Indoor Camping Activities for Kids

You probably need some indoor camping activities up your sleeve.

Let’s face it, no matter how much faith we place in our weather reporter and how tightly crossed our fingers are, we live in the UK and our weather isn’t always as bright and sunny as we’d like it to be. 

So, having an armada for indoor camping activities for kids in your camping kit will be a lifesaver for both your cubs and you.

This way you can stay in the comfort of your own home, push your furniture aside (or into another room) and pitch up your tent for a night under the stars. Of course, there will be a few layers of ceiling and roof between your kids and the stars but that still counts, right? Plus, you’ll be keeping them occupied with your indoor camping activities for kids!

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Let’s take a look at our top 15 tried and tested indoor camping crafts…

Also see: Fun facts about camping in the UK

Camping at Home Ideas

The number one choice of our indoor camping activities for kids has to be making the most out of building a fort before they grow out of it (even though we never seemed to grow out of them, ourselves).

This is the perfect makeshift camping activity for when you don’t have a tent to throw up in the living room or even the space for one. So, grab all the sheets all the pillows and all the fairy lights for the perfect fort at home.

Cook-Up Indoor S’mores

We probably mention this in nearly all of our articles here at Camping Cubs. But what can we say? Our American cousins certainly got something right.

So, get your hob on, gather the marshmallows, stick them onto some reusable skewers, have the digestives at the ready and start the s’mores. Although, we do suggest having some wet wipes on standby for when the marshmallow and sticky fingers wander their way around.

Have a look at our camping snack recipes here.

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Create Constellations

If you remember those small glow-in-the-dark stars that we all used to plaster on our ceilings as children, you may be surprised to see they’re still glowing strong.

So, see if you can pick up a pack or two (don’t worry, you’ll be able to find them anywhere from Amazon to a local craft store) and start sticking them on the ceiling with your little ones to make your very own constellations to make stories about and sleep under.

We love these glow in the dark stars.

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Create Indoor Camping Crafts

Be prepared, these indoor camping activities for kids certainly get messy. While it’s a great way to recycle newspapers and cardboard rolls, the PVC glue gets everywhere.

And don’t get us started on the glitter. Although, if you do want to use glitter, there are some fantastic eco-friendly mixes out there that help keep our British woodlands thriving for new camping adventures in the future. P.S. let the creative juices flow!

Create Nature Dreamcatchers

We’re not going to lie; we actually stole these camping at home ideas from an online forum but couldn’t pass the opportunity to try it.

While our eldest wasn’t as enthused at first, we can say it was a big success (and the nature dreamcatchers are still hung on the wall today!). But it does involve scavenging through the garden for sticks and foliage, first, and using naturally coloured yarn to make their own dreamcatchers.

Awesome dream catcher kit here!

Do Face-Painting

Whipping out the classic Snazaroo palette from Halloween kit and letting your imagination run wild on your kids’ face (and vice versa) can be a fantastic way to relax, have fun and lead to storytelling.

So, when you’ve got your face painted by an artist (nothing less, of course), you’ve got to take a look in the mirror to create a story using camping at home ideas; will it be about big-foot or will it be about the missing snacks?

This face painting kit here is perfect!

Make Shadow Puppets

Something that’s really fun to do is to set up a torch against the side of your pop-up tent or the side of a sheet on the fort (whichever you’re making use of with these indoor camping crafts) and create shadow puppets.

In fact, because of the light control needed, it can be more difficult to do out in the wild than in the comfort of your own home. If you can, stretch your fingers into some fun shapes like dogs, cats and rabbits!

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Play Board Games

If you’re going to spend a night doing indoor camping activities for kids, you might as well make use of the fact that small pieces in a board game aren’t likely to get lost and left in the gross of the campsite.

So, whether it’s Cluedo, Battleships, Ticket to Ride, Trivial Pursuit or even a heated game of Monopoly Junior, seize the adventure and roll the dice! Or you could even make your own camping bingo by using printables online.

Also see: The Best Board Games For Camping

Play Card Games

In exactly the same light as the board games, some of the simplest yet most effective indoor camping crafts involve making use of old card games lying around.

So, dust off the old pack of Uno as well as the eclectic collection of top trumps and start playing some pretty harmless camping games. Plus, these are more portable and can give

your kids a sense of the entertainment they’ll have when really out under the stars at night.

Play I-Spy

Playing I-Spy can be evolved. You’re making use of indoor camping activities for kids but that doesn’t stop your minds from wondering into the great wide open.

Whether it’s a British beach, woodland, the lakes, the peaks or a plain of land stretching into the distance. Get to know what your little ones believe camping is by asking what they spy when they imagine themselves there! We’ve seen some strange things with I-Spy!

Read Books

When you’re trying to make the camping at home ideas and crafts seem realistic, you’re going to want to try and keep the activities at a low volume and high-relaxation value.

After all, most camping pitches have a no noise policy after 10PM. So, play nature sounds on in the background and get them flicking through camping favourites like “S is for S’mores”, “Maisy Goes Camping” and “a Camping Spree with Mr. Magee”.

Run an Obstacle Course

Ok, this one does take a little space and a lot of planning. But it’s really worth it. Especially when you get to see yourself fail against some of the simplest of obstacles. Here are some camping-at-home ideas for your unbeatable obstacle course: crawl under certain chairs, hula three times, jump over pillows, run up and down the stairs, egg and spoon race, balance a bean bag on your head or even try a ring toss.

Talk About Camping Safety

Indoor camping activities for kids don’t have to be entirely fun and entertainment focused. They can also be made to bring camping safety to the front of their minds in fun ways and controlled environments.

Plus, they’re great to get in the open before actually getting on the road. For example, using indoor camping crafts to start talking about fire safety or making use of the shadow puppets to consider wild animals.  

Use Colouring Books

You just can’t go wrong with a good colouring book. Especially when it comes to quiet time and focussing on some indoor camping crafts. And the same goes for you, too, camping parents!

Give your little ones a new book filled to the brim with their favourite character while you have your book of artistic mandalas and you can all share colours between yourselves. As this is a quiet activity, it’s best done before bed!

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Watch a Movie

There’s never really an opportunity when watching a movie surrounded by your sloth isn’t the most relaxing thing to do. Especially when they can be camping related for your camping at home ideas.

To help you pick, we’ve gathered together our favourites: ’10 Fun Things to Do While Camping with Kids and Cubs’. From the classic American Summer camp to the more whacky family comedies, there’s quite the range.

Read about our top 10 camping movies here.

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