Best Campfire Activities For Kids
Campfires with kids can be incredibly magical and are one of the best places to create memories on your family camping trip. Before you go, be ready and brush up on your skills for building the perfect campfire.
Go beyond just roasting marshmallows at your next campfire with these great campfire activities for kids.
[The following is a guest post from my “outdoor family” friend, Jessica Albert.]
Best Campfire Activities For Kids
Campfire Cooking With Kids
There’s something special about cooking over an open flame. Let your kids help you with campfire cooking and they’ll be sure to remember it forever.
Start by teaching them how to safely build a fire, then let them help you cook dinner. Many campgrounds have grills available, or you can bring your own portable grill.
Meals Over A Campfire
If you’re looking to create an easy and healthy meal, have the kids put together their own foil dinners. Our easy go to is a hamburger patty, and lots of chopped veggies sprinkled with salt and pepper. Let the kids use a sharpie to decorate their foil packet so it’s easy to identify after cooking.
Hot dogs and sausages cooked on a stick over a campfire are always a hit too. Make sure to bring a few extras since someone is bound to burn theirs badly or to drop it accidently into the campfire.
Desserts Cooked over a Campfire
While cooking marshmallows over the fire is always fun, and a fantastic tradition, it’s time to elevate your next camping trip with some exciting campfire desserts.
The easiest go-to is a make your own s’mores bar. Kids love trying different s’mores combinations, but if you need inspiration check out our 25 most creative s’mores combinations.
To mix things up, we often try other camping desserts. Some of our favorite campfire desserts for kids are cinnamon rolls on a stick, pie iron pies (use canned pie filling to make them extra easy), or stuffed apples wrapped in foil and baked over the campfire.
Camping Charades
A family game of charades is always one of the easiest and most fun campfire activities. Set up an area that’s at least 10 feet away from the campfire for the person who is “it” to act out their action. Without talking, they have to act out their scene and the person who guesses it correctly first gets to be it next.
To make charades easier, write out a list of actions the family can act out, cut them into separate strips, and store them in a ziploc baggie.
Here are some great ideas for camping based charades:
Chopping firewood
paddling a canoe
setting up a tent
building a fire
roasting marshmallows
smelling wildflowers
going hiking
running from a bear
rolling up a sleeping bag
using a flashlight
applying bug spray
skipping rocks
climbing a mountain
Sing Together Around The Campfire
One of the best parts about camping is singing songs around the campfire. If your family is anything like ours, you probably know all of the classics by heart. If not, don’t fret – just about any song can be fun to sing when you’re gathered around a campfire.
Need a few ideas for classic campfire songs?
The More We Get Together
This Land Is Your Land
She’ll Be Comin’ Round The Mountain
Kumbaya
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
I’ve Been Working On The Railroad
Bumping Up And Down In My Little Red Wagon
Going On A Bear Hunt
Boom Chicka Boom
My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean
If your family is into more modern music, feel free to turn any song into a campfire song. Classic rock is always great to sing around the campfire, as are most songs that kids learn in their school music classes, so make sure to ask the kids for song suggestions too.
Campfire Stargazing
If you’ve got a clear night and no trees blocking your view, there are few things better than campfire stargazing. Bring your camping pads out of the tent and lay down around the campfire (but not too close for a spark to get on the pad). You’ll be staying cozy and warm by the fire, but have a great view of the night sky.
One of the easiest constellations to identify is the Big Dipper and identifying it is also a great way to orient yourself with other constellations in the night sky. If you live in North America, some good constellations to look for are Scorpius, Hercules, and Lyra. Having trouble finding good constellations? Download the Star Tracker app to make identification much easier.
If you’re having trouble identifying actual constellations, or are looking for more stargazing fun, look at the stars and invent your own constellation. Can you find an animal in the stars? What about a character from your favorite book? The possibilities are endless. After someone has created a constellation, have them tell the story behind the constellation and why we see it in the night sky.
“And Then” story telling
Select one member from your camping group to be the first storyteller. They’ll start telling a tale that leaves you hanging, whether it’s real or make-believe. When the storyteller is ready, they’ll say, “and then…,” and someone else in the group will take up where he or she left off. The story can go in any direction, and take as many turns as you want. The only rule is that it shouldn’t be too long so that everyone gets a turn to help tell the story.
Here are a few “and then” story starters to get you going:
I went for a walk in the woods and then…
I found a secret path and then…
I heard a noise in the distance and then…
Ahead I saw moose tracks on the trail and then…
I heard my brother yelling for help and then…
I got to the edge of a cliff and then…
Telephone
This classic game is perfect for around the campfire and will surly bring lots of giggles to your family. To play telephone, you’ll need at least three people, but the more the merrier. One person starts by whispering a phrase or sentence into the ear of the person next to them. That person then whispers what they’ve heard to the next person, and so on and so forth until everyone has had a chance to hear and repeat the phrase. The last person then says the phrase out loud for everyone to hear. You’ll be surprised at how different the final result is from the original!
Tip: If you’ve got younger kids, have them either start or end the telephone round since they often get the story off and can drastically change the meaning.
Would You Rather
This classic game is perfect to play around the campfire. To play, one person asks the group a would you rather question such as:
Would you rather drink from a glass of muddy water or a glass of salt water?
Would you rather eat a hot dog that fell on the ground, or one that’s completely burned and black?
Would you rather have superhuman strength or the ability to read people’s thoughts?
Would you rather climb a mountain or kayak a river?
Would you rather be able to breathe underwater or fly?
Would you rather eat S’mores or chocolate chip cookies?
The group then discusses their answers and the person who asked the question gets to choose which option they would rather do. The next person then gets to ask a would you rather question to keep the game going.
Campfire Safety
Before you get started with your campfire activities, make sure to make your campfire area as safe as possible. Before you light the fire each night, review your campfire safety rules with the kids.
Some important campfire safety rules to remember are:
– Never leave your fire unattended, and don’t go to bed until the fire it out and cool enough to touch
– Don’t build your fire too big
– Keep a bucket of water or a hose nearby in case you need to put the fire out quickly
– Don’t sit too close to the campfire or tip your chair forward towards the fire
– No running or wild play around the campfire
Now that you know how to build a safe campfire, it’s time to get started with your fun campfire activities!
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Jessica Averett is an outdoor loving mom of 5 kids. She believes that the best memories are made outside and mixed with a little bit of dirt! You can follow some of her best outdoor advice at KidsCampingTips.com.
