PeachyDoodle Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 DS turns 5 in a few weeks, and we're throwing an indoor camping party. I have the food and decor pretty much squared away, but I need ideas for games/activities, especially... *Good books for stories around the campfire. I'm thinking camping or fall themed, or Halloween as long as it's appropriate for 4-6yo's. Funny and/or not-scary ghost stories would be great. *A short (30-minute-ish) movie to have on hand in case we need to kill time. I was planning on "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" until I realized it's 75 minutes (really?? has it always been that long??). Preferably something we can stream for free or cheap on Amazon Prime. Again, camping/fall/non-scary Halloween. *Games or activities that will let them get up and move. Weather-permitting, we have a playground at our disposal, but we've had a lot of rain and I want to be prepared to be indoors the whole time. Venue is our church's fellowship hall, so there is some room to move around, but it's carpeted so we have to be careful about mess. Some things I'm thinking about: *Building a giant tent (we'll have plenty of chairs and blankets available) *Sleeping bag races *Tug of war *Injured camper relay (each person puts bandages, etc. on the "injured" camper) I'd love to do a sing-along, but I can't think of a single adult that I could bribe into leading it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 That sounds like lots of fun! There is an episode of Clifford called Camping it Up, I think you can stream it from PBS: http://pbskids.org/video/?guid=567d5e6b-cb3f-4bdd-9409-9fe677fd6951. I know there are other fall/Halloween episodes that are good. I will look up a few later. They are only about 10-12 minutes long. You could do an obstacle course: over the log, around the campfire, jump over the stream (blue tablecloth), around the tree (Christmas trees?). You could incorporate camping chairs, an ice chest, "campfire", construction paper "rocks" to jump on, animal tracks to follow step by step, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Do you know any teens who could do the sing-a-long? I would have LOVED leading that as a teen. You could set up some sort of fishing game. Variations on duck-duck-goose are good with that age, maybe camper-camper-bear. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Leaf war: get a few packs of those fabric leaves at Michael's/JoAnn Fabrics/DollarTree. Divide in two teams with a dividing line. Throw the leaves over the line to the other team's side for 1-2 minutes. Whichever team has fewer leaves wins. Or spread the leaves and see which team can collect the most. Or do both, with the collecting part for cleanup. Make a rule they can only carry one leaf at a time so they have to run more. (This is how I have my 4-6 year old soccer players gather cones). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Musical footprints. Make large animal tracks and remove one after each round so someone is out when the music stops. Or even better for this age, play cakewalk style so that everyone has a spot and you draw a number or letter and that child gets a small prize. No one gets out and you keep playing round after round. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 If you can find a copy of 'Witch Mama' by Caseley, that would be a good, gentle picture book about Halloween that these kids might enjoy. They might be too old for "The Owl Babies", which always had a Halloween feel to me, but "Sheep Trick or Treat" is very funny and they would probably like it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyJoy Posted October 9, 2015 Share Posted October 9, 2015 Tent tag: play like freeze tag. If you're tagged you stand with your legs apart making a tent. Someone else has to crawl through to release you. Camper relay. Get two large flannel shirts, sets of hiking boots, walking sticks, hats, vests, bandage, etc. for the relay. First person puts on shirt. Second person takes shirt, adds boots, etc. Go youngest to oldest so it's less frustrating. LOL. Now I want to throw this party for my son next year! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted October 9, 2015 Author Share Posted October 9, 2015 Tent tag: play like freeze tag. If you're tagged you stand with your legs apart making a tent. Someone else has to crawl through to release you. Camper relay. Get two large flannel shirts, sets of hiking boots, walking sticks, hats, vests, bandage, etc. for the relay. First person puts on shirt. Second person takes shirt, adds boots, etc. Go youngest to oldest so it's less frustrating. LOL. Now I want to throw this party for my son next year! Hahaha! Sounds like you're already prepared!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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