Camping is about unplugging from the daily grind and reconnecting with nature, your family, and a whole lot of fun. Whether you’re gearing up for a big summer adventure or pitching a tent in your backyard, camping games can turn a good trip into an unforgettable one.
This list has something for everyone:
- Camping games for kids, teens, and adults
- Creative twists on old favorites
- Unique ideas to keep the fun going day or night
So grab your marshmallows and dive into 20 of the most fun camping games for all ages.
20 Wildly Entertaining Outdoor Camping Games
1. Glow Stick Hide And Seek
Hide glow sticks around your campsite and let kids hunt them down in the dark. Add rules or point values to make it more exciting!
2. Flashlight Tag
When the sun goes down, the fun doesn’t have to stop. Flashlight tag is a twist on traditional tag. The “It” person shines a flashlight instead of physically tagging players. Just make sure everyone watches their step in the dark!
3. Campground Scavenger Hunt
Give kids a list of items to find (leaf, bug, rock shaped like a heart) or use an age-appropriate printable nature scavenger hunt. Make it cooperative or competitive depending on your crew.
4. Marshmallow Stack Challenge
Give each kid marshmallows and toothpicks. Who can build the tallest tower before it topples?
5. Campfire Charades
This classic game gets extra cozy by the campfire. Only acting, no talking allowed!
Camping-themed charades ideas:
- Setting up a tent
- Roasting marshmallows
- Starting a campfire
- Fishing in a lake
- Canoeing or kayaking
- Hiking up a mountain
- Making s’mores
- Telling ghost stories
- Chopping firewood
- Bird watching
Find an even longer list of charades ideas for kids.
6. Glow Stick Ring Toss
Snap a few glow sticks into circles and use a water bottle or stick in the ground as the target. Play in teams or make it a glow-in-the-dark competition after sunset.
7. Capture the Flag (Glow Edition)
Split into teams and give each a glow stick “flag.” Play in an open space when it’s dark for an epic adventure.
Related: Birthday Party Games Kids Will Love
8. Truth or Dare by the Fire
Play a classic truth or dare game perfect for kids. Add a camping twist: “Dare: howl like a wolf” or “Truth: What’s your biggest outdoor fear?”
9. Water Balloon Dodgeball
Perfect for hot weather and lakeside camping. Make sure to pick up all balloon scraps afterward!
Related: The Best Water Games To Play
10. Campfire Story Circle
Everyone sits in a circle and adds one sentence to a story, building on what the last person said. It’s a fun and often hilarious way to pass time around the fire.
Related: Ice Breaker Games Kids & Teens Love
11. S’mores Relay Race
Turn dessert into a hilarious competition! In this tasty relay, teams race to assemble the perfect s’more. The fastest team wins bragging rights and a sweet treat.
Want to up the challenge? Add a fun twist like making players use only one hand, wear oven mitts, or race while balancing a marshmallow on their head!
12. Would You Rather?
Sit around the campire and take turns asking silly or weird “Would You Rather?” questions. You’ll learn fun things about each other and have lots of laughs along the way.
- Would you rather sleep in a tent with 10 frogs or 1 sleepy bear (a friendly one)?
- Would you rather get stuck in your sleeping bag or your smelly hiking boots?
- Would you rather only eat trail mix for a week or only eat hot dogs for a week?
- Would you rather have to hop like a bunny everywhere at camp or crawl like a crab?
- Would you rather be covered in mosquito bites or pine sap?
- Would you rather your tent blow away or your s’mores disappear?
- Would you rather camp in the rain or camp with a skunk family nearby?
- Would you rather have to howl like a wolf every time someone says “fire” or clap like a bear every time someone eats?
- Would you rather forget your sleeping bag or your toothbrush?
- Would you rather share your tent with a family of raccoons or a family of squirrels?
- Would you rather have to wear wet socks the whole trip or sleep with a rock in your sleeping bag?
- Would you rather have to catch your dinner or cook with no fire?
- Would you rather hike 5 miles uphill or clean up everyone’s dishes?
- Would you rather eat a bug accidentally or sit on a snake?
- Would you rather forget your tent poles or your camp snacks?
Related:
13. Tent Trivia Night
Break into teams and play trivia in the tent or by the fire.
14. Camping Olympics
Plan silly competitions: sleeping bag crawl, tent setup speed round, water bottle flip.
Try these simple minute to win it games using some basic camping supplies.
15. Desert Island (Camping) Game
This fun thinking game is usually called the Desert Island Game, but you can easily change the theme to a camping trip.
One player starts by choosing a secret rule that decides what items are allowed on the trip. The rule could be anything like “things that are round” or “words that start with the letter S.”
Then, they give an example by saying:
“I’m going camping, and I can bring a ______ (something that fits the rule), but not a ______ (something that doesn’t).”
The rest of the players take turns suggesting items they’d like to bring. The first player tells them if their item is allowed (fits the rule) or not.
The game continues until someone correctly guesses the rule or everyone has had a good laugh trying!
16. Campsite Pictionary
Grab a stick and some dirt and draw your best wilderness-inspired masterpieces and see if your friends and family can guess what you’re sketching.
17. Going on a Camping Trip
This fun memory game is a camping-themed twist on the classic “I went to the market” game. Sitting around the campfire, players take turns adding items to a growing list of camping gear, repeating everything that came before.
For example: “I’m going on a camping trip and I’m bringing a flashlight, bug spray, toilet paper, a tent…” The list gets longer and sillier as the game goes on, challenging everyone’s memory and creativity.
18. Card Games at the Picnic Table
Bring a deck of cards and play a top-pick family card game under the lantern light. It’s an easy, quiet activity for winding down.
- Uno
- Go Fish
- Crazy Eights
- Speed
- Spot It!
- Old Maid
- Rummy
- Slapjack
- Phase 10
19. Camping Tic Tac Toe
Collect sticks, rocks, and pine cones to make nature’s ultimate tic-tac-toe board.
20. Frisbee Golf
Camping Frisbee Golf is a fun twist on disc golf using laundry baskets as targets. Set up a course around your campsite with baskets placed at different spots. Players take turns tossing a Frisbee, trying to land it in each basket with as few throws as possible.
Keep score like golf. The lowest number of total throws wins! Add silly challenges for extra laughs and make it your own. Play at night with glow-in-the-dark Frisbees!
Use this printable camping checklist before your next trip. Your kids will be able to pack their camping gear themselves!
Related Game Fun
Get the best family connection and routine content sent straight to your inbox. (Plus free printables!) Sign up below for free!
Don’t forget to pin these camping games on Pinterest for later!
