Games to Play when Camping

This week's blog was about "gramping," going camping with your grandchildren. A friend wrote that blog, and it got me searching for other fun games to play when camping. It's spring and I know many of my grandparent friends will be taking their grandkids (and even great grandkids) camping. So here we go:

More games to play when GRAMPING~
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• Ladder Ball - The ladder ball or ladder golf pictured above is a fun one and easily packed up to take camping. It's available online or local stores and can even be homemade out of PVC pipe. Check online and Pinterest for specifics.
• Balloon Ping Pong - All you need for this one are balloons, tongue depressors or popsicle sticks,  and paper plates. Set up on your campsite's picnic table. (The inflated balloons will be the ping pong balls and paper plates will be the paddles.) To make it easier for the young kids, you can tape a tongue depressor to the back of the paper plate.
• Horseshoes or ring toss game - You can even make a lighted one to play at night:

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• Camping Bingo (sample card below) - In a November blog I wrote about a scavenger hunt wherein on a hike with grandchildren, you collect various items on your walk. A friend pointed out that perhaps one shouldn't remove items from a camping area such as a state or national park. This Camp Bingo saves the day. Each child is given a bingo card with nature items pictured and they don't remove said items, they simply check it off their card just like in a traditional bingo game.
• Camping Scavenger Hunt (also pictured below) - in this game, participants are given a list of items to find and collect and a paper bag in which to place the items. Whoever returns to camp first with said items is the winner.
• Camping Charades - great game to play around the campfire at night. Each team simply acts out some action that usually takes place when camping. Here's a sample:

o Making coffee and hot chocolate and drinking it.
o Roasting a hot dog
o Telling scary campfire stories
o Catching butterflies
o Playing horseshoes
o Cooking breakfast
o Blowing bubbles
o Putting on insect repellant
o Catching a fish
o Spotting a deer or bear
o Skipping stones on a lake
​o Paddling a rowboat

You get the idea. Just think of lots of fun camping activities, write them on slips of paper, and each team draws a slip and acts it out. You can even make it more fun by inserting various animals doing the action. Examples: A bear making coffee or an ant roasting a hot dog and so on. Besides team members trying to guess the action, they would have to guess the animal as well. Sounds fun to me!

• Reverse Charades or Camping Rollick - Use the camping actions from the Camping Charades game, but instead of one team member acting it out for their team, EVERYONE acts it out and only one team member is the guesser. I like this game better than traditional charades. 

I laminated these cards, and kids can simply use a crayon to mark off each item. One could also print several copies on paper (with no lamination) and throw away after use. Use my Contact Page to write me and I can send you a copy of this.

Here's my list of items for Camp Scavenger Hunt game. I just made a list of items I knew kids could find in our area. Once again you can write me, and I'll be glad to send you this list. I printed four per page.

Here's the sack for the scavenger hunt with the list of items to find attached. Reminder: Use paper bags rather than plastic bags--much kinder to our environment.

I hope you'll go gramping and play lots of outdoor games with your grandchildren, nieces and nephews, and friends. And really, all these games can be played in your own backyard or neighborhood park. Thanks again to my friend Gail for "stirring the pot" and reminding us all of the joys of camping with our families.

​I'll end with my favorite camping giggle:

I don't always move to the other side of the campfire, but when I do, the smoke follows me.

And actually NO TIME is wasted when you're with loved ones.