REVIEWED BY CAT MCCORY

Camping is a perfect way to get kids outside and playing in nature. But, sometimes there are those moments when you need them to stay close at the picnic table or in the tent and you still want to keep them occupied. Below are 21 free printable games and activities you can print in advance for those moments when you need them to stay close to your campsite but still having fun.

1. Roll a S’more Game

This game comes from The Crazy Outdoor Mama and was designed specifically for those camping moments when you are stuck in your tent, like in bad weather. With just some preprinted game pieces and a die (although there is an optional one you can also print), you have a game that kids as young as toddlers can enjoy!

When I first saw this game it instantly reminded me of Cootie where you roll a die until you have gained all of the pieces needed to build your Cootie bug. This is similar except you play until you have gained all of the ingredients needed to build your campfire S’more!

It is both simple and fun, and because there is no reading required little ones can play it with older kids and won’t even need to be “on someone else’s team.” They can play for themselves!

Find the free, printable Roll a S’more camping game here at The Crazy Outdoor Mama. Also, check out her other activities as she has a great Bingo printable and a very cool mini-printable camping journal for kids!

2. Camping Mad Libs

Nothing can make kids through adults chuckle more than fill-in-the-blanks Mad Libs. A bonus is when the story is camping themed!

Education.com offers a free, printable camping themed fill-in-the-blanks Mad Libs that will be sure to bring laughs around your campfire. With a ton of blanks to fill in, this Mad Lib could be printed multiple times and be used over and over around your fire. Click here to download the camping themed Mad Lib.

If you love Mad Libs, find many more from Education.com here. The site also has a camping themed word search you can download for free here.

3. Campfire Tales Storytelling Game

Campfires and stories go hand in hand. Make telling stories around the fire even more fun for kids with the free, printable Campfire Tales Storytelling Game from Glamper Life.

The Campfire Tales Storytelling Game comes with multiple sheets of printable cards with a camping-themed picture on them. Player one draws a card and uses the picture as a prompt to start a story. They tell their tale for 3 minutes. When the timer goes off, the next player draws a card and must continue that story using the picture on their card as their prompt. It continues in this way until all players have had a turn and added to the story.

What is great about the Campfire Tales Storytelling Game is that, because there is no reading involved, preschool aged kids can play and create memories of helping to tell stories around the fire with their family.

The beautifully designed cards can be printed on cardstock or laminated for more durability. Find the free, printable Campfire Tales Storytelling Game here at Glamper Life.

4. Camping Cootie Catcher

The Crazy Outdoor Mama offers more beautifully designed, free printables, one being a camping themed cootie catcher. Fun to make, it will also be fun for your kids to use around the campfire or in the tent if it is raining.

The camping cootie catcher has rustic and cute pictures on the outside. But, the fun comes when you make it to the inside of the cootie catcher and find funny prompts for the players to do, such as “if a fish could sing, what would it sound like?”

As long as a child can count to 10 (or can with help), this game can be enjoyed by big and little kids alike. Find the free printable camping cootie catcher here at The Crazy Outdoor Mama.

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5. Coin War

Leave it to the Cub Scouts to know how to create a fun, but simple, printable game! The site Cub Site Ideas offers Coin War which is played just like the traditional War game we are all familiar with, but with printable cards that feature coins rather than card numbers.

This little twist not only makes it a little more challenging, but it also helps teach kids their coin values, as well as giving them practice adding and subtracting quickly in their heads.

Corn War comes with 24 cards that are best printed on cardstock or are laminated. Each player has a stack of cards and flips one over at the same time. Whoever has the highest coin value gets all of the cards flipped. This continues until all cards are played. The player with the most cards in their stack wins.

Get your free copy of Coin War here from Cub Scout Ideas.

6. Camping “Go Fish” Card Game

Kids love Go Fish, so make it a little more fun for them by printing and bringing along a camping themed version! HipHomeschoolMoms offer a free, but beautifully designed, printable version of Go Camping featuring lanterns, a sleeping bag, bug spray, other other cute illustrations.

