Congratulations, you’ve made it to the campsite! You’ve unpacked your belongings, pitched the tent, and made your fire…but now what? Many people use camping as a time to unplug from our heavily connected world and just sit back and enjoy the quiet tranquility of nature as our ancestors once did.
However, just staring at the trees may eventually become boring for some. Aside from usual camping activities like hiking or bonfires, there’s many fun games to play that will keep the whole group entertained!
Although winning is fun, the best part of playing games together is the bonding that takes place and the memories that will last a lifetime.
1. Capture the Flag
One fun game that will keep the whole group active is “capture the flag”. First, form your camping group into two equal teams, and divide the area you’ll be playing into two zones. In each zone you will have a main base as well as a jail.
Each team needs to have a different colored flag and if you don’t actually have a flag, you can use two different colored objects as long as they’re easy to hold and lightweight. Members on either team should be wearing similar clothes or colors so that they can easily distinguish who’s on which team.
Each team’s main objective is to steal or “capture” the other team’s flag and take it to their own base. Players can tag enemy players if they enter their team’s zone, and the tagged player will go to the jail of the team they were tagged by.
Jailed players can be freed if someone from their team comes to the jail and tags them out. Whichever team captures the opposing team’s flag and brings it to their home base wins!
2. Play Charades
Charades is a classic camping game that will surely be a hit. Charades is a guessing game where one player has to act out either a word or action they have chosen and other players have to guess what it is. However, the trick is that the player acting cannot speak at all.
Actors are allowed to hold up their fingers to indicate how many syllables are in the word or action they’ve chosen. If a player guesses the answer the actor will switch out and become the guesser.
3. Sleeping Bag Races
You’ve probably heard of bean bag races, and maybe you’ve even participated in one, but you can also play with your sleeping bag! Have everyone line up with their sleeping bags pulled up and jump to the finish line, whoever gets there first wins!
4. Geocaching
Geocaching is the latest craze and is essentially a worldwide treasure hunt. You can play using a GPS, google, or the Geocaching app. These will navigate you to cleverly hidden containers that contain a logbook and sometimes small toys for you to take.
As a general rule, you should only take one if you’re leaving something that’s of greater or equal value than the item you took. Remember to always put the container back exactly where and how you found it, so that other people geocaching will be able to find it too.
5. Arts and Crafts
Bringing along some arts and crafts is another perfect camping activity especially for those unfortunate rainy days. Bringing along a small rock painting kit, coloring books, or legos will keep everyone entertained.
You can even try holding a lego building tournament, voting on whoever’s structure you think is best.
6. Arrange a Scavenger Hunt
Scavenger hunts are a great camping game as you’ll get to explore the scenery around you and go places that you wouldn’t have checked for if you were just going for a casual hike. There are plenty of scavenger hunting lists online, so you can either print one out before your trip, or just make your own once you’re there!
One option is listing items that you know you’d be able to find in the area you’re camping. For example, if you’re planning on camping in the woods, list things like moss, feathers, specific shaped or colored leaves, etc.
Another option would be to bring things and hide them beforehand, but make sure you write down where every item you placed is, as you don’t want to lose them and potentially litter. Whichever team or individual finds all of the items, will win the scavenger hunt.
7. Tell Scary Stories
While everyone is sitting around the campfire on a dark night, take turns telling scary stories. Whoever scares everyone the most with their story wins.
You can either bring cool prizes beforehand, or come up with non-physical prizes like whoever wins doesn’t have to do the dishes that night!
8. Play Cards
There are so many card games to play on your camping trip. Uno, Solitaire, Go Fish, and War are just a few. You can even try making up your own card game as a group.
Keep track of who wins and hold a tournament for the entirety of the camping trip, whoever wins the most games throughout your visit is the king or queen of the whole trip!
9. Red Rover
Another popular game that will be sure to entertain everyone is red rover. Have two teams lined up facing each other while holding hands. Teams pick who they want to call over on the other team and then shout “Red rover, red rover, send (name) right over!”.
The person whose name has been called must run toward the other team and attempt to break through the chain that the other team has formed by holding hands. If they’re able to break through the “chain” they can go back to their original team and take one of the people whose hands they broke through back with them.
However, if they can’t break through, they must join the new team. The game ends when all players end up on one side.
10. Make Flower Chains
Flower chains are a fun activity that everyone can do. Pick the tallest flowers you can find and strip off the leaves, then braid them as you would your hair.
Place three stems together, then bring the right stem through the middle, then bring the left stem under the right, and continue till you’ve reached the end of the stem or your desired length!
