Although camping trips can prove to be a hassle, they offer numerous benefits too. Such trips help you in getting a break from the monotonous routine life and, at the same time, allow you to explore different locations and things. Moreover, you will get to spend quality time with your family as well, which is great for family bonding. To prevent the children from getting bored on camping trips, it is always good to plan some fun summer camp activities that you can enjoy with them. This guide offers some summer camp ideas that you can use for making your camping trip more enjoyable.
Summer Camp Ideas
1. Campfire
Building campfire is a fun activity that children love doing while on a camping trip. Not only does it give them a chance to learn a great survival skill, it also sparks their imagination and gets them hooked.
2. Playing Ball
Playing with a ball of any kind can also provide a great deal of fun on a camping trip. You can pack any type of ball for this purpose or even a Frisbee. But make sure that the child does not go around chasing the ball if it goes in an area where there is chance of snakes’ being present.
3. Canoeing
Canoeing is also a fun activity that can be used to entertain the kids during a camping trip. Make sure that the canoe you are riding in has ample space available for the kids and that your family members are wearing life jackets.
4. Camping Games
Camping games can prove to be ideal for getting the whole family involved. They can help you in getting your family out in the open and indulge in an activity that is both healthy and entertaining.
Scavenger Hunt. As you are out in the open, going on a scavenger hunt is a great camping game that you can play along with your family. Select and hide items for your scavenger hunt from the environment around you and start searching for them. The treasures can range from particularly colored rocks to oddly shaped leaves.
The Alphabet Game. An alphabet game can also prove to be quite entertaining for kids while on a camping trip. The idea behind the game is to locate an object whose name starts with a certain alphabet in the surrounding areas of the camp.Ask the kids to collect objects starting from A-Z in alphabetical order.
Duck Duck Goose. Duck Duck Goose is one of the popular camping games that children love playing around the campfire. The game involves people sitting around the campfire in a circle. One of the family members has to pick someone sitting in the circle and make him the goose by taping gently on his head. The goose then has to try and catch the person before he reaches the empty spot where he sits before.
Stump. “Stump” is a camp version of tug-of-war and is one of the classics when it comes to camping games. The game involves two players standing around 10-12 feet from one another on milk crates, who have to force each other to fall of the crate that he is standing on. This game is as much about strategy as it is about strength.
5. Camping Food
Cooking food that involves the entire family can have many advantages. First of all, it is a lot of fun; secondly, it speeds up the cooking process. With all the family making the food, it is sure to taste good too. The following are some foods that you can try on your camping trip.
S’mores. An easy recipe for camping trips that even children can make is S’mores. All you have to do is to have hot chocolate sauce and graham crackers in crushed form in two separate plates. Now roast the marshmallows on the campfire and enjoy them after dipping them in the chocolate and the crackers.
Grilled Nachos. Grilled nachos are an excellent camp meal that young children can easily prepare as well. To make this dish, you will have to have tortilla chips placed in an aluminum foil. Now ask the kids to add whatever ingredients they want on the tortilla chips and then place it near the grill after converting the foil into a pouch by folding its corners. Let it cook for a period of 10 minutes and then enjoy.
Pizzas. Making pizza at campfires can be made relatively easy by using pre-made pizza crust that is readily available in the market. You can try making any type of pizza at camp using the pre-made pizza crust.
6. Art and Crafts
The Camp Jar. To make the summer camp a memorable one for you, ask your kids to collect the objects they can find in and around their camp. Stack these objects into a jar and tag it with the name of the place that you go for your camping trip. This glass jar could become a reminder for you of the fun you have and the objects you see on your camping trip.
Rock Mushrooms. Making rock mushrooms is a great activity to perform on camping trips for kids. Ask the children to collect smooth rocks having flat surfaces for making the mushrooms and then paint them red. Now add some dots to the tops of the mushrooms with white paint before gluing the tops and the stems together.
7. Story Time
Story telling is one of amazingly fun summer camp ideas that most families enjoy a lot. The time for story telling is mostly after sunset when the whole family is present around the campfire. The story can either be related to ghosts, a mystery, or the family history. One can also go for chain stories as well, in which one member of the family has to create a fictional story and the others have to continue telling it in their own way.