Indoor Camping Party for Family Fun Night

Next time you need something super easy to entertain the kids for family fun night have an indoor camping party.  This is so easy to do and the kids LOVE it!  Now of course, I would prefer if every family actually went camping, but I know their are plenty of people that it is just not their thing.  

So why not give your children the experience of camping without leaving home?  All you need is a play tent or even better make your own fort.  My children have always preferred to make their own forts for the indoor camp out.  Using almost every chair and blanket in the house they have created large indoor tents for sleeping or just hanging out.

If you use a play tent, see if the kids can set the whole thing up themselves without any help.  

For the first part of the family fun night the kids can create the tent.  Toss a bag of clothes pins their way to help clip on the blankets and sheets to the chairs.  Next up, outfit the tent.  Grab some sleeping bags and a few pillows.  Each kid can set up their space.

Now time for some spooky stories.  Grab a flashlight and takes turns telling some good old fashioned ghost stories. 

Don't forget a "fireside" camping treat.  You could make smores without a fire.  Just assemble the ingredients and toss it in the microwave to gently heat it up.  Or wrap them in foil and put them in the toaster.  

How about a Minute to Win it themed camping activity? Walk around outside and gather a bunch of small twigs.  Put them on a tray.  Open up a bag of marshmallows and scatter them around the room.  Place a bowl on a table.  The object is to poke your stick into the marshmallow and bring it back to the table to remove it using another stick.  Place the marshmallow in the bowl.  You can not use your hands to pick up or remove the marshmallow off of the stick.  See how can get the most marshmallows in the bowl in one minute.  Don't want to toss the marshmallows around the room?  Just put them on a large tray on a different table than the bowl.  

Need more game ideas?  Read a previous blog post about games to play around the campfire that require no materials.

The younger kids will simply enjoy sleeping over on the floor in something they created themselves.

Check out more family fun night ideas.       

Do You Ever Dream of a Totally Different Life?

Some days I find myself dreaming of us all running away to live somewhere else.  It is usually a cabin in the woods.  I don't want to go alone.  I want to bring the family with me. It is just that on some days, I get tired of the hecticness that real life brings with it.  Drive here, work, meetings, homework, laundry....

In my imagination, I dream of that cozy cabin in the woods where we don't have to do any of those things (oh yeah and my toddler would be completely independent in the cabin too)!  We can read, play games, fish, explore the outdoors and no one can interrupt us.  Sounds selfish I know, but one can dream....

5 Reasons Why Every Family Should Go Camping

I am starting to get super excited.  It is almost time to go camping here in the Northeast.  When I was a child, each year we went camping together as a family.  Now we have a camping trailer that we use each season from May through October on a beautiful lake.  Here are the 5 reasons why I recommend that every family should go camping:

1.  Less responsibility.  We have a busy household during the school year.  When we leave to go camping, I don't have to do laundry, we have minimal dishes and I plan super easy meals.  All of our lives get a little easier and less stressful.

2.   Less whining.  Our kids are never bored when we are camping.  Whether it be swimming, fishing, frogging or reading there seems to always be something to do.  The littlest ones require the least amount of entertainment when exploring the outdoors.

3.  Time to unplug.  Many campgrounds will have poor service so you have no choice but to ditch the smartphone. Many campers/RVs come with televisions.  We have a no TV or movie watching rule while camping.  We watch the campfire instead.  Instead of video games, try some games that require no equipment.  

4.  Amazing views.  Whether you go hiking, boating, exploring or just stay on your campsite you will have amazing views of your children.  To watch a child interact with nature is something no parents wants to miss.  Slow down and just watch them swim, fish or dig in the dirt.

5.  Making memories.  My entire family would agree that our best memories are when we are camping all together. Rainy days especially when we all get a little giddy and wound up from the bad weather.  Games get played for hours.  We have gone on scavenger hunts, created campfire cooking challenges and swam at midnight in the lake.  I would not trade that for any vacation!

Word Association or Disassociation Game

Word association is a simple word game to play while waiting in a restaurant, on a long road trip or sitting around the campfire.  All you need to do is to start with one word and then say the first word that pops into your head.  The next person says the first word associated with the previous word.  Continue this pattern until a set number of words (ie 100 words or everyone takes 5 turns).  For example, if player one says CLOUDS, player two says the first word that pops into his/her mind ie SKY, next player says BLUE, next player says RAIN, next player says RAINBOW - POT OF GOLD - LEPRECHAUNS - ST PATRICK'S DAY - GREEN - GRASS and so on.....

