Activities to Do While Camping with Kids

I am not much of a camper, and the only camping I’ve done with my daughter is going to the lodge at the Girl Scout camp (which is indoors and climate controlled).

But I know a lot of people like camping with their kids, and while I like to idea of it, I don’t think it’s for us.

If your family likes to get outdoors and you need some ideas for things to do while you’re hanging out at camp, read on.

This camping lapbook from Homeschool Share would be a great one to set up before your trip and use while you are camping. It has some informational sections like different kinds of poisonous plants and things to keep in a first aid kit, but a lot of it is set up for kids to record their observations of trees, birds and other things they want to remember from the trip.

Adventure in a Box has a printable nature journal with tasks and questions for kids to think about that includes things like finding different flowers and leaves, which they can collect on their pages or draw in (some like rocks and insects would need to be drawn, so make sure you pack your tools!). If you like bird watching, make sure to grab the printable bird book for kids to track their observations form Buggy and Buddy.

Park Ranger John has some great ideas for games you can play while camping, and Thrifty Jinxy has more ideas for games you can bring along when you go camping. I love the National Parks edition of Yahtzee, which includes facts about the national parks you can discuss while you play.

If your campsite has a lot of space (and a lot of sticks) kids can build a maze or a labyrinth that everyone can walk through. Mother Natured has all the details.

And in case you need some camping crafts, check out how to make a camping lantern from head lamps and plastic bottles (get the DIY from Home Cleaning Family) and the classic camp craft — a sit upon! This brings back memories of my own Girl Scout camp adventures, and you can make your own with instructions from There’s Just One Mommy.

Next Plan Idea:

Camping Activities to Use at Home or at Camp

The other day I shared some crafts involving fall leaves, but there are a lot of fun leaf-related activities that don’t use real leaves, so I wanted to share some of those, too.

Like these watercolor leaves from The Artful Parent. These are so pretty and would be great to make a garland or decorate the table for Thanksgiving. You could experiment with different kinds of paper, combine watercolors and crayons, use an eyedropper to apply liquid watercolors — there are lots of different ways to play with this one!

Because I’m a knitter of course I love any project that involves yarn, so this fall leaf lacing craft from Our Kid Things is right up my alley. The multicolored yarn they used is a lot of fun, or stick with fall colors. Either way it’s a great fine motor skill activity!

Using leaf shapes to make other crafts is a great way to incorporate leaves into the classroom without having to use actual leaves. For little kids this sensory painting activity from Kids Craft Room would be a lot of fun (I think this would be fun for some older kids and adults, too, to be honest) and makes a fun and easy decoration.

Of course leaf activities don’t just have to be crafts. Check out this great leaf matching game from Made to be a Momma. These leaves are so cute and after you’ve prepped the game you can play it over and over with no prep. Use fewer sets for younger kids and the full set for older ones.

You can also use leaf shapes in all sorts of learning activities, like in this fall leaf number tower activity from Fun Learning for Kids. There are leaves with single numbers on them that kids can use to stack cubes on in one-to-one correspondence, as well as ones that show dots like dice so kids can add up the numbers to build their stacks.

Next Plan Idea:

Have you read?

Leave a Reply