Kids camping activities
- When playing camp games, it is necessary that all participants take active part and enjoy the fun together.
- It is advisable to play games that entail skills every camper commonly possess, so that no one has an unfair advantage.
- Design the game in such a way that ever camper is kept active and provide each one equal playing time.
- As far as possible, avoid maintaining scores so that at the end of a game, there are no winners and no losers. This way all campers will become stress-free and enjoy playing the game.
- If you find the rules of any game too strict, you may suitably relax the rules as the main purpose is to have fun playing the game and not be too obsessed with rules.
- Every individual player can be different and every team will be different and therefore try to invent and play games that satisfy the aptitude of all players.
- All camp games are meant to provide excitement and should reflect the values of friendliness, fellowship and goodwill. Please ensure no one camper ridicules the other and also make sure there is no infighting amongst campers.
- Give each camper an opportunity to be group leader/captain by turn so that campers learn the art of leadership, initiative, and self-esteem.
Most people that attend camp sites go there to provide their kids some mirth and merriment. The difficulty in arranging camp games for children is to get them to play by the rules. As such, it is necessary to devise games that are simple and devoid of any harsh rules.
The basic purpose of attending camps is to live close to nature and thus a common camp game is treasure hunt. The idea is to let all the kids follow a site map to the find the next successive clues – at the end of which the treasure will be hidden behind some trees. The treasure hunt game generally lasts for 30 minutes and ends with the kids finding a treasure like some candies or toffees at the final place.
This treasure hunt game for adults should be an advanced version of the kid’s game. The clues could be more in the nature of a brain teaser and the adults should be made to run around a lot more. In fact this treasure hunt game need not necessarily be for adults only but a family game where all grown-up children can also participate
There are numerous board games that are ideal for playing by the campfire and the children can be taught some magic with cards and adults can play regular games with a deck of cards.
Traditional camping games like horseshoes, volleyball, football, softball and shuffleboard can provide great fun when played by adults and grown-up teens. Many believe that Coleman paintball gear is great choice as adult outdoor entertainment.
There is the popular Grapes game. Use as many plates as there are participants and place 5 grapes on each plate top it up with whipped cream over till the grapes are fully buried. The players must lock their hands behind their backs, and see who can uncover and eat their grapes first. An improvised version of the same game can also be played by kids who are more than 5 years old.
Balloon Lift is another popular camping game that provides a lot of hilarious fun – though mostly for adults. Create teams with two members each and place a balloon on the ground before each pair. The aim of the game is to pick the balloon up, then pop it between the two people, but without using hands.
Spin the bottle is an age-old camp game meant for young adults The players sit around a camp fire forming a circle and then one person spins a large bottle and has to kiss the person that the thin end of the bottle points towards. Quite often, this could end up in an exciting kissing feast.
Carry a magnifying glass to the game camp as it can provide lots of entertainment for kids and those in early teens. Send the players to search out the details around the campsite - finding different types of soil, the plant structures, tiny insects, hard rocks and all other natural treasures. They can even examine the picnic table to observe the grains in the wood and find out how knotholes are different from the rest of the wood.
Play the familiar Alphabet Nature Hunt. Each player has to find a word that begins with each letter of the alphabet representing objects around the campsite. The words have to be specific and not general. The word ‘tree’ is not an acceptable word but ‘Tamarind’ can be a right word.
The list of camp games for kids and adults are truly endless and there are many camp games guide books available in the market and you can also search online for new ideas.