Whether you’re camping in the backyard, or traveling to somewhere new, you can get the kids excited about camping with these fun camping crafts.  

Planning a staycation?  Check out these fun backyard day camp ideas as well. 

The tent and campfire crafts, as well as other crafts inspired by camping, would be fun to do before your family camping trip. 

Or, you could use them for scout camp crafts.  

Camping Crafts

Sit Upon —  A sit-upon is essential for always having a clean, dry seat when camping.  Make your own using colorful duct tape to use when sitting around the campfire, or for taking on long hikes.  

Gone Camping — Kids will love personalizing this paper tent craft with a picture of themselves.  

Glowing Campfire — Young kids will adore this campfire craft, which really lights up.  Put a few cottonballs on a stick, and they can pretend to roast marshmallows.  Too cute! 

Tin Can Lantern  —  Tweens will have fun learning how to make their very own lantern for camping.  Use with a battery tea light or small candle.

Craftstick Tent — This one is super simple and doesn’t take a lot of prep time.  It would make a cute magnet for the refrigerator to remind kids of all the fun they had camping. 

DIY Compass —  Part craft, part science, and 100 percent fun.  Kids will have fun making this oversized compass that really works.

Cupcake Liner Campfire — Red and orange cupcake liners become a cozy fire in this paper craft.

Bandage Lightning Bugs — Bandages aren’t just for boo-boos.  Discover how you can use them to create some cute lightning bugs.

Pretend S’mores — Everyone love s’mores.  This cute craft is perfect for pretend play.    Then use a solar oven to make smores you can eat!

American Girl Camp Fire —  Build a pretend camp fire that is perfect for using with dolls or stuffed animals.   

No-Sew Sleeping Bag for Doll — This adorable sleeping bag is perfect for an American Girl Doll or stuffed animal.  Perfect for using during pretend play and to take on camping trips.

Foil Printed Camp Fire — This is a fun camp fire craft for preschoolers.  

Camping Story Stones —  These decorated rocks would be fun to make to leave for others to find, or to use when telling stories about your trip.

Camping Coloring Pages — Print these out for kids to color as you drive to your destination.  Or, use them as part of a camp at home experience.  

Paper Plate Camping Craft — Little ones will have fun switching their camp scene from daytime to night with this paper plate craft.

Handprint Campfire — Are you going camping with the kids for the first time?  Make this cute toddler campfire craft as a keepsake.  

Recycled Camping Lantern — Recycle a plastic jar into an old-fashioned looking camping lantern.  

Cardboard Tube Binoculars — Inspire some creative play with this simple craft.

Craftstick S’mores — This is a simple and fun craft for little campers.  

Paper Sleeping Bag & Writing Prompts — Print out the sleeping bag craft to color and then open it to write memories of your camping experiences.  

Camping Necklaces — Tweens will have fun making their very own necklaces that show off their favorite part of the camping experience. 

Water Bottle Holder —  Create your own colorful water bottle holder to use on hiking trips and around the camp site.  

These camping crafts are perfect for summer.

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The post Fun Camping Crafts for Kids first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Having that much-needed water is important in the summer heat, but who wants to have to hold it in their hand all day?

One of our favorite camp crafts is this duct tape water bottle holder.   With this design even young kids can help decorate their own carrier they’ll be proud to use.  

Colorful duct tape crafts like this one are fun for all ages.  

Once you’ve made your own DIY drink carrier, try making this duct tape sit upon.  They’re both perfect for taking on hikes and using around the camp fire.  

DIY Water Bottle Holder

Materials Needed:

• Water Bottle 
• Cheap Drink Cozy 
• Colorful Duct Tape 
• Tape Measure (optional)

Start with your drink cozy.  You can usually find these at local dollar stores.

Slip your bottle into the cozy to help give it shape.   

You can use a reusable bottle, if you’d like.  If you use a disposable bottle, you may want to use it for this water bottle sun catcher when it’s empty.  

I have seen people make homemade drink holders with just duct tape, but using the cozy will help keep your water cold a bit longer.  Plus, it makes this craft super easy for kids to make their own water bottle holder.

Once your bottle is in the cozy, cover the cozy’s sides with duct tape.  

You don’t need to cover the bottom.  In fact, it is better not to.  This way any condensation from the water bottle will have a way to escape.

Simply take strips of duct tape to wrap around the cozy and cover the outer sides.

Of course, in order to make carrying that water easier, your drink holder needs a strap.

Measure how long you want your strap to be.  If you want to be able to carry it across your body diagonally you will want it a bit longer.

Cut off a piece of duct tape the length you need for your strap.  

You will fold this piece of duct tape in half length-wise.  This step is best done with a partner!  

One person can hold the end of the tape while the other carefully works to fold the tape a little at a time.

Once your strap is created you will attach it to the outside of your drink carrier. 

Position the ends of the strap so they are on opposite sides of your cozy.  Then use another strip of duct tape and circle the top portion of your drink holder, covering the ends of the strap.  

This personalized duct tape water bottle holder is perfect for taking on hikes, or for that trip to the amusement park.

You may also enjoy these posts: 

• How to Do Soap Carving
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• Cook S’mores in a DIY Solar Oven

Originally published on June 17, 2015.

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Whether you want to host your own backyard summer camp, or you’re looking for basic survival skills activities for kids, this building a shelter challenge will provide hours of endless fun.  

