Camping With Kids: Games and Activities

Camping with kids typically involves coming up with entertainment or activity ideas. While some of us would love to take naps and read books while camping. The kids want (and need) to be active. And you need them to be active too. An active kid is a better sleeper! Don't be afraid to wear them out during the day. Of course, activities depend on where you're camping and what the weather's like. Camping at the beach provides a lot of options if the weather is nice. Camping inland or in the mountains typically means trying out hikes or canoe/boat events on lakes/rivers/streams. And there's always the park rangers programs if you're at a state/national park or near one. I highly recommend taking advantage of them. One of the first things I ask when checking in, is what programs and activities they have going on.

Sometimes though you want to stay close to camp and relax. To keep the kids from pestering you for movies or video games on your Kindle (cause you probably want to read a book on that Kindle), you need to have some go to activities/games they can do around the campsite. Below is a list of some activities that we've either done or plan to do.

• Scavenger hunts and camp/wilderness bingo. This is probably the easiest to do with almost no prep work needed. Come up with a list of things to find for the scavenger hunt. Camping with older kids might involve picture scavenger hunts where they take a picture (great if you're big on leave only footprints). A twist on this is camp bingo. Make some bingo cards out of cardboard or print some off like these and laminate them for use multiple uses with dry erase markers. There's many lists and bingo boards out there on pinterest and other sites if you don't want to come up with your own.
• Horseshoes or ring toss. We have a small plastic kids set of horseshoes and ring toss that we keep in the camper. It's a great activity for the kids close to the campsite.
• Ladder Golf and cornhole. Ladder golf is another activity that our whole family enjoys. I like that they are lightweight PVC and pack down. You can also get portable cornhole games too. 
• Giant Jinga. I saw this on the web a while back and it's on my list of things to make. Though I will probably make a smaller version with 1x2s instead of 2x4s so that it will be more portable. 
• Pet Rocks and Rock Games. Who remembers Pet Rocks? There is something to be said about an activity that involves being creative. We typically try to plan at least one thing to do that's creative during a weekend camp trip. Painting rocks is a lot of fun for little ones. You can either pick up some river stones at craft store or find your own when you get there. There are many games you can create with painted rocks too. Tic, Tac, Toe is probably the best one, but you can do your own rock dominoes, bingo rocks, or rock checkers. 
• Card Games. Nothing passes the time inside during cold/rain than card games. Bring your favorites: Phase10, UNO, Spades, Spoons, etc.
• Puzzles. Another option for indoor times are puzzles. Depending on the age of those involved 60-300 piece are probably about the right size without get too big. Make sure you it'll fit on your table or take a piece of cardboard if your tent camping. 
• Bird watching or Leaf collecting. For those that want a bit of nature/education in there activity. Try teaching your kids how to make a journal on each trip of all the new wildlife or leaves/flowers they see. This can be a great way to engage the local rangers and learn more about the local ecosystems or even following up when you get home by researching what you found/saw. Guidebooks can also be a great resource to have for this.
• Items to bring to engage/entertain. Some other items you may want to bring along to provide opportunities for playing/learning are magnifying glass, bug nets, compass, or stuff to make bracelets (beads, paracord, twine, etc).
• Geocaching (or treasure hunting). This one requires either a GPS device or phone that has GPS capability. Geocaching.com and other sites have lists of local caches and it's fun for adults and older kids too. Georgia State Parks have a geocaching program and other states may have them too. 
• Traditional Indoor Games. Lastly, I'll reference that typical indoor games like charade-based games or word games like Catchphrase, can also be a big hit at the campground. I'd stay away from board games with too many little pieces unless you are playing inside during the rain.
• Get the kids involved in cooking! One thing they'll take with them long into the future and will become helpful when they get older is teaching them how to cook at the campsite. Plan meals that will involve some prep work and will be fun (I'll do another post later on some ideas for that). Even if it just starts with smores or baking potatoes in the coals, they'll love to be a part of it. (Heck you can even make your own custom smores sticks with a wire coat hanger and wooden dowel as a craft project.)
• Take a hammock. Years ago after years of coveting one, I bought an ENO hammock. It has been a great investment and I've used it a lot. I've even been backpacking with it as my primary "tent." There are several other brands out there; some less expensive. The nice thing about a portable hammock is that it becomes whatever you need it to be: shade to sit under, a relaxing place to nap or read, a swing, etc. Pretty much every age will love it and you may find you need to buy more than one!
  