11. Water Gun Fights
Since you’re going to be in the great outdoors away from most other people, there’s no harm in holding a water gun competition. Bring water guns for everyone and run through the wilderness, hiding, and ambushing the other players.
Whoever gets sprayed the last, or sprays the most people will win! This is also a great group game if you have enough people to form teams.
12. Chalk Games
If the campground you’re going to has asphalt you can bring chalk and play a wide variety of games, besides just coloring with it. Everyone knows “hopscotch”, but besides that there are lots of other games too!
You can play “bullseye” by drawing a bullseye and attempting to throw an object in the middle circle to win. You can also play “four square” if you bring along a ball, where you bounce the ball to another person’s square and the other person must catch it. If the ball bounces twice in their square, they’re out, and the last person standing wins.
13. Play Telephone
Telephone is a fun and simple game that will be sure to bring some laughs. Either sit the group in a circle or one long line, and one person will whisper a sentence into the person next to thems ear.
The person next to them will then whisper what they think they heard into the person next to them and so on. The last person will then repeat the sentence they heard and everyone will get to hear how misconstrued the original sentence was!
The sentence usually gets jumbled up and can turn into some pretty comical sentences that make no sense, making the game amusing for everyone.
14. Shadow Puppet Theater
By either making or bringing your own puppets, you can provide everyone with a bit of entertainment before bed from the comfort of your tent!
Put your flashlight or lantern on the ground and point it at the “wall” of your tent. Hold your puppets between the wall and the light, and direct your own shadow puppet theater show!
15. Eye Spy
One player will say a color of an object in their sight, and the rest of the players must look around and find the specific object they were talking about.
For example, player #1 will say “I spy something pink”. Other players may look around and see a pink flower, and player #1 will either confirm that’s the right item or deny it.
The game will continue until the players guess correctly, and then the next person will pick a different item and so on.
16. Flashlight Tag
Flashlight Tag is a fun game that you can play in the dark as the day is winding down. It’s essentially hide and seek with the addition of a flashlight.
Players must hide and whoever is “it” must find them with the flashlight and point the flashlight at them, eliminating them from the game.
17. Simon Says
Choose one person to be Simon, and have everyone gather around them. “Simon” can then tell everyone what to do and they must do it. It’s usually a physical action, such as “Simon says jump up and down three times”, or “Simon says run to that tree”.
The game can continue on and switch Simons for as long as everyone wants to play!
18. Two Truths and a Lie
Two truths and a lie is an entertaining game that is played exactly as the name states. One person will tell everyone two truths as well as one lie, and all of the other players have to guess what the lie is.
It’s both entertaining and a good bonding exercise that will help everyone get to know each other even better.
19. ABC Game
The ABC game is simple, players have to find one item for each letter of the alphabet. For example, they spot an apple for letter A, a piece of tree bark for letter B, and so on. Whoever finishes the alphabet first wins!
20. Camping Olympics
Host your group or family’s very own Olympics! Start out with lighting the torch as they do in the Olympics and start your games. You can divide into teams, or individual players and for fun each player can pick which country they’re representing, either fictional or real.
Some games you can include in your tournament are relay races, weight lifting competitions, tug of war, or eating competitions. You can even make fake medals for the winners!
Lastly, don’t forget to have fun!
So, you’ve reached the end of this article filled with exciting games to play while camping! We’ve covered a range of activities that will keep everyone entertained and make your camping trip a memorable one. From classic games like charades and scavenger hunts to unique ideas such as glow-in-the-dark bowling and nature bingo, there’s something for everyone to enjoy.
Remember, the key to a successful camping game is to engage and involve everyone in the group. Encourage friendly competition, laughter, and a spirit of camaraderie. These games not only provide entertainment but also foster a sense of togetherness and create lasting memories.
As you embark on your camping adventure, don’t forget to pack the necessary equipment and materials for the games you plan to play. Whether it’s a deck of cards, a frisbee, or a soccer ball, make sure you have everything ready to go.
Furthermore, consider the natural surroundings when choosing games. Take advantage of the beautiful wilderness by incorporating nature-themed activities like leaf art or birdwatching. It’s an opportunity for everyone to connect with nature and appreciate the wonders around them.
Lastly, be open to new ideas and improvisation. Camping is all about embracing the unexpected and enjoying the freedom of the outdoors. Feel free to modify the games to suit your group’s preferences and make them even more exciting.
So, gather your friends, family, or fellow campers, and get ready for a fun-filled adventure. With these games, you’ll never have a dull moment while camping. Unleash your creativity, share some laughs, and create memories that will last a lifetime. Happy camping and game playing!