This is another game that your kids of all ages can play together at the picnic table, or in a tent on a rainy afternoon, whether they can read or not. Download your free printable of Go Camping here from HipHomeschoolMoms. The link is halfway down the page, but check their other great free campfire printables on the page, some of which I will feature below!


Find more fun campfire games, see our post about games that require no equipment here.


7. Roll a Monster

Have kids that love to draw or be creative? Roll a Monster from DrawingHowtoDraw offers a fun and free game on their site that only requires their printable and some dice, but can deliver a ton of fun at the picnic table for your littles!

The game consists of 6 rolls. On each roll, the player drawers a body part that corresponds to the number they rolled. For instance, the first roll in the game is face shape. Roll a 3 and the face shape you will draw is a triangle, but roll a 6 and it looks more like the shape of a slice of bread!

Not only does this work for non-readers, but older kids may also enjoy this. The kids will have drawings they can show off and be proud of as well! Snag your free printable of the Roll a Monster drawing game here at DrawingHowtoDraw. And while you’re at it, scroll down further in your page and print their Roll a Landscape drawing game that works the same way!

8. Outdoor Adventure Color & Find

Grab a few markers and the Outdoor Adventure Color & Find printable from Picklebums and you will have a great activity that your kids can do around the campfire!

This color & find is camping themed with images of tents, fish, flashlights, and other adorable illustrations. The page is covered with different small, camping themed pictures, and the top shows how many of each picture the kids should find and color in. For example, one direction at the top is to find 9 acorns. The player then searches the printable to find and color 9 acorns.

For older kids, this can be made into a race. It is also great for younger kids as well because they have used words and pictures so non-readers can play as well. Get your free copy of the cute Outdoor Adventure Color & Find printable here from Picklebums.

9. Camping Bingo

Sitting around the campfire on a lazy afternoon playing bingo together sounds like a pretty amazing memory maker for kids! Gluesticks & Gumdrops and Handmade Charlotte both take this fun a step further by offering free camping themed bingo printables!

Either game can be played like traditional bingo where the items on the squares are called out, or by crossing out what you see around you, more like a scavenger hunt. However you play it, you could print off several copies and mark them with a pen, use poker chips or coins to cover the spaces, or a great tip offered by Handmade Charlotte is to put them in dry erase sleeves, bring along some dry erase markers, and be able to wipe off the sleeve to start a new game! I’m a teacher and will also offer than plastic sheet protectors are cheap and work the same way, but just aren’t as durable.

The bingo game from Gumdrops & Gluesticks has some cards with words on them and some with only illustrations on them (which are really cute). This way, readers and non-readers can play together or each player can just choose their preference of written or illustrated card. You can get your free copy of Camping Bingo from Gumdrops & Glusticks here.

Handmade Charlotte offers one a little different. Each square has a description of something you may find on a nature walk. This version could be played like traditional bingo, but with squares like “shiny rock” and “ant hill,” this would be really fun for kids to take on a hike, crossing off what they find along the way. Find your free copy of Nature Bingo here from Handmade Charlotte.

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10. Scavenger Hunt

If you like the idea of playing scavenger hunts, I have found a few free printables perfect for younger kids or older kids alike!

Mommy Evolution offers two free printable versions of camping scavenger hunts. One has a list of things to find and a list of ways to use your senses, like “feels rough” and “feels spiky.” This is great for kids of all ages, but especially for younger kids who can read, but may not have the attention span to locate a long list of items.

However, Mommy Evolution also offers a free printable scavenger hunt perfect for older kids with a much longer list of things to find, including exciting discoveries like animal holes! There are animals listed which may need to be edited based on your location or the season, but this list is perfect for older kids through teens and adults.

Get your free camping scavenger hunt printables here from Mommy Evolution.

