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Home / Early Learning / Fantastic Activities for a Preschool Camping Theme

Fantastic Activities for a Preschool Camping Theme

Shared by Mary Catherine 36 Comments

Over the years, a preschool camping theme has consistently been a hit with the kids. I love that it’s a preschool (or kindergarten!) theme that can be used almost any time throughout the year. We tend to use it towards the end of the school year, or for a super fun summer camp for the kids.

Preschool Camping Theme Activities to Try

Table of Contents

  • Preschool Camping Theme Ideas That Kids Love
    • A Camping Treat
    • Fishing at Camp
    • Painting with Marshmallows
    • Building a Campfire
    • Tracking Animals
    • Pet Rocks
    • Camping Pretend Play
    • Flashlight Reading
    • Campfire Hand Prints
  • More Preschool Camping Theme Ideas to Try
  • Materials for a Camping Theme
  • Printable Preschool Camping Theme Lesson Plans

Preschool Camping Theme Ideas That Kids Love

Below you’ll find activities that I’ve tried with multiple groups of kids over the years. They have consistently been a hit with the children! I’ll add some other ideas on my “to try” list afterwards, too!

A Camping Treat

The kiddos LOVED this camp-out treat – s’mores on a stick was a definite hit! I have to admit, it made me giggle to see how enthusiastic the children were when it came to eating their s’mores.

Preschool camping theme snack

Fishing at Camp

We did this as both an indoor activity in our sensory table and an outdoor activity in a kiddie pool.  Inside, we used fishing poles made with wooden dowels, magnets, and plastic string (along with foam fish with magnets on them).

Outside, we simple set it up with water and fish in a kiddie pool.  The fishing nets came from The Dollar Tree, and the fish were bath toys.

Pretend play fishing for a preschool camping theme

Painting with Marshmallows

I had way too much fun watching the children during this camp-themed process art activity! You can also use the marshmallows to paint letters, create patterns, and to stamp the kids’ names.

Building a Campfire

Obviously, we didn’t let the small children play with fire!  Really, if you met me, you wouldn’t want me playing with fire either.

In the building center, the students used long wooden blocks as the “logs”.  They got really inventive and chose fire-colored (orange, red, and yellow) small blocks to act as flames.  They also had the option of using some red, yellow, and orange tissue paper so the children could build “fires” in the home and block centers.

Blocks center in a preschool camping theme

Tracking Animals

This activity began a bit differently than it ended up!  At first, we set out small plastic animals and stamp pads, so the children could make animal tracks.  The children had had magnifying glasses and print outs of tracks that different animals make.

Well, our kiddos grabbed the track papers and the magnifying glasses, then proceeded on a hunt for animals!  I loved watching their imaginative play!

Following animal tracks in a preschool camping theme

Pet Rocks

Sometimes the simplest activities make the children the happiest!  Our pet rocks definitely fall into this category!

Camping Pretend Play

This was another  activity we did both inside and outside.  In our home center, we set up a small tent and laid out a few sleeping bags an flashlights.  During center time, the children pretended they were on a camping trip.

Outside, we had a larger tent set up.  There were also camp chairs, real logs, and pretend food from our home center.

Pretend play for a preschool camping theme

Flashlight Reading

Despite the light pouring in from our classroom windows, the students still seemed to enjoy sitting and reading books with flashlights.

Putting a sheet of paper over the windows to create a darker environment for flashlight reading is also an option. Be sure to check out this list of the best books to read by flashlight!

Reading during a preschool camping theme

Campfire Hand Prints

Hand print artwork makes me happy, and I like to do at least one a month during the school year.  Handprint and Footprint’s “Handprint Campfire” came out awesome! The children loved having these “campfires” in their end of the year portfolios.

More activities for a preschool camping theme can be found at my Camping Theme Pinterest board.  What are some activities you’ve tried with your students for a preschool camping theme?

More Preschool Camping Theme Ideas to Try

There are so many wonderful ideas out there to try with a camping theme, so it probably doesn’t surprise you that I haven’t had the chance to try all of them. Here are more ideas I’m keeping on hold for the next time we having a camping theme with the kids!

Set up a camping small world for the kids in the sensory center or literacy center. Just imagine all of the conversations and oral language development.

