Best Camping Activities for Kids

October 2, 2018 in Tips for Travellers, Family-friendly travel & Camping hacks

Camping holidays are the perfect opportunity to bring the family together whilst enjoying the outdoors and getting a big noseful of fresh air. But a struggle of these trips can be keeping the kids entertained, as some of us depend slightly too much on technology for this. But we at Goboony have rounded up our favourite camping activities for kids to either give you possibilities, or at least get you thinking in some new directions. So check out some of the camping games for kids we suggested, and if you have any great ideas, send them in to improve the list!

Download the free e-book

Everything you need to know about travelling with your kids in one easy e-book - free for download! In this free e-book, you'll learn about:

  • Choosing the right motorhome 
  • What to pack for your trip
  • How to plan for your holiday
  • Child-friendly destinations in the UK
  • And much more!

Get this e-book

Goboony Camping Activities Kids H2 Family Tent Campfire

Moving Around

One of the main reasons we all love camping is to be outdoors, to be moving and enjoying. It ensures that you’re not on one of those holidays involving over indulgence and lying around the entire time. Therefore, it seems wise to help teach this to your kids as well, by choosing camping games for kids that involve a lot of physical activity. This is far easier when you have more than one child, but if not then either join in with them or try to choose a campsite encouraging social mixing.

You can make things simple by simply bringing along a ball for them to play various games with, or some badminton rackets. Encourage them to play tag, hide and seek or duck duck goose. Use dish towels for them to play capture the flag or tag football. Another great benefit of getting your kids running around is that it will tire them out for the evenings, keeping bedtimes easy! One of the best ways to do this is to create an obstacle course for them, with spots where you climb over or under, hop on one foot or dribble the ball. Alternatively you can make a camping olympics for the kids, with swimming, finding the longest stick, relay races and more. This can be adapted to the age group of the contestants, to ensure maximum fun and safety! Looking for more inspiration? Check out this list of camping games for all ages.

You can also encourage them to try geocaching, which allows them to explore with purpose.

Rainy Days

One of the biggest fears of family camping holidays are the rainy days, when you’re all squished inside the motorhome or tent and trying to pass the time. The minute I feel the telltale drops of rain, I feel the panic. But it really doesn’t need to be this way. Rainy days are a chance for indoor fun, such as in the form of board games. A number one item on my packlist is a couple of fun board games. Either traditional monopoly or scrabble, for some good old fashioned fun. Otherwise consider some newer board games, nowadays they have hundreds of different types and styles, so together with the kids, you’re assured to find a great one to pass the hours! Otherwise consider a puzzle to exercise their brains, either a jigsaw or something more complex if they’re older. A simple sudoku or rubik's cube can give you a calm half hour at least. As for camping activities for younger kids, you can never go wrong with a good colouring book or puzzle book, they have a wide variety available nowadays that will keep them entertained looking for waldo or doing mad libs. You can also play a lot of word games, ones which work for long car rides as well. Some of my favourite memories from family camping holidays involve playing I Spy, the alphabet game and word associations. A fun one to try is Noah’s Ark, naming animals starting with each letter of the alphabet and repeating those before, “I went on Noah’s Ark with two aardvarks, two buffalos…”. You can adapt this to other themes, such as “I went to the supermarket and bought two apples, two burgers…”. The options are endless!

Goboony Camping Activities Kids H2 Mother Son Wood

A Little Camper

You’re clearly camping for a reason; you enjoy it! So help pass this joy on to your children whilst also ensuring some fun camping activities for kids. A simple way to do this is to keep them involved in everything you’re doing, teaching them through action. Enlist them to collect firewood with you, to set up the tent and more. Have them help preparing dinner - or dessert! Try bird watching or looking for local wildlife. If they’re too young for these things, or too resistant, then create a scavenger hunt. Write down a list of things they need to search for. These can be general themes such as a colour or shape. They can also be more specific, and thus more difficult, such as finding a specifically coloured flower or certain shaped leaf. You could extend your scavenger hunt to include meeting individuals at the campsite, such as finding someone with a certain job or from a certain city. But be sure to remind them about the dangers of talking to strangers and to keep them in a close vicinity. And lastly, if you’re camping somewhere quite embedded into nature, you could enlist the kids to build a hut! Only fear with that is the amount of mud they’ll manage to pick up!

Goboony Camping Activities Kids H2 Tent Children Nature

Hopefully this should give you an indication of some possible camping games for your kids, and productive ways to keep them busy. These trips can be both a way to encourage their social outlets by making friends and playing together, as well as helping them to develop individually by using their imagination or reading or exploring. Always make safety a priority, but give your children the freedom to grow and explore. Doing this will ensure that when you suggest a camping trip, your kids are already running to pack their bags!