Camp at Home with the Kids
Hello Everyone! Welcome to my very first blog post! I hope this will be a place that will encourage you and your family to spend more time together. This post will focus on how to camp at home with your kids and make some great memories! Below are several activities you can do to enjoy camping at home with the kids and the entire family to make some memories!
Without further ado, here is CAMPING DAY! Click here to access free schedules!
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How did we Camp at home with the Kids?
Set up a tent: You’re not camping without a tent, right!? Toddlers love doing almost all activities in a tent either in your living room or outside because this is not typically a part of their normal routine. We set ours up inside because it was too hot to stay outside for too long. Here are a few recommendations below, we own the pink princess tent.
What if I don’t have a tent? No need to go buy one, set up a fort in your living room with blankets. Prefer to keep things on a smaller scale? Build a small tent out of marshmallows and toothpicks.
Build a fire: You also can’t go camping without a fire! We built a fire out of construction paper and rocks from our backyard. You can also color or print a picture of a fire OR if you have the DVD Yule Log, then pop that in and get cozy. You will then have a “live” fire and it’s up to you whether or not you decide to mute the Christmas music. 😉
- Access a printable PDF with instructions of how we built our indoor campfire here.
Go fishing: Here is a fun way to fish with stuff you may already have at home:
- Supplies we used: flyswatter for the rod, string for the line, construction paper to cut out fish, and paper clip to attach the fish to the line. I drew simple fish freehand on construction paper, and then cut them out.
- We had a TV box that I covered with towels and my husband hid behind it. My daughter LOVED this game! She threw the line over the box and then waited to catch a fish while sitting in her chair. We even added review of colors and counting the fish to make the game educational. For example, when she caught a fish she told us what color it was. She added the fish to her pile next to the chair and she would count them.
Access the fishing template here.
Flashlight time!: What toddler doesn’t like flashlights? Lay out sleeping bags or blankets and lay down in the tent while shining a flashlight. This is the flashlight we have:
- For this particular flashlight, there are animal slides you can insert and project on the wall. Even though my daughter enjoys seeing the animals, it’s her favorite to take out the slides and just shine the light on the ceiling and walls of the tent.
Sing camping songs: Here are several great camping themed songs from The Crazy Outdoor Mama’s adorable blog
Stamp animal tracks on paper from Oriental Trading
Color: Practice those fine motor skills! There are many great websites with free printables. Here are a few:
- 1. Option 1
- 2. Option 2
Yoga: Pinkoatmeal.com has a wonderful library of yoga poses that are camping themed!
Developmental Skills Targeted:
pretend play, cognitive development (sustained attention, cognitive flexibility, visual processing), motor planning and coordination, fine motor skills (pencil skills, construction skills), and gross motor skills (object control skills, locomotor)
What Did We Eat when camping?
- Hot dogs
- Mac and cheese out of the pot, of course 😉
- Cut up fruit
- For a snack, we roasted smores on our Nostalgia Indoor Electric Smore Maker from Amazon
Ideas of great camping books:
Ideas of great camping movies:
Watch the movie from the tent and by the fire! Don’t forget to unplug your fire if you used the electric smores one. 😉
- Open Season
- The Parent Trap
- Heavy Weights
Remember to always be flexible when it comes to scheduling these “vacation” days because toddlers especially don’t always follow a schedule regardless of how much you’d like for them to. I hope you and your family enjoy your day of camping at home and create many wonderful memories!!
These are such great ideas! The marshmallow tent wouldn’t make it 10 minutes in our house either. I love marshmallows!
Did the indoor smore maker toast the marshmallos nicely or just make them soft and plump like a microwave would?
Thank you Lindsey! The indoor smore maker toasted the marshmallows. In my opinion, the smore maker was the next best thing to roasting marshmallows at a bonfire.
Good to know! I’m sure this would make for a great wintertime treat too!
What a great idea! I’m sure sweet pea loved every minute. Sounds like you had a fun camping trip! ❤️
Thank you Becky!
What a great idea for a blog! I love your camping theme. I’m sure sweet pea loved every minute!
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