10 Ideas For Camping Activities For Youth

Camping is an outdoor recreational activity in which people stay away from home temporarily and take shelter in places such as tents or recreational vehicles. The camping areas are usually natural environments where participants can engage in activities that provide them with enjoyment. Camping has been an exceptional event since its invention many years back. It can serve as a fantastic opportunity to get nearer to nature, escape daily routines and maximally relax. Going on a camping holiday with loved ones is a fun, memory-worth event. However, boredom can set in anytime. That’s why activities are been put together to chase boredom away. Camping comes with a lot of activities that make it fun for the participants. And of course, as much as we have participants of different age groups and cadres (children to adults), so also are the activities made for them.

The youths seem to be a little more energetic than the younger children and the loves engaging in events that are exploring than the adults. This makes camping with them a little different. So, it is nice to have plans in advance because they can be easily bored off after the initial excitement of getting to the campsite, establishing tents and gear due to the lack of electronics and comforts of their homes. So as to help your planning, some nice camping activities ideas for youths are been discussed in subsequent sections:

1. Hiking

Hiking is a classic outdoor nature recreational activity which involves walking among hills and mountains. Hiking is basic to many sporting activities and it is relatively easy to incorporate into a camping trip activity. It really fits in for camping activity because of its adventurous nature. However, a bit of planning ahead in this aspect can be extraordinarily helpful. Having an idea of whatever cool and attractive thing that is at the end of the hiking exercise can help with those who are less interested in the hike itself. Hiking with youths is a bit difficult without this because they seem to be less content with the “walking to nowhere” idea, unlike the younger ones who derive their excitement in checking out caterpillars and butterflies on the path. Also, choosing a campsite that is near to some interesting features such as caves, bridges, arches, and streams contribute to making hiking more fun. If its families camping, it gets more fun by making it in a way that parents get buns point for anywhere their kids can climb against giant rocks. It can also be planned to have a hiking trip across other features like rock “tunnel”, natural bridges, a sinkhole with a waterfall inside, and perhaps several stream crossings. Hiking while camping is advantageous because you can choose to do longer, more difficult hikes while carrying equipment that a little, reason being that your campsite mostly serves as “base”. And you must note that taking along a fully kitted hiking backpack is important to have an excellent experience.

2. Water Fun

Campsites that are situated near water like a lake, are excellent for this camping activity, however, if the weather permits as it can get so cold you almost wouldn’t want to get near water. Swimming is of course a great idea. When planning ahead, you should consider bringing along all the essentials you need to make the most of it. Swimming is a great way to work out the body in the most natural way, and it is also a perfect way to bring down the body temperature when the heat gets high in the summer. Also, active water adventures are a great complement to swimming. You just search for a local kayak, a sailboat or stand0up paddleboard and enjoy your camping as much as you can. However, proper precautions should be taken in order to ensure the absolute safety of all the participants.

3. Scavenger Hunt

This camping activity can be modified for any age. This game is played in an extensive outdoor area in which participants are allowed to collect a number of miscellaneous objects. The collection can be made from nature, ranging from leaves to sticks to harder-to-find items such as certain bugs and flowers. There are amazing ways of setting up a scavenger hunt. Basically, you will need to take some planning ahead which includes you: choosing a site, scouting out the location, planning the route, writing the clues, recruiting confederates (not compulsory though), distributing the clues, creating a backup plan (especially for clues that can go missing easily), including small rewards and trophies, setting of rules, and keeping an eye on the teams. Some awesome epic ideas of scavenger hunts that are prominent includes Photo Scavenger hunt, Video scavenger hunt, Virtual scavenger hunt, City scavenger hunt, Nature scavenger hunt, Christmas scavenger hunt, Easter scavenger hunt, Halloween scavenger hunt, Valentine’s scavenger hunt, Birthday scavenger hunt, Hen party scavenger hunt, bar crawl scavenger hunt, Business scavenger hunt. However, choose the one that is best suited for camping.

4. Photography

The wild is full of beautiful sceneries and it wouldn’t hurt to get a little part of it photographed. In fact, capturing them can be such an interesting activity to indulge in while camping. Good thing is that with just your phone, you can do as much as possible photographing though going out with a digital camera is always a better idea. Capturing the things around you is a great point to start -trees, vein network on leaves, mushrooms, and even little ants. From there, you can take it up to the harder-to-shoot objects like moving objects (water dropping) and animals.

