Hobbies And Interests
Daytime Games
When you first arrive at the campsite, kids may want to run around and explore the new environment. Give some structure to their exploration by planning a scavenger hunt: have lists prepared of items they can find in nature or around the campsite, divide into teams, and have a prize ready for the winning team. Or, help kids channel their energy in a useful way by making a game out of setting up camp. For example, have a race to see who can set up their tent first, or offer a prize to the kid who gathers the most firewood for the campfire.
Twilight Games
What kid doesn't love playing outside in the dark? One of the best parts about camping is getting to stay outside after dark, so plan some games to take advantage of that. An easy example is flashlight tag: all you need is a flashlight and a smooth, open field. To play, choose a location to be base and one player to be "It." All the players hide while "It" waits at base and counts to ten (or another, more appropriate number). "It" then tries to find and tag the other players by shining the flashlight on them while the other players try to make it safely back to base. The last person to be tagged becomes "It" in the next round.
You can also play glow-in-the-dark games at twilight, although you'll need to plan ahead. You can transform almost any ordinary ball game, such as volleyball, into a glow-in-the-dark version. Bring enough glow-in-the-dark necklaces or wristbands for every kid in your group to wear one. Have half of them be one color (such as red) and half a different color (such as blue). You'll also need a glow-in-the-dark ball and net, which you can make ahead of time by painting an ordinary volleyball and net with glow-in-the-dark paint. When it's dark enough for the glow-in-the-dark objects to be clearly visible, give all the kids necklaces and set up the net. Make the two different colors two different teams, and play like regular volleyball.
Fireside Games
Once it's fully dark and your campfire is lit, you'll want to plan games that will discourage too much running and activity to avoid injury. Your campfire can be the central point to many activities such as story games, skits and singing games. Ghost stories, for example, are a camping tradition, but you can make ghost stories more of an interactive game by having everyone participate in the telling. Have one person start the story, and go around the circle, letting each kid add a sentence or two to the story.
Late Night Games
Do your kids want to stay up playing campsite games all night? Choose a game that's fun to play many times over, such as Mafia.
Begin by secretly assigning special roles: two mafia and one policeman. All other players are townspeople. Play in rounds of "night" and "day." Every "night," the mafia "choose a victim" by silently pointing; every "day," the townspeople "execute" a suspected mafia member by voting. The game continues until the townspeople win by executing all the mafia, or until the mafia win by killing all the townspeople. The various roles make this a game that can be played over and over, and many kids will want to keep playing till everyone has had a chance to be the mafia.