There is nothing as exciting as going camping, especially if you are a child. While there will be plenty to do to keep the kids happy and entertained, including the fact that it takes longer than 5 minutes to get breakfast ready, it is a good idea to have a few games prepared to avoid any cranky, bored children.
With little space to spare in the boot, these games don't involve you lugging down lots of equipment and taking up precious room in the car.
Campfire stories
Kids love telling stores and love hearing their parents make up stories. To make a game out of it, get one person to start a story by saying a sentence, get the next person to add to the story and keep going until you are all rolling around in fits of laughter.
Go nature exploring
Get a nature book in the library or bookshop before you go away and go exploring when you reach the campsite. Go bird watching, look at insects or discover plants. To make it a little more fun, put the family into teams and give each team certain things to look for such as a type of flower or rock. The first group back to camp with all their items wins.
Cloud watching
Camping can be exhausting and being out in the fresh air all day and night can make your little one feel extra tired. Give them a chance to wind down by going cloud watching. Grab a blanket and lie down on the ground. Try to pick out clouds that look like certain things - let your imagination go wild.
Camping journal
Bring art and craft supplies and encourage your little one to record things about the trip as they go along. They could draw the car journey there, setting up camp or how their “room” looks. Bring scraps of paper so they can do tree rubbings and glue to put it into their camping diary.
Sleeping bag races
Kids love running around so why not turn a simple game of chasing into a race. Get them to hop into their sleeping bags and to race each other while in them. The first to the finish line wins. If it has been raining overnight use black bags or sacks instead to prevent the sleeping bags geting wet.
