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Fun Indoor Camping Party Ideas

06/23/2013 By Charlene 12 Comments

This post may contain affiliate links, please see my disclosure policy.

Indoor camping for kids- tons of simple ideas to have a camping adventure right at home!

 

So I am a tiny bit ashamed to bit that I am not a camper.  As in seriously not a camper.  I have been dragged against my will gone on trips in the past and I try to put on a happy face but really I just hate it.

I get extremely crabby when I can’t shower each and every day- and communal showers don’t count.  (Anywhere that requires I wear shoes into the shower is not a real shower to me.)  I am also not a fan of dirt or bugs or spiders or snakes or lizards or anything that might think I look like a delicious dinner.   So I am a massive party pooper about the whole thing and just overall not a roughing it kind of girl. 😀

My husband is a trooper though and he will sometimes take our girls camping when I have a trip planned so I don’t feel too badly about cheating them out of a childhood adventure.

But occasionally we go camping at home!  This can be really fun for smaller children or it can be a fun idea for slumber parties for bigger kids too.   You can either camp right in your own backyard for a little more of the experience or just set up your campsite smack in the living room.

We did this last night for the girls to get them prepared for a camping trip in July.  (I will be heading to Chicago and my darling husband will be taking the children off into the wilderness).

This is something fun and different and I like things like this that encourage their little imaginations too.

As always you can do this one up as much as you like or it can be something really simple too.  Somehow yesterday seemed to fly by so I didn’t get too fancy with our camping adventure.  We set up the tent, sleeping bags, camp chairs, popcorn and of course made S’Mores.

Fun Indoor Camping Party Ideas

The first thing we did was pushed back all the furniture in the living room.  Since we have hardwood floors, my husband moved some area rugs into the living room to pad the hard floor a bit more.

The children “helped” set the tent up.  Our tent is fairly big and I think this would have been just as fun using the popup instead.  You can just skip a tent too and use sleeping bags on the floor.

We added some “stars” by stringing Christmas lights onto the tent and then put sleeping bags and pillows inside.

Fun Indoor Camping Party Ideas

The girls got settled in and we spread out our picnic blanket and had a picnic for dinner.  We just grilled burgers for dinner but you might consider doing something more authentic like grilled fish or potatoes and veggies in foil packets.

Fun Indoor Camping Party Ideas

I set up the camping chairs to watch a movie – does anyone have ideas for camping themed movies?  We actually watched Treasure Buddies because nothing was jumping out at me that was kid friendly.

We had real stove top popcorn and then of course the Gooey S’Mores you see above.

Fun Indoor Camping Party Ideas

If you haven’t made S’Mores at home- they literally take about 30 seconds and are so yummy!  You can use standard ingredients, add peanut butter, use Nutella, or substitute a chocolate bar of your choice.  I like Hershey’s with Almonds and my husband loves Reese’s peanut butter cups so that is what we used.

Cut the graham cracker in half and add a big marshmellow on top- pop in micro for 15 seconds.  Add your chocolate bar of choice and micro for 5-10 more seconds.  Top with the other half of the graham cracker and viola!  One little slice of heaven on a plate.

And that was our little family adventure.  Kiddos loved it and it only took about an hour to set everything up and then we pulled it all down this morning.

Fun Indoor Camping Party Ideas

This would be especially fun in the winter when camping is not an option or when you have all your lovely Christmas lights up and sparkling!

This post is part of the 30 Days to a Funner Summer Series.

You can catch up with the entire series by clicking below:

  1. Day 1: Get Organized!  How to organize children’s activity bags.
  2. Day 2: End of Year Surprises for Children
  3. Day 3: Strawberry Lemon Slushie Recipe 
  4. Day 4: Homemade Hamburger Seasoning to AMP up your burgers
  5. Day 5: How to make Giant Bubble Solution
  6. Day 6: How to Save Money on Road Trips
  7. Day 7: How to Create a Summer Schedule.
  8. Day 8: How to make a GIANT water bed (this is so fun!)
  9. Day 9: Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe
  10. Day 10: 8 Ways to Get Outdoors this Summer
  11. Day 11: How to Calm a Child’s Room
  12. Day 12: How to Make Movie Night More Fun
  13. Day 13: Watermelon-Lime Sorbet (just 3 ingredients!)
  14. Day 14: Ideas for Mommy-Daughter Dates 
  15. Day 15: DIY Dip Dye Shorts for Children
  16. Day 16: How to Make Bouncy Balls that really bounce!
  17. Day 17: Caramel Corn Recipe (just like Cracker Jacks!) 
  18. Day 18: How to Make a Lego Tray (perfect for games and puzzles too!)
  19. Day 18: Painting with shaving cream (homemade bathtub paint)

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Children's Activities Tagged With: how to have a camping party, indoor camping

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Comments

  1. Erin says

    06/23/2013 at 2:17 PM

    These are fun ideas Charlene! For a camping themed movie idea, how about Troop Beverly Hills. I know it’s an old 80s movie, but it’s cute. Or maybe even The Parent Trap. I think the original one (only one I’ve seen) had the girls meeting each other at a summer camp.

  2. Charlene says

    06/23/2013 at 4:13 PM

    Oh gosh I do remover those! Great ideas!

  3. Melissa L. says

    06/24/2013 at 5:58 AM

    Really loving this series! Getting a bunch of great ideas! Thank you so much for taking the time to share!

  4. Catherine Holt says

    06/28/2013 at 4:23 PM

    What a great idea….so clever to keep the kids occupied..they would love it 🙂 The lights over the tent looks awesome. This would be a great idea for a birthday in winter 🙂

  5. Sarah S. says

    07/01/2013 at 8:31 PM

    We just did this for our boys (ages 4 and 6) on Friday – complete with camp food for dinner, sleeping bags, flashlights, s’mores, and Christmas lights over the tent! They loved it! We were planning on doing an indoor trial run anyway for an upcoming family camping trip, and it was perfect – especially since it rained all day … and all night.

  6. Charlene says

    07/01/2013 at 9:13 PM

    So glad to hear it Sarah!

  7. Merritt says

    01/27/2014 at 1:58 PM

    How did you attach the lights to the tent??

  8. Charlene says

    01/27/2014 at 2:10 PM

    Merritt, Our tent has a few strappy things that hang off it. We just draped the lights over the top and then used the little straps from the tent here and there to make them a little more secure. I think you could probably use a bit of electrical tape too if your tend doesn’t have anything to drape the lights onto.

  9. Dana says

    10/14/2014 at 2:51 AM

    what a great Idea!it has bena long time nog since I want to take My kids camping and it’s possible now. And fast too! Tank u!

  10. Heather says

    01/20/2015 at 8:15 PM

    Last year my husband, daughter and I did Christmas Campouts every Friday in December. Instead of a tent, we opened up our sleeper sofa and loaded it up with pillows and blankets. We had pizza, s’mores from the stovetop (roasted the marshmallows on the gas stove), and popcorn and watched a couple holiday movies. Then before bed we read a couple Christmas books before snuggling down to sleep by tree light. We had so much fun! It really helped us take time to enjoy each other during the seasonal chaos. I was surprised how everyone got on board and looked forward to it each week. Definitely a new tradition for us.

Trackbacks

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I'm Charlene- thank you for stopping by MY FRUGAL ADVENTURES! I am a Mom to two little girls living in gorgeous Northern California. This is a fun place to find simple & affordable inspiration for everything from gifts to home improvement to travel to children's crafts to what's for dinner tonight! READ MORE >>>

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