Do you like camping? Do you love your family? Why not combine your two loves into a family camping trip? Our hectic schedules are full of business meetings, junior league basketball games, and cleaning-spring or otherwise. A family camping trip can be the perfect getaway to help your family relax and bond. It can include traditional camping activities, such as hiking, bicycling, swimming, kayaking and fishing. But remember that your kids naturally have a “Are we there yet?” attention span, which has become shorter in today’s Information Age. Wherever you camp, including Berlin Ohio, you’ll want to keep your children engaged in activities that will make their camping a memorable experience.

You can center your camping trip around a place that becomes the main activity. This can include a national park, an amusement park, etc. When you return to your family camping tent at the campground, you can use other minor activities that will keep your little ones busy whenever they’re not sleeping.

Prevent boredom with board games
Board games never become outdated. Many of them are basically the same games that we played as children. Rolling dice, spending play money and sinking play warships can be just as fun for children in the wilderness, as at home.

Good games without boards
Many non-board games can be played with little or no equipment. Here are some suggestions:
o The Animal Game: This uses the reverse logic of the 20 questions game. In the Animal Game, one player continues to give clues about a particular animal. The player who guesses the animal first is the winner.
o Catch (i.e. baseball, football, etc.)
o Counting Games: During hiking trips with your camping backpacks, you can have kids count things such as birds, orange flowers, etc. At night, you can have your kids count the stars in the sky, and visually connect them to form pictures.
o Family tent games: Have kids use pantomime to act like someone the whole family knows, and then guess who they’re mimicking. In another activity, sing fun songs and use whacky actions along with the songs.
o Flag Football
o Duck Duck Goose
o Frisbee
o I Spy: One player begins describing something that they see in their immediate environment. The wilderness provides an excellent setting for this game, as the number of plants, birds, rocks, and things are almost unlimited.
o Save spot: Use a soft toy, such as a stuffed animal. One child is the “bad guy.” He or she runs away with a soft toy, called “Spot.” After the other players count to ten, they chase the bad guy. The first person to touch the bad guy, has saved Spot.
o Tag
o Treasure Hunt: Hide a wrapped prize within the campground area. Draw a basic map that includes major things in the area, such as rocks and trees; and footprints to get to the prize. Then give the map to your kids, and have them read it in order to find the prize. You can guide them, but let them do the exploring on their own!
o 20 Questions: One person, the “answerer,” thinks of a thing. The other player(s) can ask 20 questions to guess what the answerer is thinking about. This game is not only fun for kids in Berlin Ohio and other locations; it improves their creative and reasoning skills.

Whether you live in Berlin Ohio or Berlin, Germany, camping can be fun for your kids. Kids love games, so they’re a fantastic way to keep them busy during rainy days in the family camping tent, or while waiting for dinner to be prepared. Whether they’re played on a board or need no equipment at all, games can be a parent’s most important camping gear.