Campers Info Source

This is the fifth in a series of 5 BLOG posts that will introduce you to some fun games to play outdoors while camping.

Game # 5 – Croquet

Croquet is an outdoor lawn game where each player uses a mallet to knock his ball through the wickets (small wire hoops) to score

Sunnywood Croquet Set

points. Croquet courts can be set up in any manner the players desire, though the traditional croquet court is set as two double diamonds within a rectangular field with measurements of 50 feet (15.25 meters) by 100 feet (30.5 meters).  When camping, it’s fun to position the wickets around your camping tent and the picnic table so you have to hit the ball around the camp site.

The object of the camping game of croquet is to be the first player to knock the ball through all the wickets and end by striking the final stake, a thin, striped pole usually placed just beyond the last wicket.  Croquet became somewhat of a game of the upper class in England and Ireland in the 1800′s. Now it is a game played worldwide by many people. Croquet fans tune in to watch croquet tournaments on the TV and follow the sport in the sports pages of many newspapers worldwide.

Offshoots from croquet have sprung up in recent years. Toequet is a game using the same rules as croquet, but the player kicks a soccer-styled ball through much larger wickets on the path towards the final stake. Malletball also bears the same croquet rules, though it is played with oversized mallets, larger wickets, and bigger balls.

This is the fourth in a series of 5 BLOG posts that will introduce you to some fun games to play outdoors while camping.

Game # 4 – You can’t go camping unless you bring……

Imagine you and you’re camping buddies walking out of your camping tents after a great dinner at your camp site and a short evening nap.  You are all sitting around the campfire sharing some small talk and you say “Hey, let’s play a camping game called “You can’t go camping unless you bring….”.  Then you explain the rules like this.  I’m thinking of an object here at the camp site or in our camping tents and you need to guess what it is.  You need to ask a Yes or No question to help figure out what the object is.  Everyone needs to listen to the questions and answers.  If I answer your question with a ’Yes’, you get to guess what the object is that I’m thinking about and you get another turn.  But if I answer your question with a ’No’, the next person to my left takes their turn asking a question.  For example.  Let’s say you are wearing a white sweat shirt and that becomes the object you want others to figure out.  You would start by saying: “You can’t go camping unless you bring…..”.  Now the person to your left asks a question like this.   Can the object be worn?  You would answer Yes.  They would then say “I know I can’t go camping now but what if I bring…. and then they make their guess of what they think the object is based on all previous answers to questions.  Regardless of their guess, that person gets another turn.  But if you answer their next question with a ‘No’, the next person to their left takes a turn asking a question.  You keep going around the circle of people until somebody finally guesses the object correctly and then they get to think of the next object.  People can talk among themselves between guesses if they want.  It’s a really fun camping game for adults and kids.  Give this game a try next time you are camping with others.

This is the third in a series of 5 BLOG posts that will introduce you to some fun games to play outdoors while camping.

Game # 3 – Bocce Ball

Bocce ball is a sport which originated in Italy, although many other nations play it as well. In bocce ball, sometimes called lawn bowling, players toss balls at a smaller target bowl within the confines of a large court. The game is popular throughout Europe and in areas where there is a high concentration of Italian immigrants, including the United States.

Some form of bocce ball has been played for centuries. Stone balls for lawn bowling have been found in Ancient Greek and Roman sites, along with frescos and paintings depicting people engaged in bocce ball games. The game has remained popular for centuries because it is simple to learn, fun to play, and playable by all ages. Adults and children can play together if they like, while older Italians can often be found whiling away an afternoon on the bocce ball court.  Today, it is one of the more popular camping games in the U.S.

The court used for bocce ball can measure up to 98 feet (30 meters) by 14 feet (4 meters), and can be dirt, lawn, or crushed gravel. Sizes of the court can vary depending on the area: some players use half courts, due to space restrictions. The players divide into teams which can have one to four members, and each team is assigned four balls. One team is given the opportunity to throw out the target ball, called a jack, pallina, or boccino, depending on the area. Each team takes turns tossing their balls at the targets, and the team with balls closest to the target at the end of the round wins.

Set up a neighborhood tournament for your next camping trip.  Make a certificate or get a cheap trophy and crown a bocce champion right at your camp site.  Store the trophy in your camping tent! The quality Bocce Ball Set pictured gives you everything you need, and in a convenient carry bag in case you want to make it a travelling tournament.

This is the second in a series of 5 BLOG posts that will introduce you to some fun games to play outdoors while camping.

Game # 2 – I’m Going Camping and I’m Gonna Bring……..

