activities for kids in the rain?

[terasec]

taking my nieces and some of their friends to a campground next week,
organized drive in with pool and stuff,
1 problem is expecting rain,
looking for ideas to keep them outdoors and occupied even with rain,
bringings ponchos and rain gear,
any ideas ?
would like to keep them off their ipads/iphones, etc....
1 thing i am thinking is an orienting map/treasure hunt, have good map of the campground i could use for such,

[Shortpants]

Re: activities for kids in the rain?

What age range on the kiddos?

[terasec]

Re: activities for kids in the rain?

my nieces are 10 and 13
their friends 12 of them are similar age groups
supposed to be a father/daughter type outing but their father isnt very outdoorsy so they wanted me to go instead,

[Shortpants]

Re: activities for kids in the rain?

No matter the age, I find all kids like being a part of the camping experience the most. Gathering firewood, building a fire, helping with meals, basically any of the camping tricks and skills you can teach them will be eagerly received, I'm sure. Good old board games and card games can be hit or miss depending on the crowd, but things like uno are easy to pack as are travel versions of popular games. Check out if there are any geocaching sites nearby, it's fun to explore while actually looking for something. Even things like charades, DIY pictionary, etc, can get hilarious with a bunch of giggling girls. Treasure hunts and scavenger hunts are always a hit, kids and adults alike! If all the kids have phones with cameras or digital cameras, consider doing a photo scavenger hunt. That way not only do you keep them occupied, but they have some awesome photo memories of their camping adventure! HTH!

[toedtoes]

Re: activities for kids in the rain?

With 14 10-13 year old girls, you won't have any problem keeping them occupied. Scavenger hunt/treasure hunt is great. a snipe hunt would be a blast. Outdoor games like badminton, horseshoes, croquet, etc. The big thing is not to make a big deal of the rain - don't even necessarily worry about keeping them dry while they're out and about. Have lots of blankets, towels, etc. for when they do come inside so they can dry off quickly.

Photography is always good. Bring a box of ziplock baggies - have them put their phones/cameras into the ziplock baggies and then go out in the rain and take photos. Have a contest for the best rain photo, etc.

[Mike]

Re: activities for kids in the rain?

We do the same,activities in the rain as we do in the sunshine. We go swimming, hiking, fishing, everything. Why should rain stop you from these activities? I find it especially curious that most people will not swim in the rain. Of course, don't swim in a lightning storm, but if it is just rain, wet is wet

What could be more miserable than sitting inside a wet soggy tent or looking through the window of a camper? What a wet prison that is!

Everybody brings ponchos and rain gear, but when it rains they only use them to go from the tent to the toilet. Crazy

The best umbrella is a wide brimmed hat. If one of the kids forgets their poncho, use a plastic bag with holes cut in it for head and arms to go through

Teach the kids that rain is a good thing. Teach them to be as functional in the rain as in the sunshine and they will never have a trip ruined or canceled because of rain

[Shortpants]

Re: activities for kids in the rain?

Yeah, I have to say that rain doesn't change much of anything when we are camping. The girls get dirtier than usual, that's about it. LOL! We rig up our 16'x24' tarp over the picnic table and fire ring, sit by the fire, cook up some yummy vittles, I usually give the girls their beach pails and shovels and they find a puddle o'mud and make a big `ol pile of mud pies!

But then again, my girls aren't pre-teens... that age group is a fickle bunch! :P

[Mike]

Re: activities for kids in the rain?

But then again, my girls aren't pre-teens... that age group is a fickle bunch! :P

OH MY GOD, THE TWEEN YEARS. The solution to the tween years is to lock up the booze, hide the car at the library parking lot, and leave the tween behind. The tween years are often followed by the hell of the teen years. Not all kids are bad, but nothing will ruin your life worse than a bad tween/teen. If you find yourself with a bad one, call the orphanage immediately and ask for home pick-up service for the brat.

The only reward for living with teenagers is the grandchildren they may bring you. Parents who endure horrible teens who grow up and either produce no grandchildren or move far away really get ripped off.

Camping with tweens/teens? NO THANKS!

[NYCgrrl]

Re: activities for kids in the rain?

Hehehehe, Mike. Flashback much?:he:
Just back from a 2 week plus kiddo centric trip with many a dark and stormy night. Mostly of the Mother Nature variety. Dodged the tweener angst this year since my niece decided that attending summer school would be a good thing this year. Not a prob since my Princess is gonna be a handful in a few more years and I'm girding my loins (maybeee shouldda done that for her father instead..oops-he's currently on my "chit" list) wondering how many slit eye looks and silent treatments I can cope with in older age.

I often depended on the 2 kiddos to interact and entertain each other but wasn't an option this trip. Found that single child camping trip wasn't as onerous as I expected it to be. We played Uno most every night, in good and bad weather; read aloud from a Kindle (great electronic device and worthy of the funds spent); made lanyard jewelry and for two nights running, a group of kiddos of various ages ( range was 7- 16 y/o) played a rousing game of "Tag" from 8:30 PM until about 10:00. In the rain. It was really nice to see them play together without the "I can't/don't play with babies" moan.

I hope you had fun on your wet trip,terasec.

[terasec]

Re: activities for kids in the rain?

Got back yesterday
Heck of a trip
12 tween girls 5 dads ( me being an uncle to the girls)
While i had some ideas i didnt have to do anything
The kids entertained themselves rain or shine
Not 1 complaint from the kids even during downpours
Dads just sat back and enjoyed watching the kids be kids
While i rarely do such trips this was one of the best camping experiences i had
The dad who has been doing this trip for his girls for past 9 years also thought this was the best outing he had
We spent sun-thurs at hershey park campground in pa
I also give credit to hershey park, very well run campground