20 Super Simple Camping Crafts and Activities for Kids

Welcoming camping season with kids needs to prepare some attractive activities. Ready-to-make craft activities encourage the kids to explore their creativity without spending a lot of time. Doing camping crafts really make the kids stay busy.

Adorable ideas for creating fun and uniquecrafts for kids usually come through both recycled and nature supplies. Have a look at your camping area, then you will find leaves, flowers, branches, stones, seeds, and more. Those are nature supplies which can be used as lovable crafts.

Besides, obsolete things can be transformed into eye-catching products. Recycled tins, bottles, leftover boxes and papers will be more valuable if those are changed into art projects for kids. Have the kids do their own art-making creatively.  Therefore, they will be proud of the amazing outcome projects.

Here we present a compilation of twenty camping crafts ideas which include nature and recycled materials. Some of the following activities require parents’ supervision. Moreover, the projects only require simple tools and instructions. importantly, these activities spend about 15 minutes or less.

1. Fun DIY Spinners

Camping Crafts Spinner
makeandtakes.com

It is such an endless fun to play paper spinner around your camping area. Ask the kids to make a DIY paper spinner from cardboard circle. Make circle templates on a printer paper and cut by following the shapes. Draw colourful dots, spirals, lines, and stars. The more you add colours to the circle, the more fun will be as it spins.

Glue one paper circle on each side of the cardboard. Poke two holes exactly in the center of the cardboard to place a rope. Cut a piece of rope about 28 inches long and insert through the holes. Tie a knot and get ready to spin.

2. Campfire Wishing Stones

Camping Crafts Wishing Stone
carlaschauer.com

Have a great craft activity by creating campfire wishing stones. Go around for a nature hunt and collect some smooth stones with you. Parents help heating the stones in the fire coals while the kids peel off the crayon wrappers. Put the hot stones on a plate and press the crayons against hot stones.

The melting wax forms colourful draw in which one stone differs from others. Different types of crayons also bring out different effects. Let the stones cool, but don’t touch the stones until the wax harden.

3. Popsicle Sticks Harmonica

Craft Sticks Idea: Play Harmonica
theharmonica.net

Kids who love music will love this popsicle sticks harmonica. Make this musical instrument by using wide popsicle sticks, rubber bands, a strip of paper as wide as the sticks, and toothpicks. Remember to cut the toothpicks wider than the sticks.

Sandwich the paper strip and place one toothpick on the top while another one under the paper. Put them between two popsicle sticks. For finishing, wrap a rubber around both ends of the sticks. Get ready to blow for some music.

4. Camping Themed T-Shirts

Camping Crafts Painted Shirt
onekriegerchick.com

It’s time to renew old T-shirts by creating camping themed T-shirts. It’s better if you have already prepared for the supplies such as T-shirt, sponge, fabric paint, and scissors. Ask the kids to find any possibilities shapes that typically found while camping.

Draw the shapes on the sponge. For example, circle stands for sun or bird nest, triangle as a tent or mount, and rectangle equals to tree trunk or river. Cut the shapes and dip them into fabric paint.

Get ready to painting! Make the T-shirts designed “Camping Scene” by stamping the shapes and colours. Just imagine how excited your kids will be when they wear the T-shirts.

5. Glow Jars

Camping Crafts Glowing Jars
littlepinkmonsters.com

It’s time for a glow in the dark project for kids. Guide your kids to pour glow in the dark paint into some jars. Do painting around and let them dry. Poke two holes on the lid to place a wire. Feel free to twist the wire while waiting the paint dry.

You can hang the glowing jars on your tent at night. You can also bring the jars as lanterns while walking around. See in the dark and the jars start glowing.

6. Pony Bead Bracelet

Camping Crafts Bead Bracelet
caymancode.com

Pony bead bracelet is an easy camp craft that can be made around 15 minutes or less. The art of knot-tying is also simple to do. There are only cord and crafting beads to be prepared.

Start to fold a yard of cord in half. Make a knot-tying at the end of the folded cord. Insert a bead on both cord strings and a different colour bead on each side. Once more, add another bead on the two strings and tie them to secure.

Do the process repeatedly until you get the length as you want. Fold and tie a big knot at the end of the cord before cutting the rest. Tucking the knot into the loop is needed to close the bracelet.

7. Rain Sticks

Camping Crafts Sticks
happyhooligans.ca

Wanna try to call up the rain spirits? Let’s make your own simplified rain sticks from cardboard tube. Tap some tacks and nails into the tube and cover it with aluminum foil. Plug one end side of the tube with the overage foil. Fill in the tube with rice, corn, or beads. Then, stuff another one end side like what you did before.

Decorate the tube with coloured tissue papers for a pretty look. Use watered down glue to stick the tissue papers. Add some craft-foam stickers for the finishing touch. Graze the tube end to end to hear the filler gushing through the tube. Enjoy the soft soothing sounds!

8. Feather Topped Pencils

Camping Crafts Pencil
livelaughrowe.com

Feather topped pencils are not only suitable for crafty camp but also school supplies. Grab the materials and start making the crafts. Choose your feathers and arrange to a couple of small and large feathers.

Then, use floral tape to attach the feathers on the top of coloured pencils. Add a bowknot on the floral tape after wrapping ribbon around it. How do the feather topped pencils look like? They’re so colourful and functional, right?

9. Painted Rocks Round-Up

Crafts for boys: rock beasts
handimania.com

Enjoy your summer camping by collecting many rocks and start doing painted rocks roundup. Explore many themes to be applied on your painted rocks. For example, scratching alphabet rocks, inspirational words, and sight words.

