Camping Activities to Use at Home or at Camp

If your family likes camping but you aren’t able to get out as much as you would like, some at-home camping activities can be a fun substitute. Or if your little ones are new to camping and you want to explore it, try making a fake campfire, cooking some indoor s’mores and having a day of camping related activities. Of course you can also use these when you’re camping if you want to add to the experience.

If you’re looking for more camping ideas, check out my roundup of camping activities for kids.

Crafting a Lovely Life has some really cute camping coloring pages you can use at home or when you’re traveling to or at a campsite, too. And Growing Up Gabel has a fun camping themed I spy printable.

These camping riddles are meant to be used as part of a camp site scavenger hunt, but if you’re at home you can also just ask the questions and see if kids know the answers. You can find the printables at The Crazy Outdoor Mama.

Talk about what might happen on a camping trip, or tell stories of trips you’ve been on before, with DIY camping themed story stones. These are easy to make with instructions from Crafts on Sea, and kids are sure to use them to tell other stories as well.

3 Dinosaurs has some camping themed sequencing cards that would be good to use with little ones who’ve never been camping before to help them see the sequence of events (pitching the tent, having s’mores, getting in the tent and getting in the sleeping bag).

Happy Mom Hacks has a paid collection of more than 30 printables for camping, lots of which could also be used at home. There are riddles, trivia, matching games, word searches, tic tac toe boards, and more active games like scavenger hunts, minute to win it games, social bingo and more.

You may not actually see animals or tracks if you go camping for real, but this animal track matching game from Adventure in a Box is a fun way to talk about habitats and the traces that animals leave, whether you’re in the woods or your own backyard.

Explaining Dia de Los Muertos to kids can be difficult because most of us don’t generally talk about death or what happens when we die a lot with our kids. But Dia de los Muertos is actually a happy, not scary occasion that allows us to remember loved ones, share stories and come together as a community.

While it is mostly celebrated by people of Mexican heritage, the day has become more well known thanks to movies and other media representations. And there are some great children’s books to help explain and allow you to celebrate the holiday if you want.

Dia de Muertos by Jaque Jours, illustrated by Alejandra Ruiz (48 pages, hardcover, published 2025 by words & pictures, suggested retail price $14.99) tells the story of a family getting their ofrenda (altar for the dead) ready and how they remember people who have died through decorations, food and sharing stories.

It covers the classic decorations and rituals of Dia de los Muertos including using cempasúchil (in English we call them marigolds) and papel picado (cut paper banners), pan de muerto and la catrina, the elaborately dressed, skull faced women that are a common site at Dia de los Muertos gatherings.

The back of the book explores how the day is celebrated throughout Mexico as well as the meanings of different symbols. There’s a recipe for pan de muerto, a tutorial for making papel picado and tips for doing makeup to look like like la catrina/el catrin.

Want to try more traditional foods? The Dia de Los Muertos Cookbook is a companion to The Dia de Los Muertos Story, both of which are by Andrea Jáuregui de la Torre and illustrated by Laura González (52 pages, hardcover paper over boards, published 2026 by becker & meyer kids!, suggested retail price $19.99).

The book opens with some discussion of the meaning of Dia de los Muertos and why food is an important part of the day. The recipes included are easy enough for kids to make with minimal help, and all based on food memories from her childhood.

There are recipes for hibiscus iced tea, Mexican corn and salsa, tortillas, molletes (open faced sandwiches with beans and cheese), jicama fries and sugar skulls to name a few.

Other activities in the book include papel picado, coffee filter marigolds, making your own playlist and making an ofrenda.

Together these books give young readers insight into this holiday that might be new or confusing to them, while also giving you a chance to get in the kitchen together and make your own Dia de los Muertos memories.

Have you read?

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