camping with kids

Toad

Toad

Active member
Three of my best friends and I are taking our kids camping in about a week. Just dads and kids... We're just going to try an overnight to see how they like it (and how we like it :laugh: ). It'll be six kids, ages 5-8.

Question for those that have gone before me... What are some good camping activities to do with the kids? There is fishing available, but it isn't great... I just want to keep the kids fairly busy so they don't get bored or burned out or think that camping sucks.

We really want this to be just our FIRST fathers/kids campout, and not our ONLY fathers/kids campout. :laugh: That's why we're thinking we'll keep it short and sweet, and try to keep them busy and having fun so they'll want to do it again.

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks all!
 
david0311

Toad said:
Three of my best friends and I are taking our kids camping in about a week. Just dads and kids... We're just going to try an overnight to see how they like it (and how we like it :laugh: ). It'll be six kids, ages 5-8.

Question for those that have gone before me... What are some good camping activities to do with the kids? There is fishing available, but it isn't great... I just want to keep the kids fairly busy so they don't get bored or burned out or think that camping sucks.

We really want this to be just our FIRST fathers/kids campout, and not our ONLY fathers/kids campout. :laugh: That's why we're thinking we'll keep it short and sweet, and try to keep them busy and having fun so they'll want to do it again.

Any advice is appreciated! Thanks all!
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Did quite a bit with my boys and and their friends when they were younger (now grown)--

-involve them in the set up and simple chores--
-plenty outdoor games--lawn darts--bean bag games--bikes?
-indoor/tent in case of weather--connect four--battleships--would try to -leave electronic types out of picture if possible
-simple foods and snacks they like and easy to prepare
-let them set schedule and activities-- where possible
-be flexible with their wants and ideas
-Rough it as little as possible--for their first experience--make as enjoyable -for them as possible to set up and have them looking forward to future trips


-WHISKEY-OR PREFERENCE--for you after they settle down and are sleeping:cheers:

Have fun time goes fast mine-- now grown-- remember those trips and we still hunt and fish together all the time--leaving for N.D. next week for Prairie Dog shoot--Canada in Aug--S.D. in fall--
 
See if you can get the kids into some bluegill. If you find them the kids will have a blast. Involve them in small camp chores. Maybe try a nature walk/scavenger hunt. The kids could make their own foil dinners. fun times!!
 
If you can have a camp fire, bring graham crackers, Hershey bars and marshmallows and make smoores. Jiffy pop popcorn works well over a fire (bring some welding gloves:thumbsup:)
Roasted bananas are a treat as well. Just peel up the banana on the concave side, cut a wedge of the banana out, load it with Hershey chocolate, fold back the peeled section, wrap in aluminum foil and toss in the fire for a while.
BB guns and balloons for targets or aluminum pie pans. Set up a little "hunting course" and have then locate the targets; have them identify if it is a safe shot and have at it. Sling shots are fun too. I have 3, one 13 and twins that are 8 and they can't get enough camping in these days:10sign:
Anything you can do make it fun and exciting will result in years of great times with the boys outside.
2X on the adult beverages too for later:cheers:
 
I would suggest you get some small bug catching net and a container to put bugs in... also you could catch some frogs or minnows, our kids liked catching crabs and putting them in a container. Good Luck lab man
 
Those are all great ideas. Make sure you get them a bunch of junk mom won't let them eat at home. My kids have been going with me for years and wouldn't miss it.
 
Thanks for the replies, guys. My daughter has been talking about the campout every day for at least a week. Even been sleeping in her new sleeping bag... I honestly don't know which one of us is more excited, but it is safe to say that we are both looking forward to this weekend!:thumbsup:

I had each of the dads pick an activity to lead the kids through. I'm in charge of the BB gun range.:D It will be nice having each dad in charge of a different activity. This way I can spend 3/4 of the campout focusing on my own kid and not constantly trying to keep all the kids entertained.

Thanks again for the ideas and advice! Next week I'll let you all know how it went.:cheers:
 
No kids of my own but I've camped a lot as a kid and as an adult with kids along. Never saw a kid not enjoy camping but my advice would be to forget any kind of scheduled activity just have stuff available. If they want to fish let em fish. If they want to go walk the woods let em.

Planning takes away from the fun. A steady supply of skipping rocks,fishing stuff and some water is all you really need.
 
Well,,, it went great!:thumbsup:

There was plenty of time for digging in the sand and throwing sticks in the river, but the scheduled activities were all homeruns with the kids. They got to make bird feeders and hang them up at camp, they made plaster of paris impressions of deer tracks, they got to shoot bb guns, and they made smores around the fire. We also caught a shovelnose sturgeon out of the river that the kids (and dads) were pretty fascinated by. They also collected leaves and played with every bug and frog that was slow enough to be caught.

All in all, it was a great campout, and the kids all said they wished they could camp out every day.

