There’s no better way to spend quality time with your family than camping out in your backyard. You don’t have to spend much when you go to your backyard, and have most things needed to camp at home. If required, you may have to use a weed eater to trim the grass for a neat backyard to enjoy these 5 great camping ideas better.
1. Set up a tent and a fort
You need to set up a tent as a station for your camping experience. Have the kids help with most of the work so that they learn the art of setting up a tent. You could go for an inflatable tent to speed up the process. The tent makes a retreat spot for your kids when they’re tired, so have a small table and chairs, and supplies like books, stuffed animals, and games like a deck of cards and board games ready to keep them entertained in it.
You can also create an additional fort in the backyard using blankets, sheets, and cushions for your kid’s second private getaway. Not only is the fort a play attraction for your kids, it also teaches them the basics of construction. Bring a camping coolbox to store drinks for added comfort.
2.Burn calories
This is the perfect time to explore the yard and show your kids the different insects, flowers, trees, and plants in it. Carry binoculars and a magnifying glass to show your kids things they wouldn’t notice with their naked eye. You can find a good pair at Opticsmag.
Encourage them to collect interesting things and build a collage. Let them stick them on pieces of paper or cardboard to later display at home. Don’t forget to include some games to foster teamwork, and burn calories.
While soccer and badminton are great, you can play something less strenuous on hot days like croquet or bean bag toss. And of course, nothing’s better than water gun fights and water balloons to beat the heat on a hot day!
3. Outdoor cooking
Next use the opportunity to show your kids the art of cooking on an open flame. Plan a meal that’s cooked over a fire like hot dogs, beans, grilled nachos and cheese toast and use either a camping stove or even better an enclosed fire pit for a more authentic backyard camping experience. Keep your metal garden hose nearby to clean off the plates, and put the fire out if needed.
4. Fun after dark
Besides the food, a camping dinner is also the perfect time to interact with children and find out how they have enjoyed the experience so far. And of course, the camping trip is incomplete without singing a few sounds around the campfire.
The experience is even better if someone accompanies with an acoustic guitar, harmonica or kazoo. You can either teach your kids songs or make up your own tunes. You can also share stories while roasting some marshmallows and s’mores for dessert. Get creative and come up with a few interesting stories.
And if there’s still energy to spend, you can play games like tag or plan a treasure hunt, giving clues related to whatever you had done through the day to reach the treasure.
5. Look at the sky
Once you are done with your food, and everyone’s exhausted after playing, singing and telling stories, why not use the night to teach your kids the beauty of the night sky? Keep the little kids busy counting stars and drawing constellations while the older ones can use a star guide to learn about and identify the different constellations.
You can make the experience even more stimulating by asking the small kids to come up with their own stories about their constellation drawings. You can also just lie in the backyard, and ask kids what they see in the sky. You’ll be amazed at the levels of creativity and stories they will come up with.
6. Plant Something that you can eat
To make these backyard camping trips even more memorable trying planting some fruit or vegetables. Get a container and grow some strawberries in pots which you can pick on future outings and use as healthy snacks for the whole family.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed my list of 5 great ideas or things to do with your family while camping in your backyard. I strongly feel that a family should spend quality time together, and with kids today stuck indoors with mobile phones and other gadgets, backyard camping is perfect to teach them to appreciate the beauty of nature.
Please share the article if you like it, and give your views or additional ideas as comments for more things to do while camping in the backyard.
