With the Memorial Day weekend comes the official start to the camping season, at least here in Indiana.
Of course, summer does not guarantee you a rain-free camping experience and so you need a few ideas on how to keep the children busy should it rain while camping.
10 Ways To Keep Children Busy When Camping In The Rain
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1. Let Them Get Wet
The other nine ideas on my list are indoor activities that can easily be done in a tent or camping trailer while you wait for the rain to stop. However, getting wet in the rain isn’t hazardous to healthy children and adults–especially if they come prepared for rain. Pack a few umbrellas (0ur family finds this style to be longer lasting) rain coats or rain ponchos (we find this style easy to toss in our camping gear) and rain boots (0r extra shoes).
After they are all suited up for the rain the kids can go puddle jumping, look for earthworms that often come out in rainstorms, play with water toys in the puddles, catch rain drops on their tongues and much more.
2. Coloring Books and Crayons or Markers
Coloring books are not just for little children to enjoy with their crayons, you can get some very detailed ones for older children to enjoy with fine-tipped felts as well.
- Melissa & Doug jumbo coloring pad–great for smaller children. Comes in various styles.
- Large jumbo-sized crayons that break less easily–perfect for young children.
- Paisley Designs Coloring book–very detailed making it perfect for older children, teenagers, and adults.
- Fine tip felts for coloring more detailed coloring books–pencil crayons work well too, but then you have to make sure to pack a pencil sharpener and put up with pencil shavings that might not make it to the garbage.
Make it a family experience by holding a coloring contest.
3. Card Games
Board games are hard to bring camping as they require a lot of space and often contain a lot of little pieces to keep track of, card games, however, can be easily stored in a ziplock bag and played just about anywhere. Here are a few family favorites:
Some of these games can be played with a plain deck of cards that can also be used for several more games. You might want to invest in a book on family card games and just bring it and a deck of cards.
4. Word Search & Other Word Game Books
If your child can read, they are ready for word find books or crossword puzzle books. These can be played alone or together.
- The Everything Kids’ Word Search Book
- The Everything Kids’ Puzzle Book: Mazes, Word Games, Puzzles and More
- Fantastically Fun Crossword Puzzle For Kids
One of our campsites turned into a lake during our 5 1/2 month RV trip
5. Connect the Dots, Hidden Pictures and Maze Books
If your child isn’t recognizing words yet or doesn’t enjoy word games, then connect the dots, hidden pictures and maze books are always fun.
- The Everything Kids’ Connect The Dot Book
- The Everything Kids’ Hidden Pictures Book
- The Everything Kid’s Maze Book
6. Books to Read
Either read-aloud books that the whole family will love to listen to as they are waiting for the rain to end or books read individually.
You might want to check out my Building A Home Library inexpensively series for ideas of where to find quality low price and free books to bring on your camping trip.
Here is a list of my children’s favorite read-aloud books when they were little.
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7. Tell Stories Of Your Lives
Pass the time away by going back in time. “I remember the day you were born…” “I remember when I was your age…” Stories like these make children feel special and more connected with their parents.
8. I Spy
The classic “I spy with my little eye something that is…” does not require you to pack anything extra and is great for passing the time.
9. Paper Dolls or Origami
A new paper doll book is a great activity that will get your children’s imagination going. They come as flat books so they are easy to pack in with your camping gear. Another idea is to purchase an origami how-to book and some origami paper.
10. A Blank Pad of Paper and a Few Pens or Pencils
A blank pad of paper can be used for endless rounds of tick tack toe, hangman, and much more. If you have older children, you could try doing a round-robin story where each person adds one sentence to the story before passing the pad of paper on to the next person who then reads the story from beginning to end out loud before adding their own sentence.
These ten ideas I am sure only scratch the surface of what can be done when camping in the rain, please leave additional ideas you might have in the comment section below.
More articles I have written about camping:
- 10 Ways Thrifty People Save Money On Camping
- Camping With Children & Sanity
- What To Bring When Camping With Children
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Great list! We love card games too!!!
This is a terrible list! I was hoping for ideas of getting out INTO the rain! 1) jump in puddles 2.) blow bubbles and see how often the rain pops them! 3.) build a tiny fairy waterfall… etc. You get the idea! 4.) mud pies! 5.) mud wrestling 6.) mud handprint art 7.) splash & splatter art… grab a canvas, a paintbrush, and use the rain and mud as your medium 8.) muddy slip-n-slide 9.) face painting w/ mud 10.) funny mud hair dos…
All great ideas, but yes this is a list for staying dry in the rain while camping. 🙂