This was another of the theme days from last summer that the kids wanted a repeat of. This year we added a duck and fishing "pond," a ball pit (because what camping site doesn't have a ball pit), a scavenger hunt, and bug catching.
They loved laying in the tent, covered in blankets despite it being an 80 degree day. They also attempted to tell ghost stories to each other, which mainly went something along the lines of "the ghost says 'ooohhoohhh.' Are you scared now?"
We also brought out binoculars and a magnifying glass so they could look for bugs and "spy on the other camp sites." We then had a discussion how we shouldn't really spy on other's camp sites in real life. Another talk I never thought I'd have to have!
The kids had a lot of fun with the duck pond. The younger kids liked picking up the ducks and practicing their numbers on the Number Ducks.
The scavenger hunt was the surprise hit of the morning. I had to make it simple enough for all ages, so I hid items all around the backyard, made a list of what they needed to find, and then had them find the items one at a time. I had kids ages 7 - 3 really enjoy this and all were able to participate. After they had found all of the items the first time, the kids took turns hiding the items and then finding them again.
The kids tried dragon fruit for the first time while they "camped." They examined the outer part, the seeds, tasted it, and decided they didn't like it....until 30 minutes later when they decided they loved it and ate an entire bowl of it.
I completely forgot I had gotten this Roly-Poly Playground at the beginning of the summer. It was the perfect day to dig it out of the basement and have the kids bug hunt in the backyard. The found a few roly polys, but were crushed they had died by the end of the day after being left in the hot sun.
We ended the day with gooey s'mores (made in the microwave) and reading Curious George Goes Camping. The kids already requested the Camping Day theme again next summer with s'mores for both morning AND afternoon snacks!