If you have non-readers, Organized 31 offers 4 free camping scavenger hunts with illustrations along with words. With 4 versions, kids could go on 4 different adventures over the weekend with new things to discover each time! Get your free illustrated camping scavenger hunt printables here from Organized 31.

11. Would You Rather

Everyone has an opinion, which is what makes Would You Rather a game perfect for everyone at your campfire! Skip to my Lou offers a free printable with cut-apart questions that can be put in a jar or hat and drawn at random.

These questions are all clean and suitable for elementary aged kids through adults, with some, such as “Would you rather have a skunk’s tail or a unicorn’s horn?” suitable for even preschool aged kids.

Why I love Would You Rather is that it is great at getting everyone to open up, starts conversations, and lets everyone learn a lot more each other. Get your free Would You Rather printable here from Skip to my Lou.

12. Charades

If you have kids that love to act or play make-believe, then charades is where it’s at! Sometimes it’s hard to think of people or things to act out. Luckily, Moms & Munchkins offers an entire library of free charade topic printables ready to print and take on your next camping trip!

With both generic categories, seasonal themes, movie snack charades, and everything in between, your kids could play charades all night and never run out of ideas. You could play the traditional way, or if you have enough people, puppet charades where one person uses another as their “puppet” to act out the word or phrase.

If you get tired of acting, you could draw the word instead of act it out. You could even bring along a tub of Play-Dough and try to guess what each player is sculpting. Find several free charades printables here at Moms & Munchkins.


Find campfire games for two on our post here!


13. Camping Word Search

If your older kids may need a quiet activity or something they can do while sitting around the campfire, print some camping word search printables before you go. Below are three camping themed word searches that will challenge your kids while sitting around the fire or at the picnic table.

Me and My Inklings offers a free camping word search in their post about making a campfire snack. The snack is cute and looks super fun to make, but scroll down for the free word search. Click here for the free printable.

Education.com has a free camping word search that is less difficult and would work for elementary-aged kids because there are fewer words and letters to search through on the page. Get that free camping word search printable here.

There is also a free camping word search perfect for older kids and adults. Tree Valley Academy offers a printable that has packed more letters in the page to search through and a more extensive list of longer words to find. Get your free, challenging camping word search printable from them here.

14. Activity Dice

For a fun printable game that gets the kids up and moving, activity dice is perfect. These are dice with a different activity on each side that you print out, your kids roll, and attempt the activity rolled. Below are a few styles so you can find the set that is perfect for your kids!

The Sisters, What? blog offers a really cute die perfect for younger kids with activities such as jump like a kangaroo or slither like a snake. Find that free printable here.

Along these same lines, OT Mom Says has a free printable die with fun animal movements your kids can try. The kids can donkey kick and frog hop al around your campsite! Get that free printable here.

The Playdough to Plato blog offers an adorable animal-themed activity die with prompts like “trot like a horse” and “hop like a rabbit.” It’s cute and the kids will love trying the different activities. Find that free printable here.

For activity dice that offers a bit more of a challenge, try the free printable from I Can Teach My Child that has one die with activities and one with numbers. Roll both and do the activity, such as “stomp” the number of times rolled on the other die. Grab that free activity dice printable here.

Older kids can get in on this with two different printable dice. The first from KID DO features balance yoga poses for your kids to try which will challenge little ones all of the way up to teens. Find that free printable here.

The second die is from Active for Life that has a new challenge on each side, such as “How many times can you throw and catch a ball?” and “How high can you jump?”. This die would be great for older kids, but younger ones can play by doing what the big kids are doing, making it perfect for everyone! Download your free activity dice printable from Active for Life here.

15. Camping Memory Game

Memory is something that is fun for all ages of kids and works for non-readers as well. Growing Play offers a camping themed memory game on their site with adorable illustrations like a racoon playing the guitar.

