INVITATIONS
- Send the guests a package of freeze-dried food or ice cream that expert campers
use (available at sporting goods and nature stores). Write the party details on the
outside of the package using permanent felt-tip pen, or tape the invitation to the
food packet.
- Send the campers a compass with a sheet of directions to the party, to help them find their way.
COSTUMES
- Have the kids come to the party dressed for camping in the wilderness,
wearing hiking boots, camp shirts, shorts or jeans, and hats.
DECORATIONS
- Decorate the tent with streamers, balloons, and funny signs.
- If you don't have a tent, fold a large blanket or tarp over a clothesline, or
hang a piece of rope between two trees to make your own pup tent.
- Have a supply of backpacks, sleeping bags, camping gear, comic books, and other
camp-related items. (You may want to ask the kids to bring some of their own
camping gear to supplement your supply.)
- To add to the atmosphere of a backyard forest, paint glow-in-the-dark eyes on
construction paper, cut them out, and staple them around the yard-on bushes, to the
fence, on the trees-so it looks like wild animals are keeping an "eye" on the
campers in the darkness.
- If you have any tapes of animal sounds, play them when the kids go to bed.
Such tapes are available at nature stores.
GAMES
- Play Trapped in the Sleeping Bag. Have two kids get inside one sleeping bag, then
zip it alf the way up the sides, making sure both players have their hands down at
their sides. Tell them you hear a bear coming down the path and they have only a few
seconds to get out of the sleeping bag, so they'd better move fast! Time the campers
to see how long it takes them to get out of the sleeping bag. Then try the game again
with another couple of kids, and compare escape times.
- Have a sleeping-bag sack race. Have everyone hop inside their sleeping bags
from the start to the finish line.
ACTIVITIES
- Get out the flashlights and take a midnight walk around the neighborhood,
under the leadership of an adult.
- Have one group walk around the backyard, leaving clues as they go, such as
arrows made from lined-up rocks or a trail of bread crumbs. Then have a second
group follow the clues left by the first group.
- Have the kids sit in a circle and share ghost stories.
- Have the kids climb into their sleeping bags and read comic books by the light
of flashlights.
FOOD
- Roast hot dogs over the open flames of a barbecue or hibachi. After the hot
dogs are cooked and tucked into hot dog buns, call them Campers in Sleeping Bags.
- Heat beans in a can and serve as a side dish. (Careful, the can may be hot.)
- Make s'mores for dessert. Have the kids stick marshmallows onto the ends of
sticks or straightened coat hangers and hold them over the fire for a few seconds
until they are brown (try not to let the marshmallows burn!). Give each kid two
graham crackers and one Hershey chocolate bar square the same size as the crackers.
Have the kids make a sandwich, with the crackers for "bread" and the chocolate and
melted marshmallow in between. Be sure you have extra ingredients on hand, because
the kids are going to want s'more!
- o Don't forget trail mix and bottled water or juice for the hike.
FAVORS
- Send the campers home with brand-new comic books.
- Give each kid a compass to find his or her way home.
- Give the kids packets of ice cream or other freeze-dried treats to take home.
- Hand out miniature flashlights or other inexpensive camping gear.
VARIATIONS
- Take the kids to a real campground and have your party in the wilderness! Ask
the kids to bring their camping gear, then pitch the tents, and hike around the
campground. Be sure to invite a couple of extra parents to help out for safety's sake.
HELPFUL HINTS
- Some kids may be scared of the dark, so have night-lights available outside.
- Consider inviting a couple of parents to join the overnighter, for those kids
who need the extra security of mom or dad.
- SWhen walking around at night, have plenty of flashlights, move slowly, and
don't go into poorly lit areas.
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