For word dissociation, just change the rules and state the first word that pops into your mind that is NOT associated with the word.  For example, the starting word is FIRE - WATER - LIGHT - DARK - RAINBOWS - STARS - EARTH'S CORE - OUTER SPACE and so on....

Try it yourself.  Creating word associations is much easier than creating word dissociations.


Waiting Games is a 22 page download of twenty games to play while on a road trip, waiting for an appointment or sitting around a campfire.  This collection of activities encourages children to develop self-regulation, creativity and communication skills while they wait.  Get more information here or add to cart below. 

To order Waiting Games for $3.99 click on the ADD TO CART button. You will receive an email with a link immediately following payment to download the book.  

Waiting Games - 20 Games to Pass the Time

Waiting Games is a 22 page download of twenty games to play while on a road trip, waiting for an appointment or sitting around a campfire.  This collection of activities encourages children to develop self-regulation, creativity and communication skills while they wait. 

This packet includes games such as 60 Seconds, Reverse 20 Questions, Let's Debate, Outside the Box and more! 

This is an electronic document so immediately following payment you will receive an email with the link to download the book.  You can print it and toss it in the car so you have something to rely on during those times when the kids start to get antsy.  If you don't want to print it, just save the PDF to your smartphone or tablet and take it with you to reference wherever you are.

Download a free sample page - I Spy Memory Lane

To order Waiting Games for $3.99 click on the ADD TO CART button. You will receive an email with a link immediately following payment to download the book.  

3 More Games to Play Around the Campfire

Here are three more games to play around the campfire:

1.  Word Categories: pick a theme and then a word. For example:

The theme is camping

The word is tent

Taking turns, think of a word related to the theme of camping that starts with each letter of your word

T - tent

E - earthworm

N - night time

T - trees

Now pick a new theme and a new word. 

2.  First and Last

Again think of a theme. The challenge is to say a word and the next person has to say a word that starts with the last letter of the previous word. For example:

Theme - Summer

First Word - hot

Next word must start with a T - towel

Next word must start with a L - lake

Keep going until someone can not think of a word. 

3.   First and Last Name Game

Pick a group of people and see how many first and last names you can remember. We like to play First and Last Names of the school staff. You could do people from a certain state, movie stars, musicians, elementary school friends, etc. 

Happy Camping!!!!!

5 Games to Play Around a Campfire

My family and I love to go camping. In fact, we just came back from a four day weekend of camping. Ever since I have been a child one of the things I enjoy the most when camping is sitting around the campfire. Whether it be watching the flames change colors, eating s'mores or just chatting it is wonderful family time.

Here are 5 games we like to play around the campfire:

1. Who Said That? This is great for a large group of people who are all different ages. Prior to sitting around the campfire, have everyone write down (in their trickiest handwriting) one fact about themselves i.e. I once ate a piece of dog food by mistake (I know gross but someone actually said this when we played it once). Fold up the slip of paper and put it in a hat. When sitting around the campfire, give one person a flashlight to start. This person picks out one slip of paper and has to guess who wrote the fact. If they get it correct, pass the flashlight to the person who wrote it and that person picks a slip of paper. If they get it wrong after three guesses the person owns up to who wrote it and they still go next. Continue until all of the slips of paper have been read.

2.  Five Daily Facts:  Go around the circle and each person says five facts about their day or a few days i .e. today I ate ice cream.  Tomorrow I will go swimming. etc.  When each person has said five facts start at the beginning of the circle and try to remember them all.  Player one says one statement that was not his/her own.  Player two says a different statement.  See how many you can remember.  It is harder than you think.  

3.  Charades:  No fire would be the same without a fun game of charades.  If it is too dark, shine a flashlight on the person. 

4.  Name that Tune:  Depending upon the ages playing, we usually start humming a few bars and whoever guesses it first goes next.  Sometimes we do themes - nursery rhyme songs, 80's tunes, etc.

5.  Pass the Ghost Story:  Player one starts the story with one sentence.  Player two adds the next sentence.  Continue around the campfire with each person adding one sentence.  Try to make it around the circle twice and then finish the story.

Of course, take breaks and eat s'mores!

Waiting Games: This is 22 page download of twenty games to play while on a road trip, waiting for an appointment or sitting around a campfire.  This collection of activities encourages children to develop self-regulation, creativity and communication skills while they wait.  FIND OUT MORE HERE.

Homemade Glowsticks

My 6 year old daughter came up with this idea for homemade glowsticks. She laced some fancy star beads and glow in the dark beads onto pipe cleaners. She made a loop at one end so she could hang them up at night when we are camping.  They came out really pretty.  She plans on charging them up during the day or under a light and they will be ready to go after dark (and reusable!).