Evening activities to make camping more fun

Gather all your teddies together for a picnic and set out some blankets to have dinner or evening snacks on. Why not show a bear-themed film or play some teddy-based games, such as hide and seek with teddies? 

Bring your favourite story to life with some puppets. You could even make your own puppets! 

Hide some teddies, then wrap up warm and bring the story to life as you try and find as many teddies as possible. You could use our Squirrel search activity. 

Ask around and see if you can find someone to put on a magic show for a bit of wow and wonder. Try our magic activity and try learning some tricks yourself. 

You could have an egg and spoon race, three legged race, bean bag throwing, an obstacle course, hurdles, limbo and hopscotch. Take a look at our sports day activity. 

People could be animals, superheroes or whatever they can imagine! Make sure to check for allergies.

Release your inner artist and get creative painting pottery with friends. It can be a great souvenir! 

Have a calming evening by doing some simple yoga moves that everyone can do. You could set up the space with yoga mats or towels and fairy lights. Take a look at our animal yoga activity.

You could make bubble snakes, see who can pop the most bubbles, and make your own bubble wands. Always wipe up spillages quickly, be careful of wet floors and keep towels handy.  

On lighter summer evenings, let everyone go on a nature treasure hunt before going to sleep. Can they find a daisy, a munched leaf, or even a lucky four leaf clover? Take a look at running a nature treasure hunt.  

Why not ask everyone to bring their favourite board game for a relaxed night? Or teach everyone some cool card games to help people make new friendships and memories? Take a look at our card game ideas. 

Boost your campfire experience by bringing along a campfire popcorn popper. It's a delightful and unexpected treat, adding extra fun to the outdoors. 

Run your own disco or silent disco event, either with your own equipment or you could hire what you need, including a DJ. Take a look at our guidance on music licensing.  

Give out some awards on the last night. For an even more special night, ask people to dress, roll out a red carpet, serve some mocktails and have people pretend to be paparazzi to take pictures as people arrive. You could also make some Photo Booth props for people to use. 

Have a superhero training evening with lots of themed activities games. Take on a superhero themed obstacle course, design your own cape, or have some throwing practice.

If you can find a willing volunteer, why not let your superheroes chase the ‘villain’ and try to catch them with their lightening ring (hula hoop) to get some tasty treat rewards? 

Set up a treasure hunt for people to follow with maps and marked locations to find. Or, you could also have a treasure hunt with riddle clues for people to decipher? 

From Capture the Flag to Scarecrow Tag, take a look at our wide game ideas to get everyone moving about and having fun before bed.  

For some more focused and relaxing evenings, borrow or buy a parachute for some exciting games. Take a look at our parachute game ideas. 

Have a relaxing night by a campfire with some songs and skits. Remember to tell people in advance, so they have plenty of time to rehearse any skits. You could make it just for adults to perform and have a fun session rehearsing them before the event. Take a look at our campfire songs and campfire guidance. 

Gather together lots of big cardboard boxes and stick them together with strong duct tape to make them into a maze. It’s lots of fun and you can play games in the maze, such as hide and seek or find the jewels. 

For a great night at camp, put on a talent show and let everyone show off their unique skills. You should give people lots of time to practice, so either tell them in advance or let people have time to rehearse. You could let people bring props or costumes too. Remember, some people could help seat people, some might decorate the stage and some may want to serve drinks and snacks, but they should all be equally recognised. 

Run a craft session using blank materials for people to decorate. You can get lots of craft blanks from craft stores, such as tote bags, photo frames, t-shirts, keyring or plant pots. 

Spend the first night at camp making some duct tape wallets, then you can use them for everyone to keep any spending money in on your trip.  

Set up a designated station with a variety of toppings, such as sprinkles or marshmallows. Just remember to always check for dietary requirements and allergies. Always let drinks cool down before serving them, so they’re not scalding hot. 

For an extra special evening, invite in an animal handler. You could have cuddly rabbits and guinea pigs or let everyone find their braver side with snakes, tarantulas and giant millipedes. Remember to check for any fears, phobias or allergies, including to the animal food or bedding. 

Put together a memory time capsule for the trip on the last night, then open it at on next trip to remind everybody of everything you did. You could write notes, draw pictures, add in maps or souvenirs or write postcards. Remember to let people decorate the box too! 

Each team builds a castle out of cardboard, then they’re given soft foam balls to use to throw into other castles. Some people can be inside the castle and some can be outside. You can see which castle has the fewest balls in at the end and has been best defended! 

Everyone could bring some snacks and drinks, then watch a film in sleeping bags or on comfy pillows and blankets. Take a look at our motion picture guidance.  