Print these out on cardstock before your camping trip, pop them in a baggie, and you have a fun game that is even challenging for adults, sometimes more so than for the kids! Snag your free camping memory game printable here from Growing Play.

16. What Am I

What Am I is a game that any child of reading age up through the adults can play together around a campfire, laugh, and make great memories with. Picklebums offers a great free printable version on their site with prompts ranging from “The Beach” to “The Tooth Fairy.”

The game is a set of cards with a person, place, or thing on it. Without looking at the card, one player puts one face out on their forehead and asks questions of the other player in attempts to guess what is on their card. For example “Am I alive?” or “Am I smaller than a loaf of bread?”.

My family plays a version of this game on camping trips with friends and it is one even our teens request. Despite being a very simple game, there is a lot of opportunity for hilarious questions and jokes that carry on for years, such as ours “Am I a meat product?”

Get your free copy of the What Am I printable here from Picklebums.

17. Camping Conversation Starters

One of the best parts of a campfire is the time spent with family and friends and the opportunity for conversation that may not happen otherwise. Two sites have made this even easier by offering free printable conversation starters to help you learn more about the people sharing your campsite.

The site Long Wait for Isabella offers their free printable here and Easy Peasy Creative has their version available to download here. With questions like “What is the best campsite you’ve ever been to?” and “What would your dream camper have in it?”, you will get to know everyone a little better by the time the weekend is over.

18. Camping Scattergories

If your camp has older kids or teens, Hip Homeschool Moms has a Camping Scattergories game that will be both competitive and fun!

Scattergories is a game where you are given a list of categories and a letter. You are challenged to write something that falls under each of the categories listed, but they all have to start with the letter chosen for that round. The store bought game comes with a letter die, but if you don’t have that you could just put letters on slips of paper in a hat and draw one out each round.

What is fun about the version from Hip Homeschool Moms is that the categories featured all have a camping theme. Get your free Camping Scattergories printable here from Hip Homeschool Moms.

19. Camping Board Game

Kids love games where they roll a die and advance around a gameboard. Education.com has made a great camping themed board game that kids will absolutely love to play in a tent with a flashlight once the sun has gone down!

The board, die, and playing pieces are all provided and can be cut-out from cardstock for more durability. Players roll the die, move around the board, and follow the directions on the squares. What I love about this game is that their are several playing pieces that have a tab to fold back so they can stand up, so the pieces can also be used by kids who would like to set up and play with a little campsite.

I can see kids loving this free Camping Board Game printable from Education.com while camping and at home, as well. Get your free download here.

20. Secret Decoder

Kids love mysteries, and ever good mystery has a code to break. Dabbles & Babbles offers a free printable version of a two-wheeled secret decoder that will provide hours of fun for older kids, young teens, and adults alike!

Not only can kids write secret messages to each other for fun, but there are other ways to incorporate this into play at a campsite, as well, such as creating a scavenger hunt for each other using code as the clues. The possibilities for this one are only limited by their imagination!

Get your free Secret Decoder printable here from Dabbles & Babbles. Better print one for each child, while you’re at it!

21. Don’t Eat Pete

This game is both silly AND involves a snack, a perfect combination! Don’t Eat Pete is offered by Squarehead Teachers and is perfect for young kids all of the way up to young teens. A gridded game board is offered as a free printable on the site and the directions are explained.

A piece of candy or a snack, such as M&Ms or Goldfish, are placed one on each square of the game board. One player is sent away where they can’t see or hear while the others decide which of the candies will be “Pete.” The player is then allowed back and starts eating the candies or snacks one by one. This continues until they reach for Pete and all of the other players yell “Don’t eat Pete!” Silly and fun.

Get your free gameboard printout for Don’t Eat Pete here from Squarehead Teachers.

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Cat is a nature lover who wants to help you make the most of your family and friend time in the great outdoors by offering helpful tips about fire pits, backyard activities, and camping. Learn more about Cat here.