For more adorable look, rocks are painted as penguins, monsters, fruits, plants, or family members. You can also colour the small rocks with glow in the dark paint.

10. Wind Catchers

Camping Crafts Wind
agirlandagluegun.com

Wind catchers is not only for Earth Day project, but also for a camp craft.  Gather some crepe papers which have been cut around 14 inches. Use at least five colours and twist at one end. Hold them against the stick to be wrapped around with washi tape. Take your wind catchers outside and shake for a spin.

11. Nature Picture

Camping Crafts Nature
agirlandagluegun.com

Walk around for nature inspired activities. Explore the nature and collect many natural supplies around you. Things that you will find are leaves, flowers, stems, twigs, acorns, and petals. Make some animal pictures by combining those nature materials.

Place you nature picture on a piece of paper and stick it with a glue. If you want to make dragonfly, combine some acorns as head and body,then small and slender leaves for wings. It’s so simple and easy, right? Pop up your own picture now!

12. Tin Can Robots

Camping Crafts Robot
realpurdy.com

Having unused metal parts in your workshop? Combine with cans and various craft supplies like buttons, googly eyes, beads, and pipe cleaners to make tin can robots. For sizing, use a glue gun and small magnets. A glue gun is used for non-metal materials, while small magnets are used to stick the metal supplies.

Start heaping all parts of the robots. Put twisted pipe cleaners at the top of robots. Glue googly eyes on large buttons as robot’s eyes. Also, add nose, mouth, and ears by using screws and bolts. The magnets allows you to recreate the robot’s face over and over again. It’s so fun!

13. A Slingshot

Camping Crafts Slingshot
artofmanliness.com

Help your kids to make a slingshot as a camp craft. Since they are not able to cut off a branch into Y shape perfectly. Also, take over shaving the branch to avoid your kids playing with a knife. Then, you need a piece of leather and a piece of long rubber tubing. Make a small slit at the leather to run the tubing through.

Combine the tubing with two ends of the branch by a fancy knot tying. If it’s too difficult, just simply use an electrical tape. Prepare some small stones and place a shooting target. Let your kid to shoot the target.

14. Juice Pouch Boats

Camping Crafts Boat
ithappensinablink.com

Sailing a boat on the river while camping sounds interesting. Try to assemble juice pouch boats although some of them are not floatable. Bring out some juice pouches which have already cleaned. Start curved shape cutting at the bottom of the juice. Also, cut a cardstock into triangle as a sail and glue it to a stick.

Make sure that the bottom of the pouch is fully opened. Next, tape the sail inside the pouch. After some juice pouch boats are done, do another art activity by drawing and colouring the sails.

15. Paper Windsocks

Camping Crafts Paper Windsock
madewithhappy.com

This super simple windsocks are made from various coloured construction papers. Add fancy decoration such as stickers, markers, and tape. Let your kids come out their creativity to design the papers.

Turn the decorative papers into tubes by rolling and attaching together with stapler or another tape. Use a hole puncher to make two holes at the top of the tube and more holes at the bottom. Cut balloon ribbons around 2-3 feet and make them tied to the holes at the bottom. Tie one piece of ribbon at the top to hang the paper windsocks.

16. Ladybug Bird Feeder

Camping Crafts Birdfeeder
lowes.com

A simple craft lightning to do in camping is ladybug bird feeder. Clean up a recycled can as the ladybug’s body. Create the details by drawing black dots onto a red paper. Let stands for a few minutes to dry and glue it around the sides of can.

Prepare to make ladybug’s head by cutting a big hole in a lid of can. Put it on the hole and attach a wood stick. Add googly eyes at the top of the lid. The last, attach ladybug’s wings which are made from round shaped foam-mesh pieces. Now, it’s ready to hang it on the tree and fill with bird feed.

17. Vacation Memory Box

Camping Crafts Memory Box
thecountrychiccottage.net

Your summer camping will be fully complete when all sweet memories can be stored in a vacation memory box. Prepare a wood box with picture frame. Coat all sides of the box by painting with your favorite colour. Let it dry so you can add number stickers on one side. Number stickers represent the year when your sweet memories happen.

Pick the best image of your vacation into the picture frame. At last, start organizing the memorable things you have. Keep them in your vacation memory box.

18. Duck Tape Zipper Pouch

Camping Crafts Pouch
happinessishomemade.net

You may also enjoy reading this 20 Unique Embroidery Floss Project Ideas to Challenge Your Creativity

Duck tape zipper pouch is suitable to keep your school supplies, makeup, or even tablet. You can easily set the customize sizing as required. To make fancy pouch, cover a ziploc freezer bag with patterned duck tape.

19. DIY Window Clings

Camping Crafts Window
makeandtakes.com

Start by drawing or printing some silhouettes on a paper. Place the paper inside a sheet protector. Make the silhouettes traced by using puff paint. Your kids may freely choose a colour for tracing and filling the silhouettes. After completing the project, let them dry before putting on windows.

20. Leaf Jewelry for Girls and Boys

Camping Crafts Jewelry
stimulatinglearning.co.uk

Choose leaf jewelry that fits to both boy and girl. It can be formed into headband (for boys) and bracelet (for girls). Fold in half a leaf along its spine. Use a puncher to make holes, then knit a piece of twine through the holes. Keep knitting until your leaf jewelry is complete.

Those fun and unique ideas will help you to keep the kids entertained during the camping trip. It’s possible to create ready-to-make camping crafts since you can use all things around you. If you do not bring some materials, just find other supplies from nature. Then you can explore a lot of nature inspired projects around the camping area.

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