Whether it’s a blanket fort in the middle of the living room on a rainy day, or turning a cardboard box into a castle, kids love building forts.

When it comes to simple STEM activities for kids, this is one they will be asking to do over and over again.  

Building a Shelter Challenge

This survival skills activity can be done with a wide range of ages.

4-5 year olds can work with older team members by giving suggestions and gathering materials.  Once the shelter is complete they will enjoy using it for pretend play.

6-10 year olds will have fun experimenting with how to use the materials to build the strongest structure.  They might try placing it in a variety of locations, raising and lowering the tarp, and angling the tarp different ways.

Older kids will get more creative.  You may even want to see what types of shelters they might come up with if you don’t provide them with all the suggested materials.  What if they don’t have the rope?  Or, if you provide them with nothing,will they make a lean-to with fallen branches and leaves?

Suggested Materials:

• Tarp
• Rope or Elastic Ties (Bungee Cords)

Set up a solar still with the kids ahead of time and let it start working while the kids are building their shelters.  

Building a Shelter

This activity works best in a large area, preferably one with plenty of trees.   A campground or park works well, but be sure to be courteous to others.  This means taking down the structure before you leave and not destroying the local plant life by cutting tree limbs, etc.

We are fortunate to have a small wooded area next to our house that worked perfectly for this activity.  If you can’t find enough trees, you may need to get creative.  Think picnic tables or taking the swings off your back yard swing set and letting the kids use the frame to help build their structure.

If you are working with a large group, divide kids into groups of 3-4.  This ensures everyone is getting to help build the shelter, not just watching it happen.

Then give each group their materials and plenty of time to create their hideaway.

It’s hard, but try not to give advice or lend a hand to the groups when they start out.   They may start off tying the tarp too low, or running out of rope.

Let them make mistakes.  Let them start over.  It’s all about the process.

I loved seeing how different each of the shelters were.

Building a shelter was a favorite at our backyard day camp.  The kids returned to their forts throughout the day, checking on them, making changes, and playing.

If you are doing this kids activity in your own backyard, I highly suggest keeping the structure up a few days.  It’s fun to see whether the structure will stay up on a windy or rainy day.  And it will provide endless hours of pretend play for the kids.  

Make a few tin can lanterns to go with it and take the pretending to a whole new level.

If you liked this survival skills challenge of making a shelter, you will also like:

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• How to Make a Tin Can Stove 

The post Survival Skills Challenge: Building a Shelter first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.

Scavenger hunts also tend to have very little prep needed ahead of time, always a plus for busy parents.  

With this trail signs printable you can teach kids to make trail signs with rocks & sticks and leave all the scavenger hunt prep work to the kids.  

This simple activity would be a fun backyard summer camp idea.  

Affiliate links have been used below.  See my full disclosure for more details. 

Last year our homeschool book club read My Side of the Mountain and the sequel, On the Far Side of the Mountain.  In the sequel book Sam and his sister play a bit of a game, leaving trail signs for each other.  

We couldn’t wait to give it a try ourselves.  It proved to be a fun survival-themed summer day camp activity for kids of all ages. 

Trail Signs Printable & Activity 

Materials Needed:

• Trail Signs Printable 
• Sticks, Rocks, or Pebbles
• Small Toy to Hide

Download and print enough of the free trail signs printable for each child to have a copy.  To make them last longer you can laminate them or put them inside plastic sheet protectors.

Divide kids into two groups.  The first group will hide the small toy, using sticks or rocks to mark the trail, following the directions on the printable.  The second group will follow the trail signs to find the hidden treasure.

You can have a bucket of broken sticks and small rocks ready ahead of time.  Or, have the kids collect their materials as they create they path, meaning less work for you and more fun for them.

For the most fun, be sure the groups can’t watch each other as the toy is hidden and the trail is made.  

This may be the perfect time to have the waiting group make a duct tape water bottle holder or set up a solar oven to make s’mores.

Once the toy is hidden, have the second group try to follow the marked path using the trail signs printable.  

The goal is to locate the treasure (hidden toy). 

This activity is more fun when done in a large area, giving the kids plenty of space to get creative with their trails.  A park or camp ground is perfect.

Once the group discovers the hidden toy, it is their turn to hide it and lay out a trail.

I had the kids follow the path back to their starting point, picking up the sticks and rocks that were used so the next group didn’t get confused and follow the wrong set of directions.

Make sure you are courteous when doing the activity at a public place.  Don’t leave large rocks in the middle of a field for a tractor or lawn mower to hit.

This trail signs game makes a great camp activity can easily be modified for larger groups, with one group hiding the toy and the waiting groups working on camp crafts.  The waiting groups can take turns locating the hidden treasure and then creating a new path to follow.

Instead of hiding a toy, try hiding a treat for the kids to enjoy afterwards.  Even better, each group can hide part of a treat that can be enjoyed after everyone successfully follows the trails (like marshmallows, chocolate bars, and graham crackers to makes s’mores).

Not only will kid have fun with this simple trail signs scavenger hunt idea, but they will also learn a bit about how to mark a trail with rocks & sticks for others to follow.

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The post Learn Trail Marking with This Fun Scavenger Hunt Idea (includes free printable) first appeared on There's Just One Mommy.