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These days, parents are clamoring to find more and more indoor activities to satisfy their kids’ energetic playtime needs. It can be difficult to come up with new and exciting ways to entertain and engage your children day in and day out, especially when you feel you’ve exhausted all your ideas. That’s why Wondrfly is here to supply you with a continuous stream of recommendations for occupying kids when they’re stuck indoors, at home.
Did you know that June is National Camping Month? It's true! So, today we’re going to be laying out all the details necessary for curating a camping experience for your child indoors, for crafts, to recipes, to activities for you to do together! Sit back, relax, and enjoy some quality indoor time with your child, while we work out all the details for you.
Why Go Camping Indoors?
Camping is a great way to connect with nature and learn basic survival skills. Just because you’re camping indoors doesn’t mean you can’t take these lessons with you! Camping indoors is an excellent activity for kids who have never been on a camping trip and want to preview the experience before committing to the challenges of the outdoors.
Think about it: Camping indoors gets kids used to the sort of activities they’ll have to perform when camping outdoors, but without the additional stressors of climate, bugs, animals, and dirt! Not that those things aren’t all a valuable part of the camping experience but warming kids up to the more “natural” aspects of camping outdoors slowly prepares them to get the most out of their first outdoor camping trip!
How to Make Indoor Camping Educational
Transforming camping into an indoor activity doesn’t necessarily rob it of its many educational benefits. Take an opportunity in between campfire tales and smores to go over some outdoor safety with your kids.
Invite them to discuss with you how this camping trip would be different if you were out in nature instead of at home. Talk about the things you’d need to pack for an outdoor camping trip to prepare for those differences: sunscreen, bug spray and citronella candles, etc. Here are some other practical outdoor lessons you can teach your child indoors!
- How to pitch a tent
- Fire safety
- How to safely identify and research local plants and animals
- Basic first aid
- Water purification
- Foraging
- The importance of respecting the earth and camping sustainably!
Pitch a Tent
If possible, clear a space in your living room large enough for you to pitch your outdoor tent indoors. Why? Well, as mentioned above, camping indoors can be just as educational as camping outdoors, if you treat your indoor camping trip like an outdoor one.
Learning how to pitch a tent will prepare your child for their first real outdoor camping trip. In addition, pitching a tent, if it’s large enough, is a team activity. Your child will need to learn to follow directions in order to support the team and get that tent ready!
If you don’t have an outdoor tent, or room in your living room to pitch one, then get creative! Create a blanket and pillow fort in the living room.
Whether you’re using a real tent or an improvised one, consider hanging string lights or applying glow-in-the-dark stars to the ceiling to recreate the experience of sleeping under the stars!
If you’re ambitious, you can use glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling or walls to create replicas of actual constellations, and have your kids identify and learn about them!
(Don’t) Start a Fire
No camping trip is complete without a campfire around which to sing songs and tell stories. But don’t worry, we’re not suggesting you start a campfire in your living room!
The campfire serves as more of a gathering place and centerpiece than a source of heat when you’re camping indoors. So, there’s no reason it can’t be made of used paper towel rolls and paper! Check out this adorable indoor campfire craft from Family Corner to make your own indoor-safe crafty campfire.
As you gather around the campfire, it’s a very appropriate time to discuss fire safety with your kids. Once you’ve covered the basics, the fun can begin!
Singing together with your child can help to boost camaraderie, confidence, and even your kids’ brainpower! Therefore, campfire songs make a perfect, enriching indoor activity for kids stuck inside. Here are a few campfire song suggestions from The Dyrt for you to teach your kids!
Make Some Snacks
Now that you’re settled down around your faux-campfire, it’s time to enjoy some smores! Here’s an excellent indoor smore recipe that never fails. These smores are made in the oven, and one of the benefits of camping indoors is that you’ll have access to your oven. If you want to make the most of that, and traditional smores just don’t seem exciting enough for the unique occasion, check out these 31 smore inspired recipes from Crazy for Crust!
Conversely, if you don’t want to rely on kitchen appliances on your indoor camping trip but want to make the experience as authentic to an outdoor camping trip as possible, you can cook your meals on an electric hotplate on the floor, making sure to enforce all safety rules and regulations, of course. If you choose to go this route, you’ll want to know about this list of over 100 camping-friendly recipes from The Adventure Bite!
Get Crafty
Arts and Crafts are always a terrific indoor activity for kids. Put a suitable spin on your crafting session with this extensive list of camping-inspired craft ideas from The Crazy Outdoor Mama.
Additionally, you can bring the outdoors inside when you craft with natural materials. To find some cute ideas on how to infuse nature into your crafting, check out Wondrfly’s recent article on autumn crafts for kids!
Keep tuning in to the Wondrfly blog (blogs) for more at-home, indoor activities to keep your kids entertained and learning every day! If you’re looking for kids’ activities near you, try searching www.wondrfly.com(search) for the best recommendations.
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