Have you ever thought of bringing the outdoors inside? Well, if not then we are presenting to you some fun, creative, and unique ideas to enjoy camping in your living room. Yes! You have heard it right. Camping is not just about the outdoors. You can have equal fun if you camp inside. Bring all the fun indoors with some unique ideas that we will be discussing here.
Indoor Camping Ideas
Camping is a great way to rejoice yourselves, spend quality time with your family, and create unforgettable memories. But who says that camping has to be only in outdoor settings. You can create a campsite inside your home if you are not willing to go outside of your home. This way you can learn amazing camping tips and ideas while having fun.
Try the following ideas and activities for the perfect indoor camping adventure for your kids.
Sleep in Your Real Tent
Camping is not camping without a proper setup. To create camping vibes in your living room, you need to set up a tent or camp. Clear up some space where you could pitch the tent. If you do not have a tent, then use your sleeping bags. Fetch the blankets if you have none of these and put on some cushions and pillows to complete the setting.
Watch for Animals
It doesn’t matter where you are camping, you can still have the same vibes that can be felt at an outdoor campsite. If there is something that you cannot enjoy while camping indoors is nature. And animals are no exception. You can neither bring them nor can find them in a home setting. But you can at least use stuffed toys to play with kids. Hide them and ask your kids to find them. This way you can enjoy a good activity.
Make an Indoor Campfire
A campsite is incomplete without a campfire. A campfire lets you easily spend the cold nights under the sky. It is also a good way to bring all your family together to share stories and play games. But, you cannot create a campfire inside a home. So what is the alternative? Collect and assemble some colored tissues and logs and there you go.
Enjoy Family Time Around the Campfire
Are you bored with your everyday routine? Do you want some change in your life? So go nowhere else. Camping not only rejoices a person but also helps the family members in strengthening their bonds. Grab some pieces of blanket, set up a tent, and use colored tissue paper to create a campfire. Gather your family members together and sit around the campfire to have an amazing time. Have some coffee, play some games, or share your childhood memories with your kids.
Discuss Fire Safety
Camping is a great time to teach children fire safety and precautions. It does not matter if you set up a real fire or not. At least your kids will have an idea of what it is and how dangerous it can be. This teaching will help them when they will set off on a real camping adventure.
Prepare a Kids’ Camping KitZ
If this is your first time with your kids then begin camping by shopping for some camping kits for your kids. These kits are a good source of learning with which your kids will be able to learn the uses of the items present inside a camping kit. A usual camping kit includes a flashlight, a lantern, a pocket knife, a water bottle, a compass, a bandage, binoculars, and other essentials.
Talk About How This Camping Adventure is Different
By doing this you can have an idea about your kid’s likes, priorities, thought processes, and ability to adapt to the outdoor camp setting.
Watch Family Movies About Camping
While camping, you can try as many activities and games as you wish. Watching movies is a good idea. If you want to create a realistic camping ambiance, then try watching movies with a camping or nature theme. Also, a horror movie will be fun. Dim out the lights, grab some popcorn and have fun.
Stay Unplugged as Much as Possible
Indoor camping is a perfect way to get back to nature, cut off the technology, and forget the worries of everyday life. It teaches you how to connect to nature despite having all the distractions. So start by dimming the lights, switching off your phones and other devices, eventually, you will feel calmer and relaxed.
Listen to Nature Sounds
Music boosts the spirit and helps in relieving stress. Playing some natural sounds in the background or singing them together will help you create wonderful memories that you will cherish forever.
Decorate a Little
If you decorate your living room with the following items to create an outdoorsy camping environment.
- Rocks and pinecones
- Vases filled with leaves and flowers
- Glow-in-the-dark star stickers
- Posters of nature scenes
Do a Simple Camping-Themed Art Project
Make camping more fun by involving some creative activities. If you and your kids love art and enjoy crafting then there is no better option than creating a DIY camping-themed art project. Take out your art collection or buy some to create props. Mix and match them and set a camp made with your custom-created items.
Get Some Exercise
Play some physically demanding games like ‘Obstacle Course’ or hide and seek. Or if you have no extra space then plan some mind games. Playing some thoughtful and critical games will let your kids grow their thinking and problem-solving capabilities. Find some (out-of-the-box) thinking games and make camping more fun.
Read Camping Stories
Reading camping stories inside your kid’s camp can fill your nights with joy. Or encourage them to read the stories themselves. Paired with excitement, reading books will become a fun-filled activity rather than a boring one. This way they can develop a habit of reading storybooks before bed.
Set Up a Starry Night
With indoor camping, you cannot enjoy the wonders of nature including the cold breeze, a starry night, the smell of nature, stargazing, the whispering of birds, watching the sunrise, and much more. But if you collect some glowy and twinkly stars and paste them on your ceiling, you can easily create a starry night vibe inside your home.
Plan Some Food Activities
Prepare Camp Snacks & Drinks
Mealtime is the best time to share amazing stories, have meaningful conversations, and create unforgettable memories. And when you camp, the feeling becomes much more special. Whether or not it’s a real camp, put the same efforts into preparing your camp snacks and dinner to make it worthwhile. Bon Appetit!