Have some parents donate firewood to build and play with outside.

Challenge the kids to make their own rock sculptures in the science center (or try it outside).

Make your own pretend play s’mores for the dramatic play center.

Before having some s’mores as a snack, why not have the kids try this s’mores STEM challenge?

If you want to do more with marshmallows, exploring them with the 5 senses would be a great science activity for the children.

Have the little campers make some animal track stamps to use during art.

Make sure to check out the list of preschool camping theme printables for some other fun activities and free printable resources!

Materials for a Camping Theme

If you’re anything like me, you probably already have your supply closet jam-packed with all of the basic preschool supplies. But sometimes, we have to get some specific items to fit the theme.

Here are my product suggestions for a camping theme (I may get commissions for purchases made through links in this post):

  • Marshmallows
  • Graham crackers
  • Lincoln logs
  • Wooden craft sticks or dowels
  • Dramatic play camping set
  • River rocks
  • Sticks or logs
  • Kid’s tent
  • Kid-friendly lanterns

Printable Preschool Camping Theme Lesson Plans

Save time and get right to the playful learning with our printable lesson plan sets. Each set includes over 30 playful learning activities related to the theme, and we’ve provided different versions for classroom teachers and home preschool so all activities are geared directly toward your needs.

Preschool Camping Theme Lesson Plan Set

Get your preschool lesson plans here – Preschool Classroom Plans | Home Preschool Plans

You can also find them on Teachers Pay Teachers

Filed Under: Early Learning Tagged With: Camping

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  1. Alicia G says

    June 1, 2013 at 1:20 pm

    This is amazing! We are going to do this at home today & have a little play tent set up too. It’s rainy crummy weather here so this is perfect. Thanks!!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      June 3, 2013 at 9:18 pm

      Alicia, I’m so glad you like the camping ideas! They are definitely great even when you’re stuck indoors! Let me know how your camping day went. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Katie @ Gift of Curiosity says

    June 1, 2013 at 10:10 pm

    Love your camping theme. What a fun idea! I’m sure my kids would enjoy anything having to do with marshmallows. 🙂

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      June 3, 2013 at 9:26 pm

      Yay! Let me know how it goes if you try any of these camping activities with your kiddos, Katie. Thanks for stopping by with the kind words.

      Reply
  3. Kirstylee says

    June 4, 2013 at 5:01 pm

    These are such fun and creative ideas! We are going on a camping trip soon as a family and I was looking for some activities to do as a follow up after our camping trip. I can’t wait to have my kids “build a fire” although I’ll probably have them use paper and sticks. Thanks for all of your great ideas.

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      June 4, 2013 at 9:47 pm

      I’m so glad you got some ideas from this post, Kirstylee! Let me know how they go if you try them out at home. And have fun on your camping trip. 🙂

      Reply
  4. Sami says

    June 4, 2013 at 5:08 pm

    Love this, we are doing camping theme next week at preschool/daycare!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      June 18, 2013 at 10:34 pm

      Thank you!!! 🙂 Please let me know how your camping week went at preschool!!

      Reply
  5. Debbie says

    June 4, 2013 at 10:22 pm

    Love the ideas! Looks like fun!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      June 5, 2013 at 10:48 pm

      Thanks, Debbie!

      Reply
  6. Ashley says

    June 9, 2013 at 7:32 am

    Looks like a good alternative to real camping to me! lol Thanks for sharing at Mom’s library!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      June 9, 2013 at 10:59 pm

      Hahaha! Yep, I have to agree with you, Ashley!

      Reply
      • Ashley says

        June 11, 2013 at 3:30 pm

        Thanks again for sharing; featuring you this week!

        Reply
        • Mary Catherine says

          June 11, 2013 at 11:42 pm

          Awesome! Thanks for featuring this post. 🙂

          Reply
  7. Stephanie@Twodaloo says

    June 20, 2013 at 9:52 am

    This is such a wonderful post! I’m sharing it on Facebook today to kick off our S’mores theme 😉

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      August 7, 2013 at 10:49 am

      You’re awesome, Stephanie! Thanks so much for the share. 🙂

      Reply
  8. Kierna Corr (@CiarnaC) says

    June 24, 2013 at 3:11 pm

    Love the fun ideas & the photos are lovely.

