Camping can be a great family activity – but don’t expect your children to sit around and enjoy reading or relaxing like you do. If you’re tired of hearing the “I’m bored” chorus, consider trying out some of these great campground games.

Traditional sports

Many campgrounds offer traditional sports facilities like volleyball courts or horseshoe pits, and rent out the needed equipment from the main office. If your children are interested in playing, check with the office to see if there are any age restrictions on renting the equipment, or if they require a deposit to check out the gear. If the campground is located on a lake, the office may also rent out canoes or kayaks to interested campers. Just be sure to abide by any age or experience restrictions the campground has in place – lying about your children’s ages to check out equipment can have serious consequences.

Do-it-yourself games

If your campground is lacking in sports facilities, help your children to make up their own games to help keep them occupied. For example, you and your children could put together a campground scavenger hunt game, where the first one to locate a certain number of items wins a small prize. Possible items to find could be a shell from the beach, a pinecone, or even a red tent or blue car. Of course, if you do include items like tents or cars, ask your children to write down the number of the campsite containing the item, instead of actually running up and interrupting someone else’s trip.

Another great do-it-yourself game involves a little bit of preparation before you leave for your camping trip. This modified version of horseshoes is great for younger children that don’t have the strength to toss heavy metal horseshoes the full distance. Purchase several lengths of 1″ PVC pipe, a package of heavy duty rope and several small rubber balls. Cut the PVC to form a small ladder with three different rungs and ends that can be stuck in the ground, the cut 1′ lengths of rope and attach one ball to each end of the rope. The goal of the game is to toss the rope so that it wraps around the rungs of the ladder – you can adjust the difficulty by moving the ladders further apart or by assigning different point levels to each rung of the ladder.

Look into Junior Ranger program

If your children are looking for something to do, ask the main office whether they offer any junior ranger programs for kids. These programs typically involve several activities – which may be led by a campground staff member or self-directed – that teach children about the natural world. If your campground doesn’t offer a program like this, you can put together your own by asking your children to collect different types of leaves or to draw pictures of the different animal tracks they see. When you return home, you can visit the library together to identify the trees and animals they found on the trip.