Tinfoil Breakfast & Hot Drinks
The advantage of camping indoors is that you can easily bake your meals using tinfoil and an oven. Bake the dish for a few hours inside the oven and enjoy it with a hot cup of tea or coffee.
Grill Your Dinner
Having dinner under the stars with a cold night breeze is what every camper dreams of. But how will you incorporate those vibes into your living room camp? It’s simple. Take out your grill pan, place meat, hotdogs, or fish, sprinkle your favorite spices, and some amount of oil, wait for a while until it is completely grilled. This way you can have equal fun just like you could have on your typical camping trip.
Prepare Special Camping Meals
Who does not love to have a mouth-watering, scrumptious, and to-die-for meal? We all do. But such amazingly tasty meals are not prepared within the blink of an eye. There goes proper passion and determination behind cooking them. Take some ideas from your cooking magazines or ask for some special recipes from your ancestors and have a perfect dinner with your family in your indoor camp.
Spread Out a Tablecloth and Have Dinner on Your Living Room Floor
We usually head over to our kitchen table once the meal is served. But with indoor camping, the meal setting needs to be different. However, it is not easy to replicate the scene of a real campfire meal. After you are done cooking, spread out a tablecloth over your living room floor and enjoy the meal with your family.
Fun Camping Activities and Games
Card Games
Card games are one of the classic choices for spending spare time in camps. Bring your family together under the tent, distribute cards, and get going. Try playing Crazy 8’s, Slap Jack, Memory, and Matching. We are sure that you will love playing them.
Outdoor Scavenger Hunt… Inside
An outdoor scavenger hunt is usually played outdoors and involves players listing and searching for different things and beings they can find around them. To play it, you need to jot down everything you can find in the wilderness and ask your team players to go in search of them or point them out. This way, you will be able to mark all of the boxes till the end of the game. However, the case is much different if you play this game inside your home. Although, you cannot find wild animals or natural things inside. But you can replace them with stuffed toys. Hide them and ask your kids to find them.
Easy Binocular Craft
For playing scavenger hunt, you need to have a good binocular. It does not always need to be real. Instead, you can craft and create your binoculars. Take out your painting equipment and get the painting started.
Make Your Own Compass
You must have not heard of the compass craft before. But let us assure you that you will have equal fun and learn equally amazing skills while crafting your own compass. Channel your inner artist and explore the more artistic side of yourself.
Reading by Flashlight
Given the pin-drop silence and the lights-out, the vibes of the surrounding area make reading much more interesting especially for kids who love their parents reading a story to them. Try the following camp-themed books, and read them to your kid with a flashlight.
- The Berenstain Bears Go Camping
- Llama Llama Loves Camping
- Campfire Stories for Kids: A Story Collection of Scary and Humorous Campfire Tales
- Good Night Campsite
- Try Not to Laugh Challenge Camping Joke Book
Tin Can Lantern Craft
Lantern is one of the essentials people should equip themselves with. However, if you do not have a fresh lantern, you can recreate your older and obsolete lanterns as well. This activity is not only enjoyable but expands the creativity skills in children too. Give them a set of paint colors, a few brushes, and get them started. For a few, more quick and easy games ask your family to share their ideas and start playing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the fire options I have other than a campfire?
Fire is not suitable for indoor settings especially if you have kids. You can collect some colored tissues or logs and create a DIY artificial campfire. Play some music, games, share stories, or have your favorite cappuccino around the fire. This way, you can keep your kids protected and enjoy a great campfire experience.
What kind of food do you take home camping?
You can take anything. At indoor camping, you do not have to worry about preserving food items as you would in an outdoor setting. So, food options are not an issue. You can eat anything you like.
Why is indoor camping beneficial?
Indoor camping is beneficial for several reasons that are listed below:
- It saves your traveling and commuting expenses.
- It helps you prepare a detailed camping checklist.
- Your kids get to learn the basics of a camping adventure.
- You do not have to worry about leaving your pets alone.
- You can have the same fun being physically distant from others during the current COVID situation
How to prepare camp snacks & drinks?
Camping is boring without proper snacks and drinks. For all the munchies who love binge-eating snacks, we will suggest that they make some at home. Watch some online tutorials and prepare your favorite bread, bagels, popcorn, s’mores, or cupcakes at home. Beat some coffee, prepare tea, and have fun.
What are the camp rules?
The basic camp rules include the following points that you must share with your family and let your kids learn:
- Unplug yourselves from the digital world
- Switch off your phones
- Minimize the use of technology
- Connect with nature
- Have as much fun as you can
- Share stories
- Play games
- Forget about every worry
- Avoid work commitments
- Be rough and tough
- Smile and have fun
Camping inside your home provides you with an insight into how an adventurous trip is planned. Besides being equally fun, it lets us explore our creative powers and make us well informed about the things that a person must be prepared for while camping. Doing so teaches you the necessary items that need to be in your camping gear checklist. So what are you waiting for? Plan indoor camping