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      June 25, 2013 at 11:16 am

      Thanks Kierna! The kiddos certainly enjoyed everything we did. So glad you were able to stop by, and thanks for hosting. 🙂

      Reply
  9. Corinda says

    July 14, 2013 at 8:53 pm

    Great ideas here’s one you may try solar S mores lay out foil on cooking sheet in sun let them melt inthe sun did this with 2 – 5 year old so easy no burning

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      August 7, 2013 at 10:50 am

      We haven’t tried that one yet, Corinda! It’s on our to-do list for the next camping theme, though! 😉

      Reply
  10. Corinda says

    July 14, 2013 at 8:58 pm

    Brings back the fun memories we had as children my parent have nine children I’m the third oldest couldn’t afford expensive vacation but camping was our favorite we still get together and go camping but teaching them also to respect their forest friend too so every one can enjoy it too! God bless you all for your ideas

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      August 7, 2013 at 10:50 am

      Thanks so much for all your sweet words!!! 🙂

      Reply
  11. Jaimi says

    August 7, 2013 at 12:51 pm

    I LOVE the marshmallow snack, marshmallow painting (and I know my daughter would just end up turning that into a snack anyway) and the flashlight reading! Looks like the kids had a great time. Very creative ideas!

    Reply
  12. Jacquie@KCEdventures says

    August 15, 2013 at 11:19 pm

    Love the ideas! I’ll be featuring you in our Discover & Explore highlight post this week 🙂

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      August 16, 2013 at 12:00 am

      Thanks so much, Jacquie! I’m so excited to be featured!! 🙂

      Reply
  13. Annette says

    September 22, 2013 at 12:12 pm

    I love this idea! I especially love the fishing in the kiddy pool. I’d love for you to come share this at our Pinning for Play link party!

    Reply
  14. Kali @ For the Love of Spanish says

    October 7, 2013 at 8:11 am

    Love the painting with marshmallows idea!

    Reply
  15. Sherrie says

    June 19, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    I did a camping theme in my preschool classroom this week,I put up a real tent, with a battery operated lantern, picnic basket with the supplies for somore;s, and camping books to enjoy throughout the day. We read a book talked about the animals we may see, listened to a Itunes campfire, camping video on the ipad with crickets, owls, wolves howling. The kids loved it, then we went to the tables to make somore’s the somore’s we did were Hersheys spreadable chocolate, found by the nutella in the store, marshmello fluff easy spreadable and no heating or fuss! I enjoyed the camping theme as much as the children!

    Reply
  16. Neha Naithani says

    December 15, 2014 at 11:48 pm

    Mary thanks for the beautifull idea. I am sure our kids our going to like it.

    Reply
  17. Kathryn says

    April 10, 2015 at 12:16 am

    Thank you for posting this. Gave me some great ideas for my soon to be 3 year old’s birthday party! YAY! 🙂 I was having a hard time wrapping my head around camping theme without a real campfire because obviously that would be dangerous. lol 🙂 You have some GREAT alternatives!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      April 10, 2015 at 10:50 am

      That’s awesome, Kathryn! I’m glad I could help out a little bit. I hope the birthday party is tons of fun (for mama and the kiddo)!

      Reply
  18. Cristina says

    July 27, 2015 at 8:22 pm

    I just did this with my summer school class and it was a hit! We used Nutella as I had some left over and it was so yummy

    Reply
  19. Caren says

    August 8, 2016 at 3:02 pm

    Thank you so much for these awesome ideas!!!!!

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      August 9, 2016 at 12:39 am

      Glad they were helpful, Caren!

      Reply
  20. Donna Robinson says

    January 5, 2019 at 4:34 pm

    I have done the camping day as a Nanny and now will be using it in our summer preschool program. A bucket of bubbles with various size wands also adds to.the fun.

    Reply
    • Mary Catherine says

      January 7, 2019 at 11:12 am

      LOVE adding buckets of bubbles to the camping day activities, thank you!

      Reply
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My name is Mary Catherine, and I love to share meaningful {and fun} learning activities for kiddos! Feel free to browse and stay awhile!

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