25 Family-Friendly Camping Games

Looking for things to do on your next camping trip? You'll never have a dull moment with these camping games. Enjoy family bonding and plenty of fun during your journey, whilst on-site and when you're out exploring.

We've included a range of games for all ages, but you can tweak any of these to make them age-appropriate. Finally, always be aware of your surroundings, stay safe and try not to disturb fellow campers. Most of all, have fun!

1. Ring Toss

This classic outdoor game is great for kids and even those competitive adults. Set the ring toss up near your unit and take turns getting your rings on the posts.

To make it more difficult, use a die and allocate a challenge to each number. For example,

1. Stand on one leg
2. Throw with one eye closed
3. Throw backwards
4. Take four steps back
5. Miss a turn
6. Get creative and throw using anything but your hands

When a player rolls the die, they'll have to throw the ring whilst completing the challenge, making it more difficult and a lot more fun.

You can also use glow sticks to make glow-in-the-dark rings once the sun goes down for a new twist on the classic.

2. What's the time Mr Wolf

A fun camping game for the kids is 'What's the time, Mr Wolf'. To play,

• One player is chosen to be Mr Wolf and stands at one end of the playing area.
• The other players stand in a line at the other end.
• Mr Wolf faces away from the other players to commence play.
• The players call out, "What's the time, Mr Wolf?" to which Mr Wolf turns around and answers with a time (i.e. 1 o'clock).
• Mr Wolf then turns around, and the players walk forwards, again chanting, "What's the time, Mr Wolf?"
• Once the players get close to Mr Wolf, the player can respond with "it's dinner time", at which point Mr Wolf chases the other players back to the start line with the aim of catching one of them. If you get caught, it's your turn to be Mr Wolf.

3. I Spy

I spy is great for long car journeys or waiting in queues. Everyone can play, and it's always different depending on where you are. To play:

• The first player picks an object they can see and, using the first letter of the word, says, "I spy with my little eye something beginning with C".
• The other players then call out objects beginning with the letter "C" until someone guesses correctly. Whoever guesses correctly gets to go next.

4. Scavenger hunt

Devise a scavenger hunt. The level of difficulty will depend on the participants.

For example, if you're planning a scavenger hunt for children, you can use nearby items such as sticks, pine cones or flowers. However, if it's a scavenger hunt for older kids or adults, make it more challenging by getting them to find clues that'll lead to an end surprise or become more detailed with items by listing specific flowers, birds or leaves.

Top tip: Help protect our environment. Avoid plucking flowers and touching wildlife – proof can be collected via images. If you're using a tag or something for a clue, please make sure they're all collected at the end.

5. Swing ball

Set up the swing ball a safe distance away from other campers, and it'll provide hours of entertainment.

6. Stuck in the mud

Another brilliant camping game for kids, although we won't judge any adults for playing, is stuck in the mud. This game requires a lot of energy and space to move around. We recommend playing in open areas where children can be supervised. To play:

• Pick one or two people to be "it". The people that are "it" have to chase the other players to tag them.
• Once a player gets tagged, they're then stuck in the mud and have to stand still until one of the other players that aren't "it" comes to free them by running under their legs or arms.
• Play until everyone's stuck.

Top tip: Make the game harder by having more chasers.

7. Charades

Teamwork and bonding have never been so fun. Split your group of campers into teams to play the best camping game of charades ever. Everyone can join in on this one, from young kids to grandparents. To play:

• The aim of the game is to act out a word or phrase without speaking or making a noise.
• For example, "swimming" could be acted out by doing front crawl actions in the air.
• Before playing, everyone should write down some words or phrases on pieces of paper. These should then be collected in a bowl. Select one idea at random when it's your turn.
• On your turn, start by indicating whether you're going to mime the title of a movie, book, person or song. You can skip this step for younger kids by deciding on the topic beforehand.
• Next, indicate how many words are in the title by holding up that number of fingers.
• Next, show which word you're going to act out first. For example, hold up two fingers to show you're acting out the second word.
• Then you can indicate how many syllables are in the word with your fingers.
• Now you're ready to start acting out your word. It's the job of the other players to guess the title within a set time period. E.g. a minute per go.

Top tip: If you're on the move and don't have paper or pens on hand, you can download the app 'Heads Up'. Like Charades, the person puts their phone on their forehead and guesses what their team is acting out. If they guess right, they flick the phone upwards, if wrong, down. There's a time limit, so you must be fast.

8. Dominos

Dominos is a camping game that never gets old. Older kids and adults can sit and enjoy the classic game, while younger kids can use dominos to make a chain to topple over.

9. Cards

Take a pack of cards on every camping trip. There are hundreds of card games that you can tweak depending on who's playing. A few of our top recommendations are:

• Snap
• Blackjack
• Go fish
• Cheat

10. Wink murder

If you've got five or more campers, wink murder can be a real crowd-pleaser. To play:

• One person needs to select the murderer secretly. This can be done by a tap on the shoulder when all players have their eyes shut.
• Next, all players can either sit in a circle or walk around. If the murderer winks at you, you must fall to the floor (be as dramatic as you fancy)
• It's the job of all players to find the murderer, and if you guess correctly, you win.

