Camper Games

Scent Hike

• This is a cooperative activity that promotes teamwork. Have an adult go ahead to mark the trail with strong scents that tell hikers which way to turn wherever there is a choice. Use onion, garlic, cinnamon, lemon, spearmint, rosemary, basil and any other strong scents. When the trail comes to a fork, mark a tree limb at the campers' height with one of the scents on the path campers are to choose. Campers check all the trees, rocks, logs at the fork in the path and when they find the strong scent, they know that's the way to go. When they get to the end of the hike, see if the campers can identify each of the scents.

Scavenger Hunt

• Walk a trail or roam a meadow and pick out different small items such as a specific leaf, a flower, clover, a piece of moss or whatever is unique to the area. Place the items in a container or bag and give each camper one of the items to find. As each camper finds her item, place it back in the container. If someone is stumped and having difficulty finding their item, others are allowed to help. Another way to play the game is to bring items with you such as two matching shells, buttons or other household things that don't belong in nature. Hide one of each item in the area, give each camper the other item in the pair and send everyone off to find the match.

Finish the Story

• This is an ideal campfire game. One person starts a made-up story but stops in the middle of a detail or sentence. The person to his left picks up the story and continues but also stops midthought. The story gets wilder as it goes around the circle and ends when the last person adds the ending. If the ages and personalities of the campers are appropriate, the story can be scary. Just having each person hold a flashlight under his chin while speaking in the dark can give kids the chills.

Who Am I?

• This variation on charades is easy enough for children to participate in and can be played indoors if it rains on your camping trip. Campers can work alone or in pairs or teams. On her turn, the camper acts out a character or person everyone knows. The camper can use any movements, dance and go wild, but cannot talk. The person who guesses the character is the next to act out a character. To keep the game going, a theme can be announced for each round of play, such as "storybook characters," "comic book heroes," "historical figures" and so on.