Summer Bucket List: Indoor Camping

I grew up going camping all the time. We pitched tents. Slept in sleeping bags on the hard, rocky ground. Caught and gutted our own fish for dinner. Spent hours by the campfire, talking and playing games with family. It was quite possibly some of my most favorite childhood memories.

Combine the fact that my husband was not bit by the camping bug and the fact that we have 4 young children who tend to get up in the middle of the night and wander around without warning – it’s safe to say we have not ventured out into the camping world. While my kids love spending time outside in the daytime, they are less than thrilled at the thought of going to sleep in the dark with no nightlights or music to fall asleep to.

But, I still wanted them to have a camping experience – of sorts. So, I decided to put together an Indoor Camping Night. They were beyond thrilled. First, I went shopping and found what we didn’t have at home at our local Dollar Tree.

What you’ll need for Indoor Camping:

• Tent
• Sleeping Bag(s)
• Hot Dogs
• Burgers
• All the Fixin’s
• Tin pie pans
• Graham Crackers
• Chocolate bars
• Marshmallows
• Flashlights
• Glow Sticks
• Water Bottles
• Red and Yellow tissue paper
• Empty Toilet Paper or Paper Towels rolls
• Battery operated tea light candles
• Indoor grill (optional)

Indoor Camping

We try to have a Family Movie Night once a week, so I just rearranged our plans, gathered the supplies needed, turned off all technology and called the kids down for a night of camping fun – INDOORS!! They were so excited!!

Set up the Tent

We didn’t have access to a family size tent, so we used their play tent and it worked just fine. The kids were just thrilled to put a tent up in the living room. We got the kids set up, took a few token picture for mom (they love those) and then set out for a great night of FUN!

Eat Camping Food at Home

We used our George Foreman grill to cook the hot dogs and burgers. The kids were so excited to eat “on the floor” instead of at the table. A friend gave me the idea of using tin pie pans for “plates” so I picked those up at the dollar store. They thought that was awesome and loved eating out of them.

Make S’mores in the Broiler

After dinner we tried a recipe I found on Pinterest for making s’mores in the broiler. Since we didn’t know what to expect we used the Lo setting on our broiler (it only has Hi and Lo). It worked perfectly. The marshmallows puffed up nicely and turned a golden brown before we put the graham crackers and chocolate in to melt.

Build a Fake Campfire

Next we decided it was time to “build our campfire.” So we gathered a few toilet paper rolls I had collected – because a homeschooling mom keeps everything for future projects – and got to work. Daddy tore up the tissue paper into usable strips and we stacked the “wood” to begin building our fire.

Personally, I think it turned out quite nicely!! The kids even had fun “warming their hands” by the fire. We also took this opportunity to teach them how to properly stack the wood and explain that leaving room for the fire to “breathe” was vital.

Make Glow Stick Lanterns

Then we decided it was getting a little darker outside and we needed some light. I had seen, somewhere, that you could use a headlight strapped around a gallon of water to create ambient light. We didn’t have a gallon of water, so I decided to use some Dollar Store glow sticks and bottles of water to see if that would work. And you know what…IT DID!!

We had 4 water bottles and 4 glow sticks – one for each kid. They absolutely loved them!

They crawled in the tent and Daddy covered it with blankets to make it darker. They spent probably 45 minutes playing with them in the “dark.” It was so much fun having an Indoor Campout with no technology to compete with and no bugs!

Sleep in Your Own Bed

While my kids didn’t sleep downstairs, because let’s face it – they never would have fallen asleep – they enjoyed the time just being together. As they were winding down for bedtime, they were getting antsy, so we decided to turn on a movie. But, we kept with the camping theme and went with one of their favorites, Ernest Goes to Camp.

Other Indoor Camping Activities

We had several other activities planned, but as you know having small children doesn’t always mean you will have cooperation. So, here are a few things we would like to add to our next indoor campout.

1. Printable Constellation Guide
2. Star Gazing Flashlight covers
3. Create stars using a flashlight & colander
4. Play flashlight tag
5. Play card games together
6. Try different lights – DIY Glow Stick Lanterns and Tissue Paper Lanterns
7. My kids would love this Campfire Fishing Pond
8. Fun Camping Scavenger Hunt

All in all the indoor campout was a success!! In fact, they are already planning our next one!! Want to plan one too? Follow along on our Pinterest board!!

What would you add to your indoor campout?

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About the Author: Annette blogs at In All You Do where she shares her wild and crazy life as a Daughter of the King, a minister’s wife and her 4 amazing blessings.