11. Two truths, one lie

This is a great icebreaker and perfect for getting to know each other. Take it in turns to each say two truths and one lie and see who can guess your lie correctly.

12. Beach/field sports day

If you're camping near a beach or playing field, make the most of the space and organise a fun sports day. The activities you include are up to you, but we recommend:

• Sleeping bag races
• Frisbee throwing
• Obstacle course
• Limbo competition
• Rounders - find out more about our collaboration with Rounders England
• Water cup relay

13. Forehead detective

In this game, you can ask your teammates up to 20 questions. They can only answer yes or no to help you figure out the celebrity, animal or country which is written on a post-it note stuck to your forehead. This game is perfect with 4-5 players, and the difficulty level can be tweaked by picking different subjects or restricting the amount of questions.

14. Pictionary

Similar to charades, Pictionary requires your teammates to figure out what you're drawing (without you talking or writing the object down) in the quickest time possible. You can split into teams of two and go up against each other.

15. Memory game

Play this fab game to test your memory and add some entertainment to your road trips. To play:

• Player one should end this sentence with an object beginning with "A": "I'm going on a picnic, and I'm bringing a..."
• Player two now has to repeat the phrase and player one's answer, as well as adding to the list with the next letter of the alphabet. For example, player two could say, "I'm going on a picnic, and I'm bringing an apple and a banana".
• This repeats until you get to the end of the list.

Top tip: You can make a rule that anyone who can't remember an object on the list after 30 seconds is out.

16. High throws

For this game, you'll need a tennis ball and some space. The premise of the game is to throw the ball as high and as far as possible, making it challenging for the opposing team to catch. The team that catches the most throws, wins.

17. Hide and seek

Another classic for everyone to enjoy is hide and seek. To play,

• One person (the seeker) counts to 30 whilst everyone else hides.
• The seeker then shouts, ‘Ready or not, here I come’ and starts to search for the others.
• Once all the players are found, the first person who was spotted becomes the seeker, and everyone else hides.
• To make it more challenging, you can extend the counting time or have more seekers.

Top tip: If playing with younger children, make sure they’re paired with older children, or they are supervised at all times.

18. The floor is lava

A game for all ages and even more entertaining whilst exploring the outdoors. To play:

• Everyone walks around freely until a person shouts, 'The floor is lava'.
• All players have 5 seconds to get both feet off the ground in any way possible. You can climb on rocks, logs, or anything else that keeps your feet off the ground..
• If anyone has any contact with the ground after the time is up, they lose.
• Each person can take it, in turn, to shout, "the floor is lava", or a non-player can do it.

19. Duck-duck-goose

This is a great game for large groups. To play:

• Everyone sits in a circle facing one another.
• One person who is "it" walks around the outside of the circle and taps each player's head, saying whether they're a "duck" or a "goose".
• Once someone is the "goose", they get up and try to chase "it" around the circle.
• If they catch "it" before "it" reaches the goose's seat, then "it" must continue going around the circle. If "it" sits down in time, the goose becomes "it".

20. Frisbee

Take a frisbee when camping and enjoy playing on open fields, beaches or parks. It's great for all ages, and if you have a lot of players, you can start a competitive game of ultimate frisbee.

21. Capture the flag

An excellent camping game for the outdoors is capture the flag. All you'll need is two different colour flags (or t-shirts) and two teams. To play:

• Split campers into two teams; each team should have their own colour flag.
• The teams place their own flag at their "home base."
• The objective is to steal the other team's flag and take it back to their own base without getting caught.
• Players can tag or capture opposing players if they enter enemy territory.

Top tip: A great location for this camping game is somewhere where there are plenty of trees and rocks that people can hide behind.

22. Pass the water

If you're camping on a hot summer's day, this game is for you. To play:

• Split the campers into two even teams.
• Players can either sit behind one another or stand.
• Without looking, the player at the front of the line must pour their water into the cup or bucket of the player behind them.
• The team with the most water in their cup or bucket at the end of the line is the winner.

23. Board games

There are so many board games to choose from that make for great camping games. Here are some of our favourites:

• Ludo
• Snakes and ladders
• Articulate
• Monopoly
• Logo game
• Scrabble
• Operation

24. Tug of war

A competition of strength and sturdiness. Tug of war is a classic game that requires two teams and a rope. The aim of the game is for both teams to stand on opposing sides of the rope and pull. The first team to pull the rope over the line and to their side wins.

Everyone can play tug of war, and it's fun in any weather condition.

25. Don't let the balloon touch the ground

All you need is a balloon and a lot of energy. The game is super simple. You can't let the balloon touch the ground. To play this game, either split into teams of two, or everyone can work as a team with the common goal of keeping the balloon in the air.

Top tip: To make it more challenging, when the balloon comes near you, you cannot catch or hold it. It must only be tapped or hit into the air.

We love seeing what makes our campers smile. If you enjoy playing any of our fun camping games on your next trip, tag us on your Instagram, Facebook or Twitter posts. Also, share any camping game suggestions so we can all join in.