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Exploring God's Creation in Nature and Science
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Subject Topic: Backyard camping-party ideas Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Dawn
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Posted: June 12 2006 at 5:27am | IP Logged Quote Dawn
My oldest turns 11 this month, and he has requested a "camping" themed birthday party.

Some of you might remember my "courage to camp" thread a while back. Well, for practical purposes, this party will be confined to the backyard and the woods behind our house. I am trying to come up with a few simple camping (or summer camp) related activities. The group is mostly boys, ranging in ages from 4 to 11.

His requests so far: that we do camp stuff like go on a hike through the woods, sit around a campfire, eat camp food, and sing camp songs.

Any ideas for this kind of outdoorsy party would be much appreciated - snacks, songs, games, favors, activities etc. Thanks!

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Donna
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Posted: June 12 2006 at 5:37am | IP Logged Quote Donna
Gotta make smores.

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Donna
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Posted: June 12 2006 at 5:41am | IP Logged Quote Donna
Dawn,
If you sign up for the Great American Backyard Campout you can get ideas from that website, too.

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Dawn
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Posted: June 12 2006 at 5:47am | IP Logged Quote Dawn
Donna wrote:
Gotta make smores.


Oooh, absolutely! I thought I'd also mention we are planning the party from 4 to 8 so that we catch some sunset/twilight time.

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marihalojen
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Posted: June 12 2006 at 6:40am | IP Logged Quote marihalojen
Tin can lanterns (freeze water inside and poke holes with nail and hammer)

Nature T-shirts (Lay shirt flat and place leaves, ferns, flowers etc... on shirt. Spray with bleach, when you notice color changes plunge shirt into bucket of water to rinse. Pink, blue and green shirts work best.)

Cover flashlights with red saran wrap to preserve night vision and
* Play flashlight tag
* Send Morse Code Messages
* Stargaze

Ghost stories if you're brave or star stories
Sack Races or Three-legged Races
Camp-out Cake

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Taffy
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Posted: June 12 2006 at 8:31am | IP Logged Quote Taffy
A nature scavenger hunt is usually well received. You could either have them hunt for items from nature or little toys hidden in the trees.

Your party sounds like fun! I'll post any other ideas as I think of them.

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mary
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Posted: June 12 2006 at 8:43am | IP Logged Quote mary
i have just hosted a backyard camping birthday party for my 8 yr old. here's what we did:

kids arrived at 6pm and played on the slip n slide and then played with water balloons. when it was time for dinner, i handed out camping forks (this was part of their 'goody bag' and i got them for $3 at a meyer's store.) the kids cooked hotdogs on a camping fire (you'll need good supervision here!) i had other food in the house, but those boys primarily stuffed themselves with hotdogs - the thrill of cooking their own food!

after dinner, the kids ate cake - i made a dirt pudding cake with gummy worms. i served this outside on our picnic tables. after cake, we opened presents and the parents who had stayed for the party (or had kids too young to sleep over) were able to leave.

by now it was dark, and the rest of the kids roasted marshmellows over the fire. we had smore fixings but they were so stuffed, they were happy to just have marshmellows. after a bit, we handed out kiddie camping lanterns ($4 from meyers) and my dh took them on a night hike through our woods. they got back, changed into jammies, brushed teeth and headed for the tent. my dh sat outside with the fire and let them have some time alone (he could still hear them talking). it was adorable to see these 8/9 yr old boys all bring books to read at night. after an hour, they fell asleep and my dh went to sleep in the tent.

the next morning, the boys woke up between 8-9. we served waffles and bacon/sausage while they watched some cartoons. they were sooooo tired! after breakfast, my dh took them on a morning hike through the woods and soon their parents came to pick them up. we sent them home with their camping forks, lanterns and a bag of tail mix.

looking forward to hearing what you do for your party! and happy birthday to son!
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Taffy
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Posted: June 12 2006 at 10:44am | IP Logged Quote Taffy
Mary, that party sounds fabulous!

I'm keeping notes, Dawn! Hope you don't mind me "eavesdropping"

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lapazfarm
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Posted: June 12 2006 at 10:54am | IP Logged Quote lapazfarm
I saw at Target yesterday in their dollar bins a whole bunch of camping-themed goodies, including the cooking forks. Would make very cool goodie bag stuffers, prizes for games, or just decor for the party.

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Dawn
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Posted: June 12 2006 at 3:55pm | IP Logged Quote Dawn
Taffy wrote:
I'm keeping notes, Dawn! Hope you don't mind me "eavesdropping"


Not at all Taffy! I'm so pleased this post is helping someone else too! Thanks for all the great ideas, ladies - I'm keeping notes too!

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Kelly
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Posted: June 13 2006 at 1:41pm | IP Logged Quote Kelly
OK, Dawn, I'm inspired to overcome my Fear Of Camping problem, too. Can we camp with our two Great Danes in the tent, too?   

Kelly in FL
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momwise
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Posted: June 15 2006 at 9:19am | IP Logged Quote momwise
I just posted a great camping breakfast idea!

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Posted: June 16 2006 at 6:35am | IP Logged Quote cathhomeschool
I just LOVE all the camping ideas! We have 3 children's birthdays to celebrate in the next 6 weeks, and now I wish one of them wanted a camping party! (All three want Star Wars. )

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Dawn
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Posted: July 06 2006 at 6:17am | IP Logged Quote Dawn
We finally got the party off yesterday! It was so much fun! (Posted the details at my blog. )

Thanks again for all the ideas, everyone!

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lapazfarm
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Posted: July 06 2006 at 7:33am | IP Logged Quote lapazfarm
Hooray! Glad it went well for your ds!

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Posted: July 06 2006 at 9:43am | IP Logged Quote marihalojen
I'm so glad you had fun!

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