Camping guides
Fun camping games for all ages: complete activity guide
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Getting bored of sitting around the campfire? Keep your family and friends entertained for weeks with our list of 15 fun camping games for all ages!
Regardless of whether you’re trying to entertain kids, teenagers or adults, this list of camping games has something for everyone - from schoolyard games to drinking games and much more!
Want even more fun ideas for the young ones? You should also see our list of camping games for kids!
Make camping fun - find campervan hire in Australia with Camplify!
15 fun camping games for all ages
1. Cornhole
Cornhole is one of the world’s most popular camping games and provides heaps of fun for kids, teens and adults alike. Buy a cornhole board and keep it in your campervan, so that you can host a running tournament throughout your camping trip.
To play Cornhole, set the boards up about 10m apart. Play individually or split into teams and throw the cornhole bag into the hole of the opposite board. You score 1 point if the bag hits the board and 3 points if the bag lands in the hole. The first player or team to score 21 points wins.
2. Truth or Dare
Another fun camping game for all ages, Truth or Dare is sure to get the heart rate pumping. Will you reveal your secrets or do whatever your friends and family dare you to? The best part is, this game tends to get better the longer it goes on!
To play Truth or Dare, sit in a circle and nominate someone to start. The person to their right asks that person “truth or dare?” Depending on what the nominated player chooses, you can then ask them a question or dare them to do something. The game then moves clockwise around the circle.
3. Camping Bingo
Camping Bingo is awesome for all ages and will keep you entertained throughout the entire trip. However, it requires some preparation before you leave.
Create Camping Bingo cards, each with 25 square grids. In each grid, write or draw an animal, activity or piece of equipment that you might see during your camping trip (e.g. kangaroos, koalas, a barbecue, a campfire, a compass, marshmallows, etc.). Whenever you spot one of these items, cross it off on your bingo card. The first person to cross off all of the items wins camping bingo!
Don’t want to create your own Australian camping bingo cards? Find printable cards here and here.
4. Bullrush
Bullrush is a camping game that is highly active and will get the blood flowing. You probably remember playing it in school but it’s still a great game for teens and adults as well!
To play Bullrush, nominate one person to be in. Everyone else lines up on one side of an open space (this is known as “safety”). When the nominated person in the middle of the open space shouts “bullrush”, everyone else must run from one boundary to the other (about 25m away). If you are tagged by the nominated person, you must join them in trying to tag the other players. The winner is the last player who hasn’t been tagged.
5. Picolo Drinking Game App
The Picolo app is a camping game for adults only! Take your campfire party to the next level, have a few laughs and put away a few beverages as you play along with the wild drinking games on this app!
To play the Picolo Drinking Game, download the app from the iOS store or Google Play. Set up the game by entering all players’ names. From there on out, the app will talk you through a range of drinking and party games including King’s Cup, Drunk Pirate, Never Have I Ever, Most Likely To and heaps more!
6. Camping Charades
This camping game is great for both family and friends. You’re guaranteed a few laughs as everyone puts their acting skills to the test and tries to guess what the nominated player is acting out.
To play Camping Charades, team up in pairs. Then, the other teams write down a camping-related activity on a piece of paper and hand it to your partner (don’t look at the paper). Your partner then has a minute to mime or act out those activities (without saying anything). You score a point if you can guess what activity your partner is acting out. The team with the highest score wins.
7. Stick Limbo
Stick limbo is another classic camping game that you may remember from your childhood. But it can be fun for teens and adults to test how flexible they still are! Plus, it’s super simple and requires minimal set-up.
To play Stick Limbo, two people hold either end of a large stick at chest height. Everyone else takes turns limboing under the stick without touching it. Gradually, the stick is lowered more and more. You are out if your hands touch the floor or your body touches the stick.
8. Water balloon fight
A water balloon fight is the perfect camping game for a hot Australian summer's day. Just make sure that you have access to a tap and pick up all the pieces of rubber afterwards to be put in the trash.
A water balloon fight is simple. Buy a bag of water balloons from Target or BigW, fill them all up at a tap, give a few to each player and go to war!
9. Park Ranger
Park Ranger is a camping game that is suitable for all ages but is a particular favourite amongst children. It’s also a great game if you have to entertain a large group of people!
To play Park Ranger, set boundary lines around an open area. One player is nominated to be in and stands in the middle of the open area. All other players think of an animal that becomes their identity. The nominated player then says a characteristic that the animals may have (e.g. a beak, feathers, four legs, scales, spikes, etc.) If the animal has that characteristic, the player must run across the open area without being tagged. Tagged players become trees, frozen on the spot and capable of tagging other players.
10. Water Relay
Water Relay is another cool camping game to play in the heat of the Australian summer. It’s suitable for kids, teens and adults but be warned - you’re going to get wet!
To play Water Relay, create two single file lines facing forward. The person at the front of the line has a cup full of water. Everyone behind them has an empty cup. The front player holds the cup of water over their head and pours it backwards. The person behind them tries to catch as much water as they can in their empty cup. The first team to fill the last cup wins.
11. Shadow Hand Puppets
Shadow Hand Puppets is perhaps the oldest camping game in the world and an awesome way to pass the time at night. Entertaining for all ages!
Set up a campfire or torch so that you can practice your shadow puppets against the wall of the campervan. See picture demonstrations of how to make 15 different shadow puppets, including elephants, bears, wolves, rabbits, giraffes and more. If you are feeling creative, add a storyline and some character voices.
12. Card Games
Card games are the perfect camping game because they are compact, easily transportable and there aren’t a heap of loose pieces that you can lose (unlike board games).
Using a standard 52-card deck, there is a whole range of games that are suitable for teens and adults: Crazy Eights, Go Fish, Rummy and War.
Want something a bit different? Try a unique card game UNO, What Do You Meme or Cards Against Humanity (free online version available).
13. Slacklining
Slacklining is an awesome camping game for the more agile and athletic amongst us. Whilst it requires a little bit of set-up at first, it can keep you entertained for days at your campsite. However, it may not be safe for kids and is probably best left to teens and adults.
To do some Slacklining, buy a slacklining kitand set it up between two trees at your campsite. Now, all you have to do is keep your balance as you move along the suspended length of webbing. Just like tightrope walking, this takes a lot of practice!
14. Murder in the Dark
Murder in the Dark is a spooky but fun camping game for young and old. Plus, it requires very little set-up. All you need is some paper, a pen and the dark of night around your campsite!
For each player, place one small piece of paper in a hat. All the pieces of paper should be blank except for two - one should have a “D” written on it and the other should have an “M”. Every player draws a piece of paper out of the hat, with the “D” being the detective and “M” being the murderer. The murderer can “murder” other players by making eye contact and winking. The victim then pretends to die. The detective has to figure out who the murderer is before all the other players die.
15. Chubby Bunny
Chubby Bunny is probably the most legendary camping game of all time. It’s great for older kids, teenagers and adults - especially those who love a marshmallow or two. However, it may not be safe for young children.
To play Chubby Bunny, everyone must put one marshmallow in their mouth and try to say the phrase ‘Chubby Bunny’. If you can do that, put another in your mouth and try to say ‘Chubby Bunny’. Keep putting more and more marshmallows in your mouth until you can’t get the words out!
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The information in this blog is accurate and current as of the date of posting. Please be aware that information, facts, and links may become outdated over time.