Thanks again for the advice, guys.

The scavenger hunt was one activity that I was really hoping one of the dads would plan, but they picked other stuff instead. I think it will be a good one in the future...
 
wisturkeyhunter said:
No kids of my own but I've camped a lot as a kid and as an adult with kids along. Never saw a kid not enjoy camping but my advice would be to forget any kind of scheduled activity just have stuff available. If they want to fish let em fish. If they want to go walk the woods let em.

Planning takes away from the fun. A steady supply of skipping rocks,fishing stuff and some water is all you really need.
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I agree, I just didn't want to be the first to say it. No plan is the best plan of all for my boys. We have the most fun camping when we're just going with the flow. My boys can draw in the mud, skip rocks, play w/ water toys, and fish all w/e. Those activities lead them to other things naturaly (catching frogs, snakes, turtles, etc.). We also have fun picking up trash and feeding our fire w/ it:thumbsup:
 
Toad said:
Well,,, it went great!:thumbsup:

There was plenty of time for digging in the sand and throwing sticks in the river, but the scheduled activities were all homeruns with the kids. They got to make bird feeders and hang them up at camp, they made plaster of paris impressions of deer tracks, they got to shoot bb guns, and they made smores around the fire. We also caught a shovelnose sturgeon out of the river that the kids (and dads) were pretty fascinated by. They also collected leaves and played with every bug and frog that was slow enough to be caught.

All in all, it was a great campout, and the kids all said they wished they could camp out every day.

Thanks again for the advice, guys.

The scavenger hunt was one activity that I was really hoping one of the dads would plan, but they picked other stuff instead. I think it will be a good one in the future...
Click to expand...

Glad to hear you had fun and that your scheduled activities were a hit! The bird-feeder idea is a goodin'. I think we'll make a few ahead of time the next time we go out.

I've never caught a sturgeon. That's an experience they won't soon forget!
 
kansasbrittany said:
I agree, I just didn't want to be the first to say it. No plan is the best plan of all for my boys. We have the most fun camping when we're just going with the flow. My boys can draw in the mud, skip rocks, play w/ water toys, and fish all w/e. Those activities lead them to other things naturaly (catching frogs, snakes, turtles, etc.). We also have fun picking up trash and feeding our fire w/ it:thumbsup:
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I think my daughter would have had fun either way, but having a few organized activities was a good idea. We ended up with seven kids there, and only three of them are "outdoorsy". The plan was just to keep them engaged and active.

After making the bird feeders the kids wanted to watch the birds and see what kinds were coming in to the campsite.

With the plaster of paris deer tracks, they walked all the trails at the farm looking for the "perfect" track. Then they each picked one and made an impression of it which they got to take home as a souvenier. I don't imagine they will ever forget what a deer track looks like now, so that's pretty cool. I feel really good about giving that knowledge to some Kansas City girls who would probably not otherwise have had that experience.

I was really excited about the bb gun range too. Only two of the kids had ever shot a bb gun before, but they all really enjoyed it. It sounds like maybe the other girls' dads took them BB gun shopping after they got home, so that's a pretty big success in terms of introducing kids to the outdoors...

It was still about 90% free play. We would let them run and play and chase frogs or whatever for a couple hours and then round them up for a 20 minute activity. And then they would go back to digging in the dirt or throwing sticks in the river... So it's not like we scheduled the whole thing...

In future years, I think the activities will be less and less formal. Over time, we can probably get away with just having stuff available and letting them decide what they want to do. But the goal this time was to make their first campout so awesome that they would be excited to do it again.
Mission accomplished.:thumbsup:
 
Yeah, you were dealing with a group of kids with very different backgrounds than my boys. Congratulations on your success!! Hopefully it becomes the kind of thing every one of them looks forward to all year long:thumbsup:

Will you teach me how to catch Sturgeon, Toad?:D
 
Oh wow, everything that was said brings back some good memories. We loved it, We had three kids, and camped all the time. We even join a Gold Prospecting club, they had tons of activities kids metal detecting, bean bag toss, who could find the most trash to pick up, Saturday night Bingo and pot luck (some good eats). I and my wife thought we would have grandkids by now but our kids have jobs that have them very busy now days, oh well......
 
Metal detecting! That's brilliant! If you had seen how much sand got dug last weekend for no other reason than kids like to dig in sand... If they had a metal detector, I think they could be entertained for days! :laugh:
 
kansasbrittany said:
Will you teach me how to catch Sturgeon, Toad?:D
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sturgeon2_zpsae55acfc.jpg


It wasn't just ANY sturgeon... It was a 28.5" MASTER ANGLER qualifying sturgeon. And I am making a fiberglass reproduction of it.:D

But I am not the guy to teach you. I have been trying to catch a sturgeon for several years now and after throwing back literally hundreds of dumb catfish, I finally did it. :laugh:
 
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