Camping Centers and Activities

Everyone loves a camping theme. Learning about nature, forest animals, insects, the night sky, rivers, fishing, and smores will get your students interested and excited to come to school. Parents and teachers all know that when students are interested, they are more engaged, and they develop a love of learning. In this post, I want to share some great ideas for camping centers and activities I do in the classroom with my little learners.

Grab the Camping Math & Literacy Centers, All About Rocks Science Unit, Camping Dramatic Play, and Camping STEM I Can Build cards.

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Camping Centers and Activities for Literacy

Hiking Write the Room! Hide the animal track cards around the room and give students the worksheet on a clipboard. They will walk around the room and look for the animal cards. When they find one, they will trace or write the animal that makes that track. I love write the room activities for little learners so they can move and learn at the same time. It is a great way to get get out all the wiggles. 

Campfire Letters! Print the marshmallow letters and punch a hole in them. Then, I made skewers with pipe cleaners. Students pick a letter, slide it on the skewer, and write it on the mat. Make this harder by having students match capital and lowercase letters, or simpler by having students only use capital OR lowercase letters. Make it even tougher by having students build and write sight words!

Camping Food Pre-Writing Lines! Give students camping food stickers and have them place them all over the butcher paper. Then, give them writing utensils, and they connect the stickers. This is great for hand-eye coordination, pre-writing skills, and crossing the midline skills. Change this butcher paper activity to fit any theme by swapping out the stickers!

Camping Words! Help young children build vocabulary with these camping word cards. I had students pick a card and use DIY manipulatives to build the word. I made these by writing letters on small rocks and wood slices with a permanent marker. The best part is these cards come in lowercase and uppercase, so you can differentiate them for your students’ needs.

Wood Ring Letters! These natural letter pieces are going to get used quite frequently in your classroom for a camping, farm, nocturnal animals, or hibernation theme, to name a few. You can grab these wood slices here, and then I used a permanent marker to write the letters. I wrote uppercase letters on one side and lowercase letters on the other. 

Writing Trays! Make your DIY letter and number manipulatives more engaging by placing them in a writing tray that matches your theme. I used dyed salt, sticks, and letter wood slices to make this fun activity for a nature-themed writing tray.

Camping Writing Center! Set up a camping themed writing center to excite students to write! I put themed paper, camping words, name cards, stickers, markers, and a letter worksheet. So students don’t use a whole sheet of stickers in one minute, I cut the sheets into small squares and they are only allowed to use one small square a day.

Write Outside! Take those kiddos outside and have them write and draw in their journals. They will have so much to look at and enjoy in the sunshine. The kids are using their regular writing journals, learn more about them here.

Camping Letter Sort! Practice identifying characteristics of letters with these letter sorting mats. There are options to sort 4 different ways so students can become familiar with letters. There are also capital and lowercase letter cards to sort for differing student levels.

Picnic Beginning Sounds! Practice beginning sounds with these adorable picnic cards. Students will pick a card, identify the pictures, and determine the sound they start with. Then, put a clothespin on the letter. You can place a sticker on the back of the correct answer so they can be self-checking for students.

Camping Letter Match! Play this letter-matching game with your students to practice letter identification. Students can match capital to capital, capital to lowercase, or lowercase to lowercase. You can use the letter cards included or add in letter manipulatives for another option. To not overwhelm your students, I would suggest only setting out part of the alphabet at one time unless students are ready for the whole alphabet.

Camping Books! There are so many great books for a camping theme that my bookshelf is overflowing! Check out this book list for tons of fiction and nonfiction options for little learners.

Five Green and Speckled Frogs Read Aloud! My students LOVE this book and I found these frog stuffed animals to help us act out the story. We read it multiple times, and students can use the stuffed animals to act out the math problems in the story. There are other great counting books that would work well for a camping theme, like with owls or ants. They are on the booklist above.

Flashlight Reading! Need a simple and FREE activity for a camping theme? Have students bring in a flashlight, turn off the lights, and read! It is that easy, and your students are going to love it! They may just look at pictures in the books, or maybe you read a story together, and they help light up the book for you. It can look different in each classroom, or maybe you do it multiple ways in one day. Set students up to read before naptime on their cots since it is so relaxing.

Camping Centers & Activities for Math

Bear Hunt Counting Mats! Most classrooms have bear counters, and the counting mats are perfect for a camping theme. Grab a number card, and students count out that many bears to practice one-to-one correspondence, number identification, and counting skills. For added difficulty, there are also cards that show a number of tracks students must count to figure out their number.

Fishing Number Match! Go fishing for numbers and quantities. I put a paperclip on each fish, and students used magnet wands to go fishing. Add a “fishing line” with clothespins for students to clip the fish on after they find a match. Put a blue plastic tablecloth under the fish to represent water or put them in a sensory bin, as I did.

Beehive Counting! Make a beehive with hot glue, yellow paint, and an egg carton. Drizzle hot glue and yellow paint on the egg carton to make it look like a hive full of honey. To play the game, students roll a die and count that many manipulatives into a honeycomb. I used pom poms and bee mini erasers. To add in fine motor practice, I had students use tweezers to place the manipulatives. You can make the game tougher by having them use 2 dice and practice addition problems.

Smore’s Number Stack! This adorable camping math game is going to be a hit with your young children. Practice identifying numbers and quantities while stacking up smores.

Smores Number Match! My students loved this number-matching game, and they worked so well together! I placed the top graham crackers out before they arrived, and then students worked on these as their morning table time activity as they arrived for the day.