This game is the most fun when you have a group of 5 or more people at the camp site and everyone is sitting around the campfire with their camping tents and sleeping bags ready for the night.  The objective of the game is for the entire group to individually identify things they would bring camping that start with each letter of the alphabet.  For example, one person in the group would start by saying “I’m going camping and I’m gonna to bring an “Apple” camping”.  You then move clockwise to the next person in the group and that person would say: “I’m going camping and I’m gonna bring some “Beer”.  Note that the top two letters in the alphabet have now been used.  The next person in the group has to provide a word that starts with the letter “C”.  So they would say: “I’m going camping and I’m gonna bring a “Canary” camping.  And so on.  Some people struggle to find words that start with certain letters such as X, Q and Z but it’s always fun to see what they come up with, especially kids.  If you want, you can also choose a category like fruit, camping tools etc and the word has to be in that category.  If you reach the letter “Z”, start over with a second game and try a new category.  People sometimes come up with very funny words.  Make sure you limit everyone to providing an answer within 15 seconds and if they don’t provide an answer, the next person in the group is responsible for providing a word with that letter.  Lastly, in order to keep everyone fully engaged and prevent them from going into their camping tents early, you must repeat all responses before providing your response.  For example, If the category was cars and the first two people already said “Aero” and “Buick”, the third person would say: “I’m going camping and I’m gonna bring an: Aero, a Buick and…… a Chevy”.  Now all three letters of the alphabet have been used and the next person would have to repeat all three reponses and end with something like “Dodge” that starts with “D”.  Try this game before calling it a day and going to sleep in your camping tents.  I think you will really enjoy the game.  And remember, “The Joy is in the Journey”.

This is the first in a series of 5 BLOG post that will introduce you to some fun games to play outdoors while camping.

Game # 1 – Ladder Golf

Ladder Golf has become an increasingly popular outdoor game to play when at a picnic, in your backyard or while camping.  After you finish putting up your camping tents, you are ready to play and have some fun.  Ladder Golf is a fun camping game but is also known as ladder toss, blongoball, bolo ball, and Polish Horseshoes.

Glowing Ladder Toss Game

You start by setting the ladders about 20 feet apart (You can adjust the distance if you would like).  This camping game can be played with 2 people or in 2 teams of 2.  If you are playing with 2 people, you both stand at one end and toss the balls, then move to the other end for the next toss.  If you are playing in 2 teams of 2, one member of each team stands beside each ladder.  Team 1 throws first, followed by the opponent on that same side.  Players toss the balls toward the ladder on the opposite side and try to score as many points as they can until the team who reaches 21 points first wins.  Listed below are the points you get for wrapping the balls around the poles.

ScoringTop Pole = 1 Points
Middle Pole = 2 Points
Bottom Pole = 3 Points
(Feel free to adjust scoring as needed.)

Score is determined very similarly to Baggo (Cornhole, Bags), points cancel each other out. So if you score on a rung and the other team or person scores on that same rung, the points are canceled. (Example: Team 1 puts 2 lassos on bottom rung, it is 6 points, but team 2 puts 1 lasso on the same rung, it cancels out 3 of the 6 points.)

Play up to 21, you have to get EXACTLY 21 and points scored that would put you over 21 are deducted to 15 points.

Try it out, you’ll have lots of fun.  Note that the Glowing Ladder Toss camping game pictured glows in the dark which is even more fun.

There is so much to do when you go camping such as swimming, hiking, exploring,  four wheeling, fishing, hunting, kayaking,  canoeing, roasting marshmallows, and much more.  Another activity you might want to consider is playing some games.   Typical camping games include playing cards; especially when it’s raining.  Playing bean toss is fun with young children and old as well.  But playing helicopter is really fun, especially if you also have some foam darts to shoot at a remote controlled helicopter.

Get a remote controlled helicopter and take it camping.  Challenge the kids and adults to fly it and land it on a specific spot.  You can also buy toy guns to shoot foam darts at the helicopter while its flying.  See if the kids and adults can hit the flying helicopter with their foam darts.  Play boys against girls, kids against adults etc.  The ones to hit the helicopter the most times wins.  Its a blast.

Set up a target or use a flying helicopter as a target and take turns shooting foam darts at the helicopter.  Kids and adults will both enjoy playing this game whether its indoors or outdoors.  We like to take this remote controlled helicopter along with us when we go camping and spend hours trying to shoot down the helicopter.  You can tie a marshmallow to the helicopter with string and try to shoot the marshmallow.  Adults and kids love competing against the other to see who can hit a moving target.  Its a blast.  Make up your own camping games.