It may be fun for the parents to hang out in the middle of the forest at night. But, for the kids, it might be a horrifying idea. If you are going to camp with your children, it is best to make sure your camping experience is as much fun for them as it is for you.

Here are five effective tricks that will make your next camping at the forest a memorable adventure for the kids.

Toys and Other Entertainment Supplies

When you take kids to the camp, you can either expect them to get bored or venture into trouble while looking for their own entertainment in the mud, rocks, and among the bugs. Pack a tub full of toys, colouring books, squirt guns, bubbles, UNO, or DIY art and craft material for your kids to play with.

You can bring an extra tent and designate it as the play station for the kids.

Let Them Explore the Night

Toddlers or pre-schoolers, they are all curious about what’s out in the nature. Let them explore the areas around your camping station. Use this exploration to build their vocabulary for nature by talking about what you see or hear. Let them collect the things that interest them and bring them home as souvenirs of their adventure.

You can carry separate torches or give them glow sticks for their little exploration into the wild. Fewer props like magnifying glass, bug nets, tweezers, and collecting jars will keep working as open-ended toys when it gets dark.

Stargazing

As beautiful as it is for the adults, children may get bored of stargazing in a minute or two. However, if you take a telescope or even binoculars, the bigger moon and brighter stars will fascinate them. If possible, schedule your camping vacation on days when the meteor shower is predicted. This will add more fun to the stargazing.

Make a List of Night-Time Activities

There are several games you and your kids can play on a camping night. Capture the Flag has seldom failed at entertaining the kids. They always love this game along with board games and interactive storytelling.

You can involve them in roasting marshmallows, singing songs, play music, or make S’mores. Be it toddlers, pre-schoolers, or older ones, everyone loves bedtime stories by the campfire. Getting lots of snacks to munch on can be a great idea to make the story time a total hit.

You can play night-time scavenger hunting. Make it interesting by giving your kids glow-in-the-dark sticks and flashlights. Ask them to look and listen for different insects and birds like crickets and owls. Give them tasks such as to find the North Star, moth, fireflies, blooming night flowers, etc.

Glow-in-the-dark bowling is yet another popular night-time camping game. All you have to do is fill the bottles with water and put a glow stick in it for visibility. Then take a ball and try to knock each one of it.

Rehearse It at Home

If it is the first time that you are taking the kids to a camping, make sure you try everything at home first. This will get the kids used to the camping activities. You can pitch the tent in the garden or indoor den and spend a night there with the kids. This will give you an opportunity to decide the best sleeping arrangement, pitching the tent will be easier later, and you will know if your gear is working properly, and the kids will get used to their sleeping bags.

Taking your kids camping may sound scary initially, but once you have these tricks at your fingertips, it not only becomes less scary, but you look forward to actually enjoy it with the kids.