Best Outdoor Activities for All the Family

These days, with technology on such a massive rise, it’s common for children to amuse themselves by watching TV, playing console games or messing about on digital devices – neglecting the joy and benefit of ‘getting out of the house for a bit’. If you are a parent or adult who happens to be worried about the effects of this shift into a pretty sedentary lifestyle, going off on a camping trip emerges as the most excellent antidote. Doing so will get your kids away from their screens and offer them a gateway to loving the great outdoors.

Embarking on a family camping adventure entails more than just driving past some remote fields in your motorhome or pitching a tent and cooking a pot of baked beans over a stove. It presents an opportunity to engage children through a variety of entertaining and educational activities. Here are our tips for some fantastic outdoor activities you can do when you go away in your motorhome with the kids, making sure that the whole experience transcends the ordinary.

Build a Campfire

Establish safety guidelines – check, if you are staying on a pitch in a holiday park, that this is allowed. If it is, designate an ‘exclusion zone’ around the fire to ensure a secure environment, i.e. so that the kids don’t get too close. When you’re putting the fire together prior to lighting it, encourage the children to collect tinder and kindling. When it’s lit, sit around and create a memorable experience – this might include singing.

Campfire songs

Sharing music has always been an emotional trigger, very deep within the human psyche. It’s a great way to bond, and the music itself can transcend ‘ordinary life’ and take you into a different state. Campfire singalongs tend to inject some musical joy into the outdoor experience, with an array of popular campfire songs (traditional ballads, silly songs or even kids’ favourites like the theme from Shaun The Sheep), though you can of course sing pop songs. However you choose to have a campfire singalong, it will be a bonding experience.

Campfire stories

The tradition of storytelling sits particularly well on holiday when it is indulged beside a campfire. Telling ghost stories always goes down well with kids – they love to be scared, right? As long as you’re not going all out to terrify them, a healthy dose of creepy fear should amuse! Cater the story you are telling the group you’ve got, though, and encourage your kids to use their imaginations by inventing stories of their own.

Scavenger hunt

Ask any parent – a brilliant way to keep children interested in what you’re asking them to do is turn it into a task of some sort. You will be able to keep young minds engaged by setting up a scavenger hunt. Put together a list of natural items to find (a stick, a round stone etc) or hide small treasures around the campsite and you have your very own interactive adventure which will keep the kids focused and occupied.

Insects and other animals

It’s crucial to pass on a sense of respect for all natural life to your children. They are the future custodians of our planet and knowing all about the different levels of eco-system, and how the smallest insect relates to the largest mammal is important. You can start this off on your outdoor adventures by exploring the world of insects. Look beneath rocks at the creepy crawlies, encourage gentle observation and understanding. If you are camping near a farm, it’s worth asking the farmer if your kids can have a look at the animals.

Hike

You’re off in your motorhome (or campervan or caravan) and so you’re likely to be on a campsite or holiday park of some kind. It’s likely to be landscaped and include some wonderful walks, so you could take the kids off and explore these. Or, if you are not parked up at a formal park, you could explore the surroundings with a hike. This is a great opportunity to bond as a hike can involve singing, talking and – crucially – an informal version of orienteering. Your hike could be goal-based (reaching that landmark or the top of that hill over there) and, again, this will give the kids something to focus on and a sense of achievement once completed. They may even get to appreciate the views!

Nature rubbings

Unleashing the creativity in your kids is a great way to keep them enthused about spending so much time in the great outdoors. Making nature rubbings (using paper and crayons) is a brilliant way to engage their minds, too. They will be thrilled to capture the intricate details of leaves and flowers, preserving their memories of the outdoor adventure.

Stargazing

If you have enough room in your vehicle (and if you own one) you could take a small telescope on your trip. Set this up at night so that you can make the most of the night sky by stargazing – that is, looking through the telescope to try and spot familiar stars and constellations or perhaps even planets. Use astronomy books or the internet to identify what you are looking at, and to broaden knowledge.

Games

Being outdoors is a great chance to ‘get out the big guns’ – the games you can’t normally play at home due to their nature. Lawn darts, ring toss, football, cricket, petanque… the list is endless.

The most important thing to remember, when you are on motorhome holidays with kids, is to occupy their time and their minds in a way which is different from your domestic life. As we said at the start, they spend a lot of their normal lives on electronic devices or looking at screens. Try and engage them in a completely different way and, of course, help them develop a love for the great outdoors!