what type of animal made the footprints.
Campfire Theater
Gather everyone together for drama and laughter with a game of Campfire Theater. Pack a “mystery” box of random items before leaving on your camping trip. Include various objects such as shoes, string, wigs, costumes and hats. Then divide campers into two or more groups and ask each to devise a skit using every item in the box. Give each group a time limit to put their skit together. Have one camper stay out of the contest to be the judge of the best skit.
Eye Spy Mother Nature
Eye Spy Mother Nature is a simple observation and detection game requiring minimal preparation. Before embarking on a camping trip, create a short list of the plants, trees and animals you’ll likely spot at the campground, along with a photograph of each species. Once at the campgrounds, challenge the children to find as many items on the list as they can around their individual campsite. The list can also be used to turn family hikes into mini-adventures as they can take the walk to discover any missing items on the list. This game is also helpful in teaching children which plant life they should avoid, such as poison ivy.
Sing-Along Challenge
The campfire sing-along can be modified into a quick wit and memory game. Challenge children to “string” songs together by identifying songs that share similarities, such as a word, an animal or an object. For example, if the first song sung is “The Bear Went Over the Mountain,” the child might suggest singing “The Other Day I Met a Bear.” Another variation for teens requires them to come up with songs performed by the same artist, such as The Beatles.
Story-Go-Round
Challenge kids going through technology withdrawal to invent their own “episode” or “game level” during the Story-Go-Round game. The first player begins telling a story until the game’s “narrator” says stop. The next player then picks up right where the first left off, adding her own voice to the unfolding story. To keep bickering at a minimum, two simple rules should be followed: A storyteller must not alter the unfolding story in a way that disrespects the story or his fellow storytellers; a storyteller may not say “No” or “That’s not what happens,” to one another in an attempt to control the direction of the story when it is not her turn.
Keeping kids entertained on a camping holiday without access to video games and television can be challenging. While most campgrounds provide a plethora of family activities in the form of swimming, boating, hiking, and fishing, the savvy camping parent comes prepared with a few interactive family games for camping trips to play together. A game of online free hearts should keep them occupied and engaged if nothing else works.
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