Camping Games for Kids of All Ages

If you travel with the kids, you know they can become bored easily. Even if the initial idea of the trip excited your child, you know that state of delight can change quickly. It is always a good idea to come to the campsite prepared with a few campsite games. 

 Regardless of the age of the children you are traveling with, there is always something you can plan for before the dull-drums set in to keep the whole gang happy. 

Here are five tried and true campsite games for kids and adults alike.

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1. Story Rocks

Story rocks are one of my family’s favorite campfire activities. These story rocks can be played inside the camper, in a tent, or around the fire. 

Not only are these story rocks a great way to bond with the family, they also help kids be creative. As an added bonus you can create the story rocks at your campsite. This gives you an added activity to do with the kids during the day.  All you need is a little paint or Sharpies (I find this easier) and some rocks.

Paint images of all types of things onto the rocks like dragons, princesses, cars…really anything you can dream of. Once dried, place the rocks in a bag. When you are ready to play, each person pulls out three rocks and creates a story based on the images.

Not crafty? Or does the thought of your kid’s painting making you cringe? No problem. You can get these Rory’s Story Cubes with all different types of images.

Read more on how to create and play story rocks here. 

2. Flashlight Tag 

This game is as old as time. It is simple and easy and requires nothing except a flashlight. Here are the basic rules:

1. Set up boundaries.
2. Select a person to be “it.”
3. The person who is “it” gets the flashlight.
4. The “it” person closes their eyes and counts to 50.
5. The other players go and hide within the set boundaries. 
6. The “it” person looks for the other players. Once they spot them, they shine the light on the person and shout the name. That person becomes “it.”

3. Campground Scavenger Hunt

This one is good for the younger to the older crowd. Anyone can play. And it works great for teams too so you can put the older kids with the younger kids to help out. Make your own scavenger hunt pages or search the internet for some premade papers like these from Ruffles and Rain Boots.

4. Sardines

This is a new twist on the game of hide-and-go-seek. Although this can be played by anyone, this tends to get and keep the interest of the older kids. The goal is for people to hide in a location and others look for them and join them in their space. Here is how to play:

1. Set up the boundaries and the rules for the game.
2. Select someone to be “it.” This can be a single person or a pair.
3.  The person that is “it” finds a place to hide. The other players will count. 
4. Players will look for the person who is “it.” Once they locate them, they will stay in the hiding spot with the “it” person. 
5. The last person to located the hiding spot becomes the “it” person next. 

5. Tic-Tac-Toe

Tic-tac-toe isn’t a new idea, but a fun game that can be played in various ways inside or outside of the camper. It is a perfect game on a rainy day or a quieter game to enjoy when smaller kids may be napping. You will need a piece of fabric, some painters tape, and some bean bags for these versions of tic-tac-toe.

I have made a fabric tic-tac-toe game and bean bags for my game. This can easily be folded and stored in a small space. You don’t need to sew to make your own version of this game. Just cut a piece of study fabric (like canvas) and mark the squares with painters tape. 

Here are two ways you can play:

1. This is the traditional way to play except the board is on fabric not paper. When making your board make sure it will fit on the table in your camper or in space in your tent. Don’t make it too big. Use two different colored bean bags for the Xs and Os.
2. The second version is to play outside when the weather is nice. Lay the board on the ground and set up a space between the player and the fabric game board.  The space will depend on how old the players are. Each player will toss the bean bag onto the fabric game board trying to make it land in one of the boxes. The goal in this version is to still get 3 in a row.  

Camping = Family Fun

These games are great for any age camper and can be enjoyed by kids and kids-at-heart as well. I hope you and your family have a wonderful camping trip and enjoy some of these fun ideas.