Rainy Day Camping Activities for Children

Last month we spent a wonderful weekend glamping down in Somerset. You can read my full review of our stay at Somerset Yurts here.

We arrived in glorious sunshine on the Friday evening, but by Saturday morning rain was in the air. The day was a mixture of showers and sunshine and by the evening the rain had gotten pretty heavy.

Not one to let rain dampen our experience we embraced it for what it was and made the most of our weekend. Although we were glamping, not camping, these rainy day activities can be used for either. We do have a camping trip coming up very soon too so keep an eye out on the blog for my write up of that! Until then, here are some of my favourite rainy day camping activities for children.

Puddle Jumping

Us Welsh folk are made of tough stuff. A bit of rain won’t stop us from having fun and what child doesn’t like jumping in big, wet, muddy puddles? Even the big kids (i.e. mum and dad) can get in on the act and enjoy it too!

Obviously wellies are a must, but I’d also recommend some waterproof trousers and a raincoat. There’s nothing worse can cold, wet, soggy socks and trousers sticking to your feet and legs!

I always make sure we have some nice, warm, dry clothes and towels immediately to hand for when we get back to our tent and of course a nice warm cup of milk or hot chocolate with marshmallows for the kiddies afterwards to help warm them back up!

Obstacle Course

This is one of my favourites! Just because it’s raining doesn’t mean you have to stay in your tent for the day.

Whilst down in Somerset we found some cones in the barn and used them along with a goal post we’d brought with us to create an obstacle course. We’d also brought along a football, and a bat and ball, plus some bubbles and a frisbee. We certainly don’t travel light!

Our girls had so much fun creating an obstacle course themselves. The first thing they had to do was dribble the football towards the goal and then score a goal. Then they really had to put their football skills to the test by dribbling the ball in and out of the cones before picking up the bat and ball and using like an egg and spoon to get to the frisbee and bubbles. They blew some bubbles then threw the frisbee before making a dash to the finish line!

It was lots of fun, but one word of warning is to be super careful that your little ones don’t slip, especially if you’re on wet, slippery mud!

Music Maker

This one is popular with children of all ages and is a great sensory activity. Gather what you can together things that could be used to collect water, stones and sticks. For example a bucket, bowel, cup or water bottle and a canvas bag, then head outdoors.

Children will love filling up their bottles and bowls with rain water or water from a stream, collecting sticks to use clap together or use as drumsticks on a pot or pan. They can also collect stones to put into a bottle with the lid on and create a shaker!

Before you know it you’ve created your own camp rock band!

Traditional Puzzles and Games

If all else fails then it’s time to crack out the board games! Who doesn’t love a game of snakes and ladders, checkers or snap!

We also like to bring some walkie talkies with us, along with a telescope to do some star gazing and binoculars to see what wildlife we can spot!

Artist

Bringing along some colouring pencils, pens, crayons and some paper can conjure up some super fun ideas.

Perhaps your children could do a bark or leaf rubbing, draw the view from their tent or an animal they’ve seen?

Why not bring along a pot of paint and they can use sticks as paint brushes?

Treasure Hunt

What child doesn’t love a treasure hunt? Write down a list of things for your children to find and bring back to you or a list of things for them to ‘spot’, don your raincoats and go on a family treasure hunt!

Bug Hunt

I’m not entirely sure how easy a bug hunt would be in the rain, but there’s only one way to find out! Get out there and give it a go! You can buy some pretty cool bug hunting kits online at an affordable price before your trip and I’m sure children will be fascinated by what bugs they find. You could also invest in a bug hunting book so that children can read up and learn about what bugs they find!