If you are looking for fun camping activities for kids for your next family camping trip you’ve come to the right place. We love camping with kids and I bet you do too. You’ll spend loads of time outdoors and you’ll be surprised how much your kids entertain themselves and enjoy spending time in nature and helping with the camping chores. However, it’s always good to have a few ideas up your sleeve for when you need them.
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The best camping activities for kids
Firstly don’t underestimate how much your kids may enjoy helping out with the camping chores. My girls love helping to set up camp, wash the dishes and take the rubbish to the bins. Simple tasks at home but when camping they feel like an adventure.
Give them tasks to do whilst you are setting up camp. Can they get things from the car? Are they old enough to help pitch the tent? My kids love rolling along the flattened tent to get the air out of it! It feels like a fun game to them.
When they were younger it was a bit harder setting up camp with toddlers around. At the time we had a tent (we now have a Mazda Bongo campervan) which took a little while to put up and pack away. Snacks and some activities to keep them entertained was the answer.
It’s also good to have ideas for activities to do at the campsite, on the drive there and in the evenings.
Camping activities for keeping kids busy on the drive or at the campsite
Even if you are only going a short drive away, kids often need entertainment. If you’re going more than an hour away then I’d encourage you to think about how you’ll keep your kids entertained. We give our girls a small basket that fits between their car seats and let them fill it with a few small toys and then I add a few bits that I know they’ll enjoy.
We recently bought these fantastic drawing cases from Ikea which I fill with colouring supplies and then the case fits on their lap as a tabletop. Perfect for drawing and colouring.
We don’t go camping without a few supplies for kids:
- Colouring books and washable felt tip pens or crayons
- Sticker books
- * Eye spy books
- Plain paper books for drawing and perhaps journaling
- Bubbles
These items can be good for the drive to the campsite, early mornings in your tent or for keeping kids busy whilst you are busy setting up camp. My kids love sitting at our picnic table colouring or drawing.
Outdoor camping activities for kids
You’ll be spending loads of quality time outdoors when you are camping. Many of the ideas in my ultimate guide to outdoor activities for children will work really well and camping is the perfect time to try some new ideas.
If you are camping as a group then you might like to have a few ideas for outdoor games for children that they can all play together. A fun game is always a great way to keep them happy and also tire them out before bed!
Some campsites allow ball games and others don’t so I’d encourage you to check and plan ahead. We’ve stayed at some gorgeous campsites that often have a large area in the centre where children can play and run around and you can see them from your pitch easily. Fantastic if you have younger children.
Other ideas for activities you can do outside at your campsite include rock painting if you pack some paints. I love these * chalk pens.
Bug hunting is always a good way for kids to spend time outdoors. We are always finding bugs on our camping trips, often without even looking for them! A * child magnifying glass doesn’t take up much space and can be useful both at the campsite and on a family walk.
My kids love collecting sticks and making a pretend campfire. If you have older kids they can collect firewood for the evening’s campfire.
You could also use camping as a time to learn about wildlife. As well as bug hunting you can look for animal tracks and birds in the trees and around the site. We have a * small bird identification book that we keep in our campervan so that our girls can spot different birds.
Find more ideas for nature play in my posts on forest school activities for kids, many of these can easily be done on a campsite. If you have toddlers then you’ll want my guide to Forest school activities for 2 year olds.
A family walk is a great activity to do while you are camping to explore the local area. I know it’s not always easy to motivate kids on a walk so I’ve got lots of posts to inspire you and make walking with kids more fun for everyone. Why not start with this post and print yourself off a nature walk scavenger hunt free printable, I have one for every season!
Older kids may enjoy a photo scavenger hunt where you give them a list of things to photograph on your walk. If you still need more ideas then head to this next post for my ultimate guide to fun things to do on a walk with kids. It’s full of our fun activities to do on a walk with kids and a list of things to find too.
Make sure you pack a few outdoor toys too. Some of our favourite camping toys for kids are:
- * giant bubble kits,
- Go find it cards
- bug hunting kit
- * Stomp rockets
- Beach toys like these * collapsible buckets and spades (space is tight in our campervan!)
- * A kite
- * A boules set
Find my complete list of our favourite camping toys for kids here.
Rainy day camping activities
As much as we hope that the weather is good on our camping trips, we know that this isn’t always going to be the case so we plan for some rainy weather too. Of course, we pack our waterproofs and expect to spend some time in the rain but you’ll find that you spend a bit more time in your tent or van in the rain.
We like to pack a card game or two. These are great for kids of all ages as they don’t take up much room and there are some great ones available. We keep a few in our campervan for rainy days and dark evenings in the early and late seasons. Some of our favourites are:
- * UNO
- * The muddles
- * OK play
- * Dobble
We’re thinking of adding * Avocado smash and * peach snap to our collection soon. Card games are fun for the whole family.
Those colouring books, sticker books and activity books we talked about before also come in useful too. When ours were toddlers we used to pack some of their favourite toys from home like a small selection of Duplo blocks.
Nighttime activities for camping
Kids love glow sticks so if you know it will be dark during the hours your child is awake pack a few to entertain them. It often doesn’t get dark before bedtime for younger kids when camping though so you might not need this section.
If you have older kids though you may need some ideas. A simple game of Flashlight tag is a perfect way for older kids to enjoy the dark and can be great fun for groups of kids on campsites.
Telling ghost stories and other campfire stories is a great alternative to screen time. This doesn’t need to be around a campfire if you don’t have one. It’s fantastic if you are on a site that does allow them though. Spending time around a campfire, toasting marshmallows and telling stories is often one of the best things about camping for older kids and many parents too.
If you are taking young children camping, it’s a good idea to pack a few favourite toys from home. It is especially important to pack those essentials like the bedtime snuggly toy. A selection of books is good too for bedtime and also perhaps some quiet time earlier in the day too.
Where to next?
Don’t forget to check out my post on camping with kids tips post. It’s a great place to start to make sure the entire family enjoys your next camp trip. bet there are some ideas in there that you haven’t thought of that will make your next trip easier.
If you’re kids are really little then head to my post on Tips for camping with toddlers.
Many of these Garden games for kids are also perfect for camping trips.
Amazing post! Such a great list and those recipes all look fantastic! We love camping and I really hope that we are able to take our kids this year! Keep sharing such amazing tips with the readers.