One of the many great things about camping is that it gives
families a chance to put their electronics aside for a while and reconnect in
simple ways. Here are a few fun games that campers of all ages can
enjoy:

There Once Was a
Skunk

This fun storytelling game comes from the blog
Escapeadulthood.com. To play, someone in the group begins a story by saying,
“There once was a skunk who . . .” and they finish the sentence however they
wish. Then they point to someone else who continues the story with a sentence
beginning with “Fortunately, . .”  Then that
person points to someone else who continues the story with a sentence
beginning with “Unfortunately. . .” Have the players alternate between
“fortunately,” and “unfortunately,” and the story will likely get sillier as
it goes on, resulting in something like this:  “There once
was a skunk who took ballet lessons. Fortunately, he looked very good in a
tutu. Unfortunately, he got dizzy very easily and often tripped on his tail.
Fortunately, a drink of root beer always cleared up his dizziness. . . ”
And so on. This game is sure to result in a lot of
giggles.

Campground Charades

It’s easy to put a camping spin on this classic game that involves
players pantomiming a phrase to try to get others to guess what it is. The
blog TheJoysofBoys.com offers a free downloadable list of
campground charade phrases that you can cut up and place into a jar. It
includes dozens of phrases like “Pitching a Tent,” “Using a Compass to Find
Your Way” and “Making S’mores.” Or, of course, you can make up your own
phrases. To play, the first person takes a phrase slip from the jar and acts
it out, using hints like indicating the number of words by holding up that
many fingers. (Then hold up one finger before pantomiming the first word, two
fingers before the second, and so on.) Or, to pantomime a word that rhymes
with the word to be guessed, the player can tug on their ear to say
“sounds like.” Each person who guesses a phrase correctly earns a
point. The game can also be played in teams to foster a little friendly
competition.

Glow Stick Ring Toss

This is a simple, but fun nighttime game to play. Before leaving
home, pick up a few packs of glow sticks from your local dollar store. The
necklace-sized ones work well, and you can also include a few of the
bracelet-sized ones for an extra challenge. To play the game, activate the
glow sticks and place one in each of several water bottles to serve as the
posts, then form the rest of the glow sticks into rings and play away! You
can also adjust the distance of the posts to vary the challenge or to
simplify the game for younger family members. You can set your own point
system, such as the first person to get a ring around a bottle five (or 10)
times wins.

Noah’s Ark