If you are considering camping with toddlers and are worried about how you will keep them entertained at camp the good news is, finding fun camping activities for toddlers is easier than you might think.
Not only do toddlers enjoy helping out with simple camping chores, but they can also enjoy a wide variety of fun activities.
Of course you want to make sure that you bring along a few favorite toys and a book or two to read to them at bed time in order to make them feel at home and comfortable.
As for the rest of the time though I would share with you some activities the toddlers I have camped with found fun.
Campground Race is One of the Fun Camping Activities Kids Love
We found that when camping with toddlers it worked best to find a campsite near an open area where toddlers have room to run and play.
Whenever our toddlers got bored or needed a bit of exercise we would then take them to the open area and have campground races.
We’ve had out toddlers racing frontward, backwards and hopping. It burns up a lot of excess energy and toddlers love it.
Sand or Nature Art – Creative Camping Activity Kids Enjoy
If you have room to pack a little bit of glue and some cardboard then you and your toddler can create sand or nature art together.
If camping near the beach let your child gather small sea shells, beach glass, tiny drift wood pieces and then scoop some sand and let them create their own beach art.
If you are camping in the woods, it is just as easy to create nature art. Let your child gather leaves, small pine cones, acorns and even small flowers and allow them to glue them to cardboard to create their own nature picture.
The activity is fun and toddlers gain more appreciation for their environment.
Fishing – A Great Camping Activity for Toddlers
My kids were fishing by the time they were two. With small kids size fishing rods these days and a nice place to fish from the shore (and help from mom or dad) toddlers can get their first taste of fishing and really enjoy the sport.
Of course be prepared to cook up some pretty small sunfish as my kids always wanted to eat what they caught even if the cleaned fish was little more than small bite.
Berry Picking is One of the Fun Camping Activities for Toddlers
In the area where we live blueberries are abundant near our favorite campground and our toddlers loved to go berry picking with us whenever we are camping and the berries ripened.
Of course, your toddler will need to be supervised to make sure they only pick ripe berries and don’t pop any green berries in their mouths while picking.
(One time Our small children went fishing during the morning and got about half a dozen small blue gill and then picked berries in the afternoon and insisted on having both fish and berries for dinner. So, I fried up the fish and made a blueberry sauce and the kids ate every mouthful of their dinner that night and were so proud of having “hunted their dinner.)
Taking a Nature Walk – A Fun Camping Activity Adult and Toddlers can Do Together
Toddlers love exploring nature and taking them for a nature walk and pointing out different types of plants, trees and animals can create an enjoyable experience for both you and your toddler or toddlers.
Just make sure that you gear the walk to your child’s abilities, so that they don’t get overly tired and fussy and you don’t end carrying them a long distance home.
Catching Bubbles – A Camping Activity Toddlers Love So Much
When our kids were toddlers we never went camping without taking along a big bottle of bubbles.
Our children loved it when we made bubbles for them to try and catch and this made for a fun activity for the entire family as even the older kids would join in and try and catch the higher bubbles.
Stick Gathering – Helping with Camp Chores can Be Fun Too!
Our kids liked to help us with camp chores from the time they could walk well on their own and one of their favorite chores was helping to get fire wood.
Of course they couldn’t handle the large logs. So, while we gathered up the larger dead fall we would give our toddlers sand buckets and let them gather small sticks in order to use to get the campfire started.
They loved helping with the chore and it actually kept them entertained while we gathered wood.
Making Lightening Bug Lamps – Another Creative Camping Activity Toddlers Enjoy
If there are a lot of lightening bugs in the area that you are camping, your toddlers may enjoy helping you catch a few in plastic jars with holes in the lid.
They can use the lightening bugs as night lights and let them go in morning. By the age of 4 my niece and nephew were experts at making lightening bug lamps and really enjoyed using them for night camping lights.
Keep in mind that toddlers can enjoy many of the same camping activities that you enjoy as long as you take a few safety precautions and modify the activities to their smaller size and abilities.
What great camping activities. We love to camp and always had fun when my daughter was younger. I hand’t thought of some of these ideas though.