Marshmallow Patterns! Have you tried making patterns using marshmallows? It is a lot of fun, plus students strengthen their pincer grasp when stamping the marshmallows. If your marshmallows are too squishy, leave them out overnight to dry out. Students made AB, AABB, ABC, and ABB patterns. Set out strips of paper, if you only want students to make one pattern or give them wider paper for multiple patterns.

Fishing Patterns! Practice patterns and fine motor skills with this adorable fishing-themed activity. Punch a hole through the cards and put a cut pipe cleaner through the hole. Then, tape it to the back. Students used pony beads to make color patterns. For younger students, start the patterns on the pole for them to finish.

Camping Shape Mats! Practice identifying shapes and their characteristics with these camping shape mats. Students will match the lanterns to the tents. A shape tracing worksheet is also included.

Pond Shape Matching on the Light Table! Cut out some shapes from tissue paper and laminate them. Then, I gave students shape manipulatives to sort onto the shape ponds; I used buttons. I also gave students the option to build the shapes with rubber ducks.

Fish Counting Light Table! Connect your light table activity to a book that you are reading for more connections throughout the classroom. I used strips of blue paper to make the waves, gems with numbers written on them, and plastic fish to make this counting game. Students counted the number of fish to match the number on the gem.

Camping Centers & Activities for Science

Rocks Science Table! Investigate rocks in your science center.  Add a sorting tray, scale, books about rocks, magnifying glasses, and writing tools for students to use in their investigations. You can study rocks you have found in your area or grab a set from the store for more variety. This science unit has real images so students can build background knowledge and learn more. Be prepared to teach your students how to use the sorting board or the scale.

If you don’t want to do a rock study with your camping theme, birds, bugs, butterflies, nocturnal animals, or ponds/frogs are also great options!

Rock Sorting! For a hands-on science activity, set hula hoops like a Venn diagram and give students sorting characteristics. I had mine sort by texture (bumpy and smooth). My students used so many science words during this science exploration. We sorted these first as a whole group to practice how to use the sorting board, and then they were able to do this independently during center time.

Rock Exploration! Set up a rock exploration with some journal pages, magnifying glasses, markers, and rocks. Each student looked at one rock and made observations. Then, they drew the rock and wrote characteristics. Some students were able to sound out and spell words while others told me, and I wrote it in yellow marker for them to trace.

Nature Walk! Go on a nature walk outside! Collect items on tape bracelets or in a basket for your science center. I turn the tape with the sticky side out, and students collect things on it while we go on a walk outside.

Camping Centers & Activities for STEM & Blocks

Camping STEM Challenges! Absolutely! I added Camping STEM I Can Build challenge cards to my STEM drawers. This little learner made a tent using pattern blocks. I just love how he added the triangles on the top to make it pointy, just like a tent! The real photos make the challenges come to life!

>> Grab some FREE camping STEM cards by filling in the box below!<<

Camping Blocks Center! Take the camping theme into your blocks center. Add forest animals, pinecones, rocks, tree rings, and fake leaves for students to use in their block play. Check your state conservation department for free posters, brochures, and coloring books about the forest. Don’t forget to add non-fiction books about various forest animals to support their block play.  Students can use the books as a reference as they build.

Camping Centers & Activities for Sensory & Art

Pond Sensory Bin! Make your sensory table into a river or pond. Fill it with water, and add some liquid watercolor. Then add pebbles, fish, snakes, ducks, droppers, and frogs. Make a few lily pads using craft foam in different sizes. Students experimented with how many frogs each lily pad would hold.

Forest Sensory Bin! The base is split peas and beans. Then I added snakes, frogs, wood slices, moss, rocks, cups, forest animals, and tweezers. Other natural materials may add different colors and sensory options. I think a cardboard tube could also be a lot of fun!

Forest Play Dough Tray! I LOVE creating play dough trays for every theme. Why? Because it is something my students love to play with, and it is amazing fine motor work! My forest invitation to play tray has green play dough, blue play dough, bugs, snakes, frogs, blue gems, green gems, and pebbles (all purchased from the Dollar Tree, even the tray). Students made forest, river, and pond habitats for the animals. Some students made patterns and designs in the play dough too!

Smores Snack! Have smores for a snack! Each student could build their own smore with graham crackers, chocolate, and a spoonful of marshmallow cream. I like to use marshmallow cream so there is no fire risk. Plus, students have to use their wrist muscles to spread the fluff around on their crackers.

Campfire Art! How cute is this art? To make the logs, students cut brown paper strips and glued them to the paper. Then they painted the fire on top of the logs! It’s a fun way to practice cutting lines.

Marshmallow Prints! Set some large marshmallows out overnight to get hard, and then use them to make pictures. This is a wonderful example of a themed, open-ended art project.

Camping Dramatic Play!

Campsite Dramatic Play! Turn your dramatic play center into a campsite! I promise your students will LOVE it.  I wrote a post all about how I did it HERE and how I embedded a ton of math and literacy experiences into their play, too! Students can play like they have a pretend campfire, cook on the fire, tell stories, sing songs, go on a scavenger hunt or nature walk, look for bugs or animals, look at the stars, use their fishing pole, etc. They are going to have so much fun in the great outdoors!

Making the Mural! I had my students help make the camping dramatic play background for more art projects. They love being a part of creating things for the classroom! You could also add bugs and butterflies. The skunk and raccoon crafts are included in the camping dramatic play set.

Don’t want to make your own camping centers? Save time (and energy) and grab my Camping Math and Literacy Centers. Then, all you have to do is print and prep!

You can find the Camping STEM challenges in this Summer STEM I Can Build pack, along with beach, summer, and America-themed STEM challenges.

Check out this video for more camping centers & activities.

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Happy Camping!