24 Family Camping Ideas to Entertain Kids When Camping

Kids love a campfire, watching the flames dance in front of them and, of course, making s’mores. Don’t be fooled into thinking this is the only fun for the kids though. You’d be surprised at the enthusiasm kids have for simple campfire preparation, such as collecting sticks for the fire.

There’s more than you can do with a campfire that the kids will find entertaining. Teaching a little bit of fire safety is also something you can do and even, depending on the age of your kids, you could get them to help light and build up the fire as well. My top tip here is to buy flint and steel or Ferro rod, which the kids will love to try, just remember to keep them safely stored away when not needed.

Now you’ve got a campfire going, why not sing some songs around the campfire. This is an especially good idea if your family is musical.

There are some great songs that you can sing as a family, whether you go for some traditional campfire songs or something more modern, it is sure to be fun.

Scouting Resources have a big list of songs that you can whip out at your next family camp (or pack meeting of course).

If your kids aren’t entertained by building and lighting a campfire, they are sure to be entertained by cooking on a campfire.

Most people think that you can only really do things like toasting marshmallows and some simple bread, but there is actually a lot more than you can do.

If you have an old frying pan that you’re happy to stick straight onto the fire, you can cook pretty much any fried food on your fire, such as sausages or eggs.

You can also buy grills that can sit over your campfire, where you can then grill food like burgers, BBQ style.

You can also do something like jacket potatoes. Simply wrap the potatoes in foil and stick them straight in the fire. Just make sure you have a way of getting them out again of course.

Finally, there are the classic s’mores, which you can make by toasting marshmallows and then sandwiching it between digestive biscuits with some chocolate as well.

Visit here to find some great simple recipes to try with the kids.

If you’re camping near a wooded area, den building is a must. Kids love nothing better than getting some sticks and creating a little haven for themselves to hide in. Even better is if they can do it near your tent, that way they can go in their den to hide out for some “chill” time or even for a snack.

The National Trust have a guide for how to build a den, but in reality, all you really need is a good tree/big rock/hill to build up against and more sticks for the sides.

This one’s probably better for older kids, but telling scary stories is surely a big hit with the kids.

Telling stories around a dying campfire is particularly effective for some added atmosphere. You could even hold a flashlight under your chin for the added spooky factor.

If you don’t know any good stories, here are some you can try out at your next camp.

If you are staying somewhere near a body of water, river or fishing lake, you could keep the kids entertained by teaching them how to catch their own dinner.

There are plenty of parts to fishing that kids love, such as baiting the hook with worms or maggots, learning how to cast as well as how to reel in a catch.

Just remember to agree how big “the one that got away” was before telling everyone.

Sometimes it’s the simple things that can keep the kids entertained and going for a hike is one of those simple things.

My kids love a good challenge, so if you are somewhere hilly, try to get to the top of the biggest hill you can find. Walking in the woods, play some hide and seek as you go. Simple, but effective.

In the autumn as the leaves are falling, we like to go for a hike and see who can catch the most falling leaves. Sounds easy in theory, but in practice, it’s much more difficult.

Have you ever tried to climb up a big rock whilst in the outdoors? That is essentially what bouldering is. It is similar to rock climbing, only done without ropes and at much lower (and safer) heights.

A word to the wise, make sure you are doing this in a safe area and you have an appropriate level of fitness. Just ask my father in law about the pins in his ankle and you’ll know what I mean.

Most young kids are full of energy and could often do with running some of that energy. If this sounds like your kids, why not try taking them trial running the keep them entertained.

Trail running is just like normal running/jogging, only you do it over more technical surfaces, like rocky areas and in the woods. This will help the kids get to know the area you are camping in a little better as well as burning off some energy and having fun.

You could add some more fun to this by pretending you are being chased whilst running. It sounds a bit silly but kids absolutely love it. Just don’t run too far in one direction so that you are all too tired to get back!

Whilst you’re out in the wild, why not try and do some bird watching whilst you’re there.

There are many different types of bird species in the UK and lots of them don’t venture into more densely populated areas. If you’re out in the countryside camping, there may be plenty of bird that you will see that couldn’t be seen in a city or town.

The RSPB have a great guide for how to go bird spotting. There is also an app called BirdNET that you can use to identify bird sounds, even if you can’t see them. Finally, a set of compact binoculars will help you see the birds more clearly without being too cumbersome to carry around with you.

Well worth a try if you want your children to learn more about nature.

My kids love a good treasure trail or hunt around in the great outdoors. Whether it’s an Easter egg hunt or following clues around a local town/village, they’re always keen to discover what’s next.

Geocaching is similar to a treasure hunt, if not slightly more tricky. Using a GPS device or smartphone, you locate caches that have been left by other people for you to discover. What the caches depend on the local area and the reason the cache was put there. You could learn something interesting about the local area, the people in the area, or even find a curious object.