There's hundreds of websites with ideas for every age range of child of ways to entertain them outside or while camping. So do a search for more ideas via Google, Pinterest, etc. These listed should give you some starting points. Don't use them all on the same trip though. Save them up and pull them out when you need them. And for little ones, don't forget their toys. We have a play grill and food we carry in the camper so the little ones can "cook" up their own food at the site.

Leave your own ideas below! I'd love to know what you've done with little ones to keep them entertained.

A New Year for Camping...

So the biggest thing I wanted for Christmas was some time to do some projects on the camper but I didn't get it. Ended up buried in house projects. Still hoping to find some time to do a few things and I'll post as I do.

It's 2015 now and I'm looking forward to a new year camping. We already have several trips lined up and I'm looking at options for more. I'm hoping to take the 6 yr old and do some tent camping on the side too.

So for Christmas I did get a couple of camping related items: some new s'mores sticks and a beach canopy. As anyone who has camped with kids will tell you, one of the most important part of the camping experience for them is s'mores! Yes, I know there's a lot more to camping, but the kids always seem to love/remember the s'mores part.

So of course we have smore's sticks we carry around. My wife did a crafty project with the kids one day and they made their own. Basically you cut a big dowel up to use for handles. Then get a bunch of old wire hangers (not the coated kind of course; don't want that rubber melting into the marshmallows). Straighten them and cut them to appropriate lengths. Then find a drill bit about that size and drill holes in the end of the dowel handles but a little wood glue down in there and stuff the wire down in the handle. then they can paint or decorate the handles. I will say thicker wire works better and don't get them too long or they tend to get flimsier.

I tend to be an efficiency minded person. This works well with camping with so many people in a small fiberglass camper. If I can find a more efficient way to pack, organize, or do something, I will go for it. So while I do love the smore's sticks created by my children's hands, Packing the sticks is a bit interesting. (trying to make sure they don't get bent or fly around the camper while traveling, etc) So my wife found some extendable ones that pack down really small. Our's look like the picture to the right but you can find various ones on Amazon. We'll see how they hold up but I do love that they pack down so small. I can actually put these in a cabinet rather than trying to shove them under the bed on behind the front bunk.

We also got a Coleman Beach Shade/Canopy. After our later trips to the beach with the little ones, I was wanting to get something more than the little umbrella we have now. I'll do a separate post and review on it when it warms up enough to pop it up.

Hope you have a great year filled with camping and travels!

All I Want For Christmas...2014

Well what's on your Christmas wish list? Mine is short. It is most years. Actually it's mostly less about buying something and more about doing something. But I do have a few gadgets I'm hoping to  acquire related to camper/camping. So here's my list broken up into stuff and to do:

Camper/Camping Stuff

• Beach Tent/Cabana. Hoping to get something portable for when we camp at the beach to provide a little shelter on the beach.
• Beach Wagon. When you have kids, you have a lot to haul to the beach for the day. Even if you're camping close, you don't want to run back and forth a bunch. I saw a neat one this year that could flip over into a table. Here's one made by Copa.
• Weatherstripping for windows. Need to order this for a project in the list below.
• Adult Bike mount. probably will go with roof mount option but I'd like to find a way to take mine and my wife's bikes with us. Right now we usually just take the kids tiny bikes by cramming them in the camper.
• Canoe. Major on my wish list but due to cost may be at the bottom of reality right now.