Build some dens, then read some adventure stories in them. You could also play den hide and seek or try den tag, where the dens are bases. Or, if you’re feeling brave, why not use water pistols and see how waterproof the dens are? 

You can mix and cook your own pancakes and choose a selection of tasty toppings. Just remember to always check for dietary requirements and allergies.

Create a number of fun relay-style teams and individual racing style games, then host your own wacky races evening. You could try Octopus races, Pool Noodle races, Pretzel races and three-legged races.  

Why not run a football tournament? Have everyone split into small teams, then play a short game against together. You could add in some extra silly rules too.

Host your own Olympics. You could have pool noodle javelin, a relay race, Frisbee discus, archery, tennis ball shot-put and basketball. It could be run over several nights, with teams designing their own flag to parade at an opening and closing ceremony. 

Wrap up warm on a clear night for some stargazing. You could use apps to spot stars. Why not learn about constellations beforehand, so everyone knows what they’re looking for? 

For a relaxing evening, have a night making friendship and paracord bracelets. It can be a great way to get talking! 

Let everyone read together with blankets and cushions. People could do a book swap or try a new book genre, such as comic books.

Use some cones and buckets to set up a disc golf course, or you could find a local one, then pick up some Frisbees. See how many throws it takes you to score - can you get a hole in one? 

Get into teams and one person will be chosen to be dressed as a robot. The robots are created from cardboard and tape, which are earned through challenges. Each team will then compete in a Robot Wars tournament using water to decide the overall winning team. 

Let someone take on the role of the Taskmaster and try some silly tasks to put your imagination and problem-solving to the tests. Take a look at our Taskmaster activity for some inspiration. Did you know the Taskmaster himself, Greg Davies, used to be a Scout?  

Try a traditional wide game, such as Capture the Flag. Why not make it harder and add in a third team? Take a look at our advice on active games.  

Teams need to follow tracking symbols to find ‘treasure’ on route, such as the parts of the Trangia stove (apart from the spirit burner). People would need to collect all the parts to make dinner.

Give each team a chocolate orange that they need to create a parachute for to protect it from a high drop. Let teams have a set amount of time to create something from a safe, clean and dry selection of items, then test the parachutes safely to see which chocolate orange doesn’t break!  

Have a pizza evening and let everyone decorate their own pizza. Why not cook them on a pizza oven or a barbecue topper pizza oven? Take a look at our food safety and food hygiene advice.

Let teams complete a series of challenges or games in order to earn equipment, such as tinfoil, sellotape, string, bamboo canes, newspaper and cardboard. The teams then need to use this equipment to build a carrier to protect a water balloon.

Use some cones and a soft bat and ball to set up a game of rounders. Why not try kickball rounders or Frisbee rounders for an extra twist? 

Why not turn a sports day on its head and create some silly takes on classic games? You could swap an egg and spoon race for a banana on a spatula, have a snail sack race, or have a Pretzel race.

Put your problem-solving to the test and get your detective hat on. Use the classic card game and make it into a wide game.  

If you’re looking for a group or team sport, try ultimate Frisbee. 

Practice your DIY skills and build a new home for feathered friends. You could build a wooden bird house, or you could choose to make some birdhouses out of something more unusual, such as a teapot or juice carton.  

Host a quick night for everyone to take part in. Why not have prizes for various things, such as best teamwork, silliest answer or quickest answer? 

Run a survival skills workshop and let people practice their skills, such as making solar ovens or creating water filters.  

Hand out some marshmallows and spaghetti (you can also use jelly sweets and cocktail sticks), then set some challenges for people to complete. Can people build the tallest tower, a bridge or an igloo dome?  

Host a minute to win it competition and let people try to complete small challenges in under 60 seconds. Who will succeed?

Tie-dye is great activity to do outside on a relaxing summer evening. Make a souvenir with some tie dyed t-shirts or tote bags. 

Get into teams. One team hides, leaving a trail for the other team to follow. The second team waits for five minutes and then sets off to find the first team. When they arrive at the ambush spot, the first team’s members jump out and try to tag all of the members of the second team before they can return to base. Those who are tagged join the first team.

Get into teams, and give each team a list of the same challenges to complete, which they need to take a photo of. Each challenge is worth a certain number of points. The harder the images are to capture, the more points it can be worth. The team with the most points, wins.

• The biggest leaf
• A tree with legs
• A snowflake

Use the navigation app called what3words, and have a treasure hunt around the space, with each clue being a three word code. Which team will finish it first?

Try your hand at some long exposure photography, and use torches on a dark night to create some light paintings.