10 Summer Camp Ideas That Feel like Childhood

Explore this collection:

Boat Making Competition

Portrait Challenge

Nature Treasure Hunt

Nature Print Painting

Camp Crafts

Camp Activities

Archery Tournament

Tallest Tower

Water Activities

(Water Game) Put Out the Fire

(Water Game) Water Balloon Toss

Nighttime Traditions

Nighttime Capture The Flag

Iron Chef S’mores Edition

Ghost Stories around the fire

There’s no reason to leave the joy of camp for our yesteryears. These activities can be done for a day of adult-only shenanigans, or over the course of the summer with your family. Whatever your stage of life, just know you’re never too old for canteen.

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Camp Crafts

A homemade raft made of sticks and leaves floating on dark water.
A homemade raft made of sticks and leaves floating on dark water.

Boat-Making Competition

This activity challenges people to design and create their own miniature, water-faring boats. The goal is to have the boat that stays afloat the longest, and can be tested using a rock or any other test captain/victim of your choice. Extra points if designing with only natural materials.

Person placing a piece of bark with a small plant and a stick into the water
Person placing a piece of bark with a small plant and a stick into the water
A small makeshift raft made of wooden sticks floating in dark water, with a few green leaves and rock sitting on the raft.
A small makeshift raft made of wooden sticks floating in dark water, with a few green leaves and rock sitting on the raft.
A simple and crude line drawing of a person's face with hair wearing a hoodie and hat
A simple and crude line drawing of a person's face with hair wearing a hoodie and hat

Portrait Challenge

Each person in the group draws the person to their right (not allowing anyone to see the works in progress). Using a timer set to 15 minutes, at the end, everyone reveals their works of art. If wanting extra competition, have everyone vote for the best (or worst).

A dirt trail on a forest path surrounded by lush green trees and shrubs.
A dirt trail on a forest path surrounded by lush green trees and shrubs.

Part A: Nature Treasure Hunt

Go for a walk outside, even better in a park or nearby local woods.

Gather tokens like small pine boughs, grasses, ferns- whatever will work well for the second part craft below and suits your fancy.

Four detailed black and white sketches of different leaf types on white background.
Four detailed black and white sketches of different leaf types on white background.

Part B: Nature Print Making

Use your collection gathered above and return home for the crafts portion. Using your found items, you can create art prints using paint and cardstock to create negative-space prints.

Supplies:

  • Quality art cardstock

  • Paint (can be acrylic, watercolor, etc.) (color of your choice, but if go with a lighter color or white if using a darker paper, and vice versa)

  • Art paint brushes (bigger is easier)

  • 8”x10” frames

Instructions:

  • Paint one side of the object.

  • Arrange it painted side down on the paper as you wish (it could be an arrangement of multiple per sheet or a series of one shape per paper).

  • Place another piece of paper or paper towel over the object and use rolling pin to gently press evenly.

  • Remove the top sheet and discard and let dry before framing.

Camp Activities

Close-up of multiple archery arrows lined up in a row on a yellow target with concentric circles, against a blurred outdoor background.

Have an Archery Tournament

The classic camp sport. There are a spectrum of bow and arrow sets for varying types of activities. For pure recreation, there are cheaper alternatives and they are probably fine, but you get what you pay for. If you or your family are genuinely interested in the sport, I’d recommend a beginning compound bow. It’s not for young kids as it’s definitely got force behind it (and should always be treated as such, not used with pets or other people in the area). But it’s much easier and more enjoyable to use, and therefore more likely to actually be used.

Supplies:

Instructions:

  • You can either play casually and for the fun of learning how to improve, or set up a tournament bracket style.

Tallest Tower

The goal is to build the tallest tower. Make it an individual sport or a group competition. No rules- just physics.

Supplies:

  • Outdoor/lawn sized Jenga-style blocks. They can be made in the garage or bought.

Water Activities

A series of water-related festivities that are best when donning a swim suit. Could be great for a family over the course of the summer, or as an adult afternoon fueled with Hard Seltzers.

Put out the Fire

Supplies:

  • 2 Big buckets

  • 2 Bowls

  • Body of water (lake, kiddie pool, etc.)

Instructions:

  • Form two lines, people facing the person in front of them

  • At a whistle, both lines start with the person in front grabbing a bowl full of water (from the water source) and handing it back over their heads to the person behind them (without looking or turning around!)

  • This continues with each person until the person at the end of the line who dumps it in the bucket behind them.

  • They person at the front runs to the back of the line upon passing the bucket, so the line continues shifting forward.

  • When the whistle blows (by a bystander), the team with the most water in the bucket wins.

Supplies:

  • Mini water balloons specifically designed to be filled en masse with a hose (any parent will recognize these already)

Instructions:

  • Form two lines, pairing with someone on the other side. On the count of 3, all the people on one side (who start with a balloon) toss to their partners in the other line.

  • Each pair that loses a balloon sits on the ground while the remaining duos each take a step back and continue the process until there’s a winning pair.

Water Balloon Toss

Night Activities

Nighttime Capture the Flag

What was a fun game as a child taken be taken up a notch now as an adult. Get a group of friends together for night time game of war and justice. The larger the space the better, and the more people the merrier. Check local parks to see when they become off limits- many local parks are open to 10:00 or even 11:00. This can make for a beautiful sunset game in the summer or a more dramatic game of espionage in darkness in cooler seasons.

Instructions:

  • Divide in to two teams and divide the space between the teams, with some natural mark as a boundary line

  • Each team’s home territory has a home base (marked with a flag (like a towel or object of some sort) and a jail

  • The objective of the game is to capture your opponent’s flag and make it safely back to your home territory. Whoever does so first wins the game (or the round)

  • If you get tagged by your opponent while trying to do so, you get hauled to their jail while you wait patiently to be rescued

  • You can rescue a teammate in jail by successfully tagging them in jail without getting caught yourself

  • Want to up the ante? Add a friendly wager- like round of drinks after or even an oath of truth, dare, double dare, or promise to repeat

Close-up of a s'mores dessert with a graham cracker, melted marshmallow, chocolate, and slice of banada all held in front of an outdoor fire pit with orange flames and fallen leaves, during sunset.

Iron Chef - S’mores Edition

Once the evening rolls in and it’s time for the campfire-what’s better than s’mores? Finding creative ways to add upon the recipe.

Instructions:

  • Either individually or in teams, source unique ingredients to add to your s’mores sandwich.

  • Test out different combinations

  • Submit your winning idea to the group for a taste off

Shown here is a ‘Banana S’mlit”- honestly one of the best desserts I’ve ever had.
Nighttime scene of a campfire surrounded by rocks and grass, with people sitting around it. The fire is burning brightly with visible flames and logs.

Ghost stories around the Campfire

Ask your friends to come prepared with a ghost story or an urban legend. They’ll enjoy the challenge of a new tale, and if not, there are hosts of great short scary stories out there.

Some highly rated collections (New York Times) of short scary stories if needing inspiration:

Screen doors slamming. Camp bell ringing. First crushes forming. Be creative this summer as you relive the best of childhood.

Earn your badges and be back for canteen!

Continue the mood:

10 Ways to Celebrate the Summer Solstice