Camper/Camping To Do List

• New Converter install. I already have the converter and fuse block. Just hoping to find time to install. This is probably the highest priority of my projects.
• Replace Side Window. About two years ago, a random company who specialized in crates of surplus from old warehouses opened a box and put the content up for sale on the web. Turns out they were New Old Stock (NOS) Uhaul Camper windows. They sold out pretty quick since there is nothing else like that out there. Normally you got to get custom made or cut the fiberglass to fit a Scamp window. The previous owners of ours had gone the plexiglass route. So I'm hoping to find time to yank that out and put the original window I got in its place.
• Fix a flooring issue. have an issue where a section of the flooring I installed is separating. Need to cut a new piece and install.
• AC install. I have some rough plans on an air conditioning installation.

So that's it for my wish list. What's on yours?  Feel free to comment on what projects you hope to finish over the winter or gadgets you hope to get. 

Merry Christmas!

Great Camping Deal for SC State Parks 2015!

SC State Parks has a Black Friday deal for several of their parks going right now! 50% off on select camping/cabins at specific parks. Go here to find out more and get the discount codes.

Falling in the Cracks...Bedding down in the U-Haul CT-13 Camper

So just like with a house, there's always a project list with a camper it seems. I have a long list and no time to get it all done. Part of that is just the busy stage of life I'm in with little ones and work. One of the things I typically do when I add something to my list of things to update/fix, is to plan it out in stages. Planning in stages means I can take small steps through small periods of time I can find to work on it and not impact the camper to the point where we can't use it till the project is finished.

The bed is one of those things on my list. (See my other post on the kids bunk beds for our other bed tweaks.) So when we first started we just made it up the way your supposed to. You put the table top down and arrange the cushions on top. Then throw some sheets on it if you like and you're ready to sleep. What we have discovered is that we don't really use the table inside. We have adapted to just being outside the trailer and therefore the bed stays made up all the time. I actually like it that way. Setting up and breaking down the bed/table would drive me crazy I think. And then where do you put the sheets and the pillows while your eating or playing cards or whatever?

I know a lot of folks have kept the back table in bed mode and removed the front bunk to convert it to a 2-seat table. Since we need the front bunks for the little ones, that doesn't work for us. If you only needed a single bed up front instead of bunks, you could remove the back of the bunk and build a table that would drop down with a cushion over it to become a bed.

The first thing I was concerned about was the stability of the table top. So i went and measured and bought a piece of PVC (1.5" diameter) pipe that was the same dimensions as the metal table post. I cut that down to a size that would fit under the table while it's down in the "bed" position. This made me feel more comfortable with the stability of it. I just didn't want to break the table top. My next plan is to replace the tabletop with a piece of plywood and I'll probably put a pole adapter on it so I can still use the PVC pipe for stability. I'll put up a post about that when I get around to it with measurements.

The next thing is the comfortable aspect of the bed. My wife ended up adding a featherbed to the top of the cushions and it's a nice addition. Some folks have cut memory foam to fit. Which might still be an option for us in the future. One thing to keep in mind with memory foam is that the colder it is, the harder the foam gets. So if you're going to camp in really cold places, it may not be the best option. We ran into an issue even with the featherbed on top of sinking into the cracks between the cushions during the night. Moving to a solid mattress would eliminate that but in the mean time I needed to find another solution. I settled on a simple man's approach and grabbed one of my cargo tie downs. This has been a great stop gap for the problem. It works well and it doesn't impact sleeping or cargo space under the bed. Simply wrap the tie down around the table top with the 2 cushions on it and cinch it tight. This keeps the two cushions from moving or separating and also keeps the back cushion in place as it's wedged against the wall. This made a big impact. If you're going to keep your table in bed mode the entire time, you could cut a large single piece of foam and cover it to replace the 3 separate cushions.

I'll update as we keep tweaking it to work for us.