By Gail Marsh
Wondering what to give to the families on your gift list this year? Face it! The kids already have too many toys, and gifts for teens can be rather tricky. Most adults buy what they want when they want it! So, what’s left? The perfect gift: the gift of time together. Every family can use it and you need not worry about getting the correct size or color. Take a look at these camping games and puzzles and see what we mean:
Camping games
Trekking The National Parks
Trekking The National Parks is a best-selling, award-winning game. It was created by a couple who traveled to every single national park, and then worked with their son to make the game. It’s fun and educational, and will surely make you want to plan a trip to the closest national park.
Parks
Speaking of our national parks… This beautiful all-wood game is a little more advanced, so it would be better for the older kids or adults in your life. That being said, it’s a beautiful game and would make a wonderful gift for winter fun.
Camping with Sasquatch
Camping with Sasquatch combines the card games “Rummy” and “Slapjack” to guarantee great family fun. This 128-card game comes with easy-to-understand rules and can be played almost anywhere!
Toasted or Roasted
Toasted or Roasted challenges players to be the first to “toast three marshmallows.” Beware of other players, though. They can “rain” on your campfire or “burn” your marshmallow! This game uses both offensive and defensive skills that will keep the entire family entertained!
HERSHEY’s S’mores Perfectly Toasted Game
Yep, that’s right! HERSHEY made a board game! You better get to making s’mores before someone else wins the game. One requirement? You’d better be eating s’mores while playing (just sayin’). Learn about it here.
gofindit
The game gofindit can last a few minutes, an hour, or even an entire day as family members (including the littlest ones) search for items in this outdoor scavenger hunt card game. A durable fabric bag keeps all the gofindit cards together and easily fits into a pocket.
Spot It! Camping edition
The Spot It! camping edition will really test your memory and attention span, and will even help improve both things! The kids will be having fun and you’ll be thankful for a little brain boost.
Slappy Camper
Get ready to pack up the camper, and you better do it quick! You’ve got to think fast and pack it up before your teammates do, but if you go too fast, it could backfire! This one is loads of fun.
Camp Talk
Camp Talk is a great game to get conversations started. Created by kids for kids of all ages, the questions posed on each of the 50 cards will get (and keep) participants talking for hours! Best of all, this game is compact and easy to carry along.
National Park editions
If you’re a fan of Scrabble, Monopoly or Yahtzee, you’re going to love these National Parks-themed versions of these. These are collector’s items and would be so neat to have! Here’s the Monopoly version, the Yahtzee version and the Jenga version.
Waterproof playing cards
Hoyle Waterproof Clear Playing Cards are perfect for the family that enjoys their own favorite card games, but needs more durable playing cards. This deck of cards is 100% waterproof! That means you can take them to the pool or the beach without worry. These standard-sized cards are easy to shuffle and are hand-washable, too!
Camping and RVing puzzles
Airstream Christmas dreams
Look how neat this one is! A perfect winter Airstream scene. We’d love to be sitting by that campfire. This 1000-piece puzzle will keep you busy for a while, which is good because we wouldn’t want to leave this moment!
A panoramic campground
We love that you can see the whole campground scene in this puzzle. And it may be a bit easier to complete than the others… At 500 pieces, this one will be a ton of fun to do. Can you spot the adorable owl babies?
A Christmas wonderland
Wow! Does it get much prettier than this? You wouldn’t think to call a puzzle pretty… but this one is pretty! Perfect for the Christmas season, and even more fun to do when the whole family comes over. This is one of our favorites.
Fun for the whole family
We love this drawing. This would be fun to have as an art print. Maybe you could frame it once you finished it! Since it’s 1000 pieces, it should keep you busy for a while. But we’re okay with that – we like those mountain views! Find it here.
Vintage camping
This 1,000-piece vintage camping puzzle will bring back memories for the whole family. It comes in the classic Cavallini tube and would make a nice gift. Find it here.
Want even more puzzles? There are tons more options. Check these out.
Outdoor camping games
Spikeball
Spikeball is a bestseller for a reason! This game is great for your backyard, at the campsite, at the beach, park, or wherever! Great for getting some exercise, too. Everyone loves it! Learn more about it here.
Cornhole
Another camping classic! This set is great because it collapses and folds down flat, making it easy for storage. Plus, the whole set weighs less than 4 lbs.! Find it here.
Kinda like Skee-Ball…
This is fun! It’s sort of like a mix between Spikeball (above) and Skee-Ball. Bounce the ball into a hole to score points. Another great outdoor camping game! Check it out.
“Beer” pong, anyone?
Remember the “good ol’ days” of playing beer pong? Well, this is like a giant beer pong game, except I don’t think you should play with beer… Fill the buckets with water so they don’t fall over, and good luck throwing the ball into one! It’s harder (and more fun) than it looks. Find it here.
Do you have a favorite camping game or puzzle to add to our list? Please tell us about it in the comments below!
RVT1235
Thanks Gail. We’ve found our young relatives do like jigsaw puzzles and card and board games – imagine that!