Once you have discovered the cache, you can add your name to the logbook (if there is one) to say that you have found the cache and then return it to where you found it for someone else to discover.

The National Trust have some caches across their estates. Caches can be found in many locations across the UK and you can discover more by downloading the geocaching app for your device.

When visiting a new place, I like to identify the local flowers and shrubs with the kids. This is a nice way to pass the time and hopefully discover some flowers you have never seen before or even forage for something to add to a campfire meal.

You can use an app like Pl@ntNet to identify plants using your smartphone.

It’s also interesting to see what animals you can find when in a new place as well. I can remember many a trip to Yorkshire when I was younger and seeing wild deer for the first time.

It’s not just more elusive animals that you can spot, there are also many different breeds of sheep, cow and even chicken that you could look out for. Get one of the following books for your next camping adventure:

• Know Your Chickens
• Know Your Sheep
• Know Your Cows

Getting away from the artificial lights of the town or city provides you with a great opportunity to look at the night sky and do a bit of stargazing.

Assuming the weather isn’t too cold (and the sky isn’t too cloudy), you could lay out a blanket and identify the constellations in the night sky. You could even get into your sleeping bags to warm them up before bed.

If you don’t know your big dipper from your plough, the SkyView Lite App will help you out. It’s free on both IOS and Android.

Another game to play in the dark and keep the kids entertained is flashlight tag.

For this game, the person who is the seeker gets a flashlight and has to find everyone who is hiding. An alternative would be to have the hiders try and get back to the tent without being caught by the flashlight.

If you prefer a slower pace of life, as well as something you can do in the daylight, of course, playing cards is a good way to entertain the kids.

There are plenty of games you could play. For younger kids, a simple game of snap can provide plenty of entertainment. Other games you could play are Rummy or Go Fish.

Here are some other card games you can play with kids.

Alternatively you could try and make a card game up. Probably one for the more advanced players out there and slightly older kids.

If you don’t own any cards, you can get some here.

Another way to entertain the kids whilst camping is to play board games.

The type of game you play will obviously depend on the age of the children you are looking to entertain. Whilst you might love to play Catan, younger kids will struggle with the complicated rules.

For really young ones, Orchard Toys have some great games, like the Shopping List Game and Three Little Pigs (a particular family favourite of ours).

For older kids, Monopoly is a classic for keeping them entertained.

If you like the idea of playing games but would like to play something a little more creative, you could play some old fashioned parlour games.

If you’re not sure what parlour games are, these are games like charades, which you can play without needing a game board. Ever played wink murder? That’s a parlour game. Consequences? Also a parlour game. These can be great fun to play and pretty easy to set up.

Here is a more comprehensive list of games you could play to keep the younger ones happy.

If you would prefer to keep the kids entertained whilst exploring the local area, you could go on a nature scavenger hunt.

For a scavenger hunt, you can create a list of items to collect, such as pinecones, twigs and leaves. The bonus would be to see if you can create some art with them as well.

You can find a free scavenger hunt printable sheet here.

Camping Bingo is a good game to play with the kids over a camping trip if you need to keep them entertained.

There are a couple of ways you can play this game. The first is like a traditional bingo game, where each player gets a card and you pick out different items from a bag. The first one to get a line wins.

The alternative is for each child to have a card and to listen out for certain words being used over your camping stay and ticking them off when an adult says them, such as “tent” or “stove”.

If you have a bag of marshmallows and some eager kids you could play chubby bunny.

The aim of the game is to be the person with the most marshmallows in your mouth whilst still being able the say “chubby bunny”. Play starts by each player adding one marshmallow to their mouth and saying “chubby bunny”. If everyone is successful, you all add another marshmallow to your mouth, so you now have two in your mouth, and then say “chubby bunny” again. Play continues like this until people aren’t able to say it any more.

A game that is full of laughs as well as sugar!

Whilst you might be a bit squeamish around bugs, kids love them. If you get yourself a bug hunting kit and catch some creepy crawlies.

The great thing about these kits is that you can capture the bugs in then look at them, giving your kids the opportunity to examine them up close and learn more about them. Just be sure to release them later outside of the tent!

Rock painting is another good activity to keep the kids entertained.

If you can find some suitable rocks to paint (maybe as part of your scavenger hunt), you can then use some chalk or acrylic pens and create your own designs. You can then leave these behind for others to find when they are out for their camping holiday.

As it starts to get dark outside, another way to entertain the kids is to play shadow puppets.

To do shadow puppets, simply shine your torch against the wall of your tent and then make shapes with your hands. For added entertainment points, if you can make up a silly story as well then the kids will be very happy.