5. Geocaching

Geocaching is a fun hobby that takes scavenger hunt to a whole new level. Unlike scavenger hunt, here, people hide items and share the GPS coordinates of the items for other participators to find. You can participate by either belonging to the geocaches hunting groups or by leaving them for others to find. Geocaching has been called the world’s largest treasure hunt, and there are numerous numbers of geocaches in the world all over the globe. Geocaching is beneficial because it also becomes a great way to practice your navigation skills, explore your surroundings in an entirely different way and makes a game out of finding and hiding of caches which makes it a more excellent fit for a camping activity. Most important things that you need are smartphones or tablets and a strong internet connection among many other requirements. To get started, visit the official geocaching site and download the app and create a free account. You can then create your own caches or find for others.

6. Drawing Camp Nature

Drawing nature is an interesting and calming activity, even for an ordinary person who is not an artist. All that is needed is your basic drawing tools (paper and pencil). For beginners, its advisable to start by drawing an object and representing it accurately. You mostly draw the outline of the object and fill in the interior details subsequently. Also fill in the shadows and hollows in addition to the shapes and lines, so as to make the drawing look more deep and real. For experts or more advanced draughtsman, it is more intriguing by setting a milestone for yourself to make quick sketches of birds, fishes, or other animals. The most interesting part is drawing animals in motion as they are difficult to draw, forcing you to focus on the gesture and spirit of motion of the animals. This is a great exercise in drawing skill.

7. Skipping Rocks

Skipping rocks is a camping activity that is suitable for all age groups. It’s a fun activity that is done at a pond or lake and it serves as a very nice alternative if the weather or water is bad for swimming at the moment. Rocks that are suitable to be used for skipping requires that they are round, flat, and fit comfortably into the palm of the hand. The best description of these rocks is a cookie shape. Hold the rock firmly sideways between the index and middle finger of your dominant hand, with your other fingers toward the rear edge of the rock. Then, use your thumb that’s toward the front surface of the rock to direct and balance it. You have to face the water at an angle, with your other shoulder posed slightly forward and your dominant arm backwards, in a way that a baseball pitcher does. Keep your hand low at your waist, and the rock in a horizontal manner in your hand, toss the rock forward, snapping your wrist at the end to impart spin. So, the faster the rock spins after it’s been thrown, the further it will skip across the surface of the water before sinking. Try to make the count of the skips that you can get before the rock drops into the water.

8. Alaskan Baseball

Alaskan Baseball is an interesting outdoor camping activity that youths can engage in during their out time. How it’s done? It will involve a throwable object and two teams. One of the campers from a team gets an object, something that can be easily thrown, and the rest of the team circles round the camper. Afterwards, the object is thrown and the thrower makes a quick run round the rest of the team reciting each member’s name as the circle is arranged. For each successful move round the circle, it is counted as a run. In the same process, the other members of the team are busy trying to catch the object. All the members file into a line at the back of the first person who has the object. Then, the object is passed right between their thighs until it gets to the final person on the line from where it is then passed back on top of the heads to the first person.

As soon as the object reaches the first person, the whole team shouts out and the other team ceases from counting the runs. A new circle is formed round the first person that gets back the object who will now throw the object and the whole process repeats again.

9. Hide to Scare

In this game, the participants are divided into groups (up to five) and are given names based on specific colors such as red, yellow, blue or green. Each team of participants is given some chips as points. The idea behind this is to spread out around the entire area and scare the players of the other teams. A point is given to anyone that succeeds in scaring the members from the other teams. The game continues in this manner. And after forty or fifty minutes, the winner of the game will be the team that has the highest number of points.

10. Spud

Spud is a multiplayer game where each player is assigned a digit that begins with one and then goes on. All the participants make a circle around one person at the center, who has a sponge or softball in his/her hand. The person will have to throw the ball or sponge and shout a number randomly. The person whose number is called will be left standing at the spot while the rest of the participants scatters. Then the player whose number is called goes for the ball to catch it and then shouts “Spud” as soon as he/she gets it and everyone freeze in their positions. The person holding the ball now takes three giant leaps to get to the nearest player and then throws the ball at the player. If the targeted player successfully dodges the ball without moving from his or her position, the next round is played. Else, if the ball hits the targeted player, he/she is disqualified from the game. So, the last person standing will be declared the winner in the game.

Camping is a fantastic opportunity to take time off your busy schedules, get close to nature, and revitalize yourself. It’s also an awesome way for couples, friends, and families to strengthen their bonds, make incredible memories, and share unique experiences together. These are just a few of the hundreds of relaxing and enriching options on the things to do to make your time when you are camping in the great outdoors. Every community, campground, families have their own camping traditions and activities, which makes them distinct and unique. You just have to make a camping trip part of your vacation plans and enjoy everything that the natural world has to offer as much as you can.

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