Who says games are for kids? Some of best times I’ve had while camping have been during a game of ladder golf and nobody would mistake me for a kid anymore!
Give the gift of fun to your friends and family who go camping by giving them a great camping game! Here’s my favorites:
Ladder Golf (also called blongo ball, hillbilly horseshoes, hillbilly golf, redneck golf, and a few other names that I can’t put in print). It’s my all time favorite camping game. It’s also a great game to play when tailgating. The game is played by throwing bolos (2 golf balls connected by a string of rope) at a three-rung ladder with different points values awarded depending on which rung (if any) the players hook their bolos on. The first person or team to 21 points wins. Cornhole - It’s another tossing game where beanbags (traditionally ones filled with hard corn kernels hence the catchy name of Cornhole) are tossed at a hole on a board and points are scored for getting the bean bag through the hole, and also usually for getting the bag to land on the board. Yes, this list of my favorite camping games will be heavily weighted with tossing games but that’s because it’s not exactly a good idea to play a tossing game in your living room.
Washers - yep, it’s another tossing game but this time it’s large oversized washers that are thrown at a target. There’s a lot of different variations of the game but I like the version pictured here because the two boxes used in the game hook together and close up with enough room inside to store the washers which makes it a great game to take camping, tailgating, or for a day at the park. Bocce Ball - It’s a lawn bowling game that originated in Italy. It’s meant to be played on a flat grassy surface but we’ve found it’s more fun and more challenging when the terrain is uneven, hilly, and has obstacles in the way like stones or trees. We can pretty much make any surface we have available to us at the campground work. If we went back to playing it on a flat grassy lawn we’d probably think it was boring. Frisbee Golf - Our family plays it by choosing whatever targets are available to us whether it’s our camper, a picnic table, a tree, etc. Then whoever can get their frisbee disc to the target first wins that round.
It’s important to have some indoor games handy when camping as well because those rainy days will happen which means you and your family will want something to do besides stare out the camper window and wishing for the rain to stop.
Camp Board Game is a fun outdoor themed game for kids as well as adults. The goal is to get to camp first. Along the way players learn fun facts about the great outdoors.
If you want to give a more traditional board game with an outdoor twist, how about the Planet Earth version of Monopoly? Instead of buying properties players buy, sell and trade the earth’s more beautiful environments and mysterious creatures.
While reading about camping and RVing is a distant second to actually being out in nature and doing it, camping and RV’ing magazines provide some great information about camping units, camping destinations, camping gear, camping food, plus a lot more. My husband thinks I go a little overboard on my camping and RV magazine subscriptions and he’s entitled to his opinion, but I’m going to keep reading and enjoying them!
If that camper or Rv’er on your Christmas list is really difficult to buy for, it’s hard to go wrong with a RV or camping magazine subscription.
There’s several camping and RVing magazines on the market. Here’s how to choose:
CAMPING LIFE MAGAZINE - for people who camp with a tent; and those using smaller towable camping units such as popup campers (also called folding tent trailers), truck campers, A-line units, small travel trailers, hybrid travel trailers, and truck campers.
TRAILER LIFE MAGAZINE - for camping enthusiasts who have any towable camping unit from popups to travel trailers to truck campers to 5th wheels.
MOTORHOME MAGAZINE - for RV’ers who used a motorized camping unit (class A, B or C).
BACKPACKER MAGAZINE - for, yes you guessed it - people who do backpacking camping (those rugged wilderness camping individuals)
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ADVENTURE MAGAZINE - let’s just say it’s not for sissy campers like me. It’s for active outdoor enthusiasts (both campers and non-campers) who are looking for great adventures all around the world.
Not sure what type of camping that hard to buy for person does? Then go with TRAILER LIFE MAGAZINE. It’s the number 1 RV magazine in the United States.
If you have a camping enthusiast on your list and are looking for gift ideas, the 2009 Woodall’s Camping Directory may be just the thing to give them. The guide is is currently on sale for 50 percent off, which means it only costs $12.95 and it comes with a bonus interactive CD. Plus it has a 100 percent money back guarantee.
The only downside is that delivery before Christmas isn’t guaranteed but that just gives you the opportunity to really confuse the recipient because you write what the gift is on a little piece of paper and wrap it in a small box with some rocks. The rocks are obviously just to throw off those people who feel the need to shake every present before they open it. I have a child who used to like to do that but one year I wrapped one of his presents in a shoe box that contained two smaller boxes. One of the small boxes had the present in it (can’t remember what it was anymore) and the other was full of broken glass. When he shook it I got this shocked look on my face and said, “Adam! You broke it!” Although I will never win an Oscar for my acting abilities, he believed me. I let him in on the joke and told him not to open the box of broken glass, but it cured him of the desire to shake the heck out of his boxes before opening them. But, I digress.
The 2009 Woodall’s camping directory is 2000 plus pages long and is a great resource for campers and RVers. It has over 15,000 campground and RV resort listings, covering the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Some of its other features include:
- Enhanced Instant Internet & Wi-Fi Information!
- Locations of hundreds of RV sales/service dealerships
- Listings of fun attractions to visit while traveling
- Handy “at-a-glance” charts tell if a campground welcomes Big Rigs, is Internet friendly, welcomes pets and accepts online reservations
- Detailed maps and “Rules of the Road” for each state and province
- A special editorial on “One Tank Trips”
