There are many activities to satisfy your child’s imagination while camping, as the outdoors is considered one giant playground. We all know fishing, swimming, rock climbing and making “mud pies” are no brainers for entertaining your child. Trust me, they’ve worked out those activities the second you drove into your campground. However, what if you want to do something different? Maybe introduce another activity that you could join in and share some bonding time with your kid(s).
Below is my list of camping activities for kids that I tried and tested when I was a kid. Now I’m older, my sister and I continue to pass on our experiences to the younger family members. They love them as much as we did!
This list is about having as much fun in your natural landscape as possible. By all means you can bring toys, balls and other games with you. However, sometimes it’s fun to embrace a child’s imagination and their ability to utilise what’s around them.
Make Damper
Making damper is one of the quintessential camping activities in Australia, and a guaranteed favourite amongst the kids. In my experience, this is one camp meal that is more fun the more creative you get with it.
My favourite, garlic and cheese damper!
It’s all about getting your hands into the dough, chucking it in the fire and seeing what comes out. It’s so easy, very interactive for the kids and it’s great fun seeing what everyone’s damper turns out like. I remember making this as a kid with my sister and we still love making it with our families today.
Have fun with rocks
Such a simple thing. If you use your imagination, you can come up with a number of interactive activities, including:
- If you’re by the water you could teach the kids how to skim rocks across the surface
- Have a few buckets or containers? You could create a bucket toss game making it harder the further away the buckets are positioned
- Plenty of different size rocks around you? You can try your hand at rock-stacking
Rock stacking is very popular amongst a lot of adults at the moment too. You can usually find plenty of unique, rock stacks near creeks and waterfalls.
Set up a themed scavenger hunt
These are usually best planned for holidays such as Easter and Christmas. You can hide little gifts or Easter eggs around your campsite; and watch the kids burst with excitement as they run around trying to find them.
My family had a lot of fun with this. They would make up numerous stories to enhance the mystery of the hunt. They’d say things like:
“The Easter Bunny / Santa had a little mishap trying to find our campsite. Now the Easter eggs / presents have been scattered around the campsite and you have to find them!”
Yes, we were young, and yes, we believed every tall tale they’d tell us. But you know what? It was fun! If anything, we enjoyed the hunt more knowing there was a story behind it.
By all means you can get more creative and add your own theme to it. For example, if you’re at a beach campground, you could make a pirate theme. Tell the kids that the locals informed you of an old pirate that came ashore a long time ago. He buried his treasure but dropped some of it when trying to hide it. Then you could scatter some fake pirate jewels in hidden places for them to find.
You can go as big or as little as you want with this activity. Whichever theme you choose, I definitely recommend adding a cool story to it. Stories enhance the magic and fuel the excitement!
Just be mindful to not leave anything behind in the treasure hunt. We still need to look after our outdoors and wildlife. Please remember to pick up anything your kids have missed in the hunt.
Discover The Wildlife & TAKE PHOTOS!
I loveeee this one as it never seems to fail entertaining kids, plus it’s super simple!
Just give the kids a camera or phone (they can use the camera on that). Then take them on a walk to see how many interesting animals and insects they can find. Encouraging them to take photos of all their discoveries will get them excited to show off their findings. They can use their photos to show their friends and family or at their school’s show-and-tell.
It will also give them an opportunity to ask about unfamiliar creatures and learn some new information.
I remember so vividly taking my young cousin out on a bush walk. He went absolutely bananas when a scrub turkey walked in front of him. Honestly, that boy took at least 15 photos of this turkey; then raved about it for the next hour or so.
Scrub turkeys may not thrill the majority of us, however we shouldn’t underestimate the joy kids can get over little things.
Bring an inflatable mattress on the water
I do have to give a bit of caution with this one because accidents can happen if you’re not careful. However, this is definitely such a fun one that I encourage you all to try.
Get an inflatable mattress in a large body of water (no shallow bits or sharp rocks near by). Make sure you have a mattress big enough for your kids to stand and run around on. Then get ready for a great afternoon. Inflate the mattress, put it on the water and use it as a platform for a number of different games.
You can wrestle,
you can play last man standing,
or the kids can try to balance while you move the mattress under them.
The possibilities are endless with this one. You can alter your game to whatever is suitable for your child’s age and swimming ability.
Outdoor nature crafts
This one here is for all you crafty parents out there who are able to make things out of anything.
Growing up, I was never naturally crafty but my sister was and I’d try to copy whatever she’d make. Nevertheless, I always had a lot of fun doing it!
If you’re like me and need some tips on crafty ideas, there’s plenty out there on the internet. Just have a scroll through to see what interests you.
One option is to put different shaped leaves under a piece of paper and shade over the top. Using a crayon, you’ll end up with a colourful imprint of that leaf. This could later be framed as a nice piece of art for your kid’s room.
If you’re wanting to get real clever, you could try your hand at making baskets and other objects out of weaving leaves.
Teach them survival skills – Bear Grylls style!
As you’re already outdoors, these lessons will be very engaging and interactive for your kids. This activity can also be spread along your whole camping trip. It could include numerous skill building lessons that could benefit them in the future.
For instance, you could teach them how to make the perfect campfire! They could venture out to find lots of different size sticks; and learn the best formations for making a lasting fire. You could make it more challenging, by teaching them to make a fire without any assistance. This means no lighters, fire starters or fuel.
Other survival skills include learning bush first aid; finding drinking water; learning poisonous and edible plants; or even learning how to navigate their way back to safety if lost. This all depends how outdoorsy your family is and how much knowledge you can pass on in your current landscape. A safe start is definitely building a campfire.
It’s all hands on learning, and the interactive nature of it will greatly appeal to your kids.
Find constellations in the stars or pictures in the clouds
Here’s one that you’ll enjoy with or without the kids. Set up a picnic rug or blanket, lay down and let your imagination run wild. Let your eyes roam the skies.
It’s hard not to be mesmerised when gazing upon the billions of stars above you on a clear night; or the simplicity of finding different objects in the clouds as they slowly shift over the skyline.
You could come prepared with a constellation sheet to see which ones you can identify. Alternatively, you can just enjoy the views while keeping your eyes peeled for shooting stars. Don’t forget to make a wish!
My partner and I still find odd moments to do this together. It’s such a peaceful and beautiful moment to share with someone.
Bike riding
Now this one might be last on my list but it is hands down THE most popular activity for kids. That is, when camping.
For some reason, even if your kids just let their bikes gather dust at home, when they go camping, it’s a whole different story –especially if you’re in a holiday park or caravan park, where there are a lot of other campers close by.
Populated campgrounds often become a small temporary community. Everyone is very social, especially the kids!
Do you remember as a kid, it wasn’t uncommon to ride your bike over to your friend’s house to play? Do you notice that kids these days just don’t do that anymore? Well trust me, that all changes when you’re at one of these campgrounds. The parents are usually at ease with letting their kids ride around; because holiday parks and caravan parks are considered pretty safe areas. Plus, without all the technology surrounding your kids, they’ll see other kids and just want to play to entertain themselves.
So trust me on this one, dust off that old bike and just bring it along with you. Those:
“mummmm, daddddd I’m boredddddd”
phrases, will turn into:
“MUM, DAD, I’LL BE RIGHT BACK!”;
and off they go peddling their little hearts out with the other kids. It might even give you a couple of hours of peace and quiet.
By all means if you want to join in, the kids will love riding with you too.