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Kids camping gifts for toddlers, 6, 8, or 10-year-olds, Tweens and teens
Looking for the best camping gifts for kids? We’ve been living the van life and traveling full-time with our kids for years now. In this article, we’ll give you a list of our best camping gift ideas for children who love to play outdoors while camping or playing in their backyard.
Whether you have camped as a family before, or just want to make your kids excited for your upcoming family adventures, camping gifts for Christmas, a birthday, or any other occasion are always a good idea.
Camping is a great way for kids to learn about nature, bond as a family, and have a budget-friendly family vacation. By giving your kids some survival gear or a fun camping toy, you’ll inspire them to spend more time outdoor.
Read more: how to travel on a budget as a family
The best kids’ gifts for camping aren’t always really necessary for a family camping trip. They’re just a lot of fun for kids, which means you’ll have a more relaxing holiday. Camping toys for kids always make great gifts.
However, we decided to add a few handy things as well. Therefore, in this list, we’ll cover everything from the best camping gear for kids to camping toys for toddlers and camping toys for 6-year-olds, 8-year-olds, or 10-year-olds, and fun outdoor gifts for kids and teens.
This post may contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase through one of these links, we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you. Please read our affiliate disclosure and privacy policy for more information.
Camping gear for kids
Waterproof daypack hiking kids
Kids love their own backpacks, especially when you go camping or hiking. Make sure it’s not too big (cause otherwise they’ll overload it making it too heavy) and suitable for a kids’ back. You want it to be waterproof, as well!
Ultralight and compact sleeping bag
Our kids love to have their own sleeping bags! Even at home, they use it for play or for a sleepover with a friend. You’ll want to buy a sleeping bag that’s very compact and light, perfect for any camping trip.
If you want to buy camping stuff for kids, have you thought of a reusable water bottle? We take one for every family member. Not only is it better for the environment than buying plastic bottles, but it’s also incredibly handy. If the kids have their own bottle, it’s easy to follow up if they drink enough in warm circumstances.
A popular camping gift for a kid is a colorful camping chair fitted to their size. Besides the fact that they’ll feel important to have their own camping gear, it’s also much easier for them to handle compared to the regular camping chair. Perfect to sit around the fire in the evening!
One of the camping essentials with kids is definitely a headlamp. Buying them their own light will not only make you incredibly popular, but it’ll turn out very handy! And kids love to play night games with these headlamps! They even have these cute animal headlamps, great for toddlers.
Is there any kid who wouldn’t love one of these survival kits for kids as a gift? There are many different sets and combinations, but essentials are definitely binoculars, a magnifier, and a compass. The explorer’s vest and hat will make you very popular!
These LED lanterns by Coleman for little explorers are great camping accessories for kids. Whether they want to play a game in the evening or have to go urgently in the night, this light will be very practical for any family camping trip.
It’s a good thing when kids learn how to survive in the outdoors from a young age. With this firestarter, they can practice the art of fire-making. It also has a whistle, compass, and paracord. One of the best experience gifts for kids!
Every little explorer would love this explorer vest and hat as a gift! They are the perfect present for kids who love the outdoors!
No proper wildlife spotting without a decent binocular. This one by Think Peak is a great binocular for kids. It’s easy to use and has great quality! The perfect gift to add to your kids’ camping supplies.
You can only feel like a true explorer with a magnifier in your hand. This one even has a light so you can even look for insects in the dark!
Being able to navigate on a compass, is a great skill to have. Stimulate this by buying your kids a good compass as a fun camping gift! It will make the next walk so much more fun.
Maybe not one of the typical camping gifts for kids, but a water purifier is a great item to bring along for a family camping trip. They’ll find it very cool to be able to drink water out of a stream!
Camping books for kids
Camping books for toddlers
One of the best camping gifts for toddlers is a camping-themed book. Read them a story to make them enthusiastic for the next camping trip or when they need to go to sleep in the tent or RV. Pretty sure they’ll be all ears!
The tent mouse and the RV mouse
One mouse loves to camp in a tent, the other in an RV. Two cousins who have the best adventures and learn to appreciate each other’s opinions.
The famous Llama Llama goes camping for the very first time and learns a lot! A great inspiration for little campers, not to be scared of the unknown and have a great time camping!
This little book is perfect for preparing your toddler for your next camping trip. A lovely gift for a little adventurer.
Kids camping books (and tweens)
Books are often not the first thing that pops up in your mind when you think of camp gift ideas. But they are a lot of fun and often very educational. Here are some of our top picks!
Backpack Explorer: On the Nature Trail
A fantastic field guide for young explorers from about 4 to 8 years old. Kids learn to understand what they find in nature and what they need to look for. It makes them curious about their surroundings. A great book to bring along for a family camping trip.
Backpack Explorer: Birdwatching for Kids
Another great book by Backpack Explorer is this birdwatching guide for children. Whether you’re camping with kids or they just want to run around in your backyard, this book will learn them to observe birds, identify them, and so much more. It’s filled with fun games, activities, and educational pages.
Stories around the campfire… Don’t they create the best memories? This book is filled with the best classic, funny (and sometimes scary) tales.
This camping alphabet takes you through everything you need to know about camping. A great guide for all ages on what to pack, what to do while having a family camping trip, … It comes with beautiful illustrations and is a lovely read.
Camping activity book for kids
A fun book packed with more than 35 outdoor adventures and projects, which will get any kid excited for their next camping trip or adventure in the outdoors.
This guide is perfect for kids from 7 to 12 years old to learn all the basics of camping. From tying knots to using a compass, this book covers it all.
The ultimate book of Scavenger Hunts for the outdoors
Which kid doesn’t like a scavenger hunt? Even adults have fun with them. This book is filled with fun scavenger hunts for the whole family to play outside. Perfect for any camping trip or outdoor activity.
Read more: Fun photo scavenger hunts for kids + free download
Interactive kids camping journal
A kid’s camping journal is a great way to remember all the little details of a trip. You don’t want to forget those amazing memories! But this camping journal is more than just some blank pages. You can write down the animals you saw, the friends you made, the places you’ve been to, … And it has a lot of fun games, scavenger hunts, …
This star guide for explorers from around 8 – 12 years old is a great camping gift for kids. We all picture starry skies when we think about camping trips and this guide will get your kids all excited for the nightly sky!
A book that teaches the ultimate survival skills to somewhat older kids and tweens. Everything that will get them excited for their next trip. Learning how to navigate, recognize dangerous animals and plants, avoid and treat injuries, …
Camping toys for toddlers, 6 YEAR OLDS, 8 YEAR OLDS OR 10 YEAR OLDS
One of the coolest kids’ camping gifts is a set of walkie-talkies. They can play with these for hours around the campground. Walkie-talkies always have been a big hit with our kids and we don’t leave without them.
With this tool, your kids will learn how to tie all the essential survival knots. It’s a great camping gift for older kids who are interested in camping and outdoor adventures.
As I take pictures all the time, our girls soon wanted their own camera as well. And also for camping, it’s a great gift idea! They can use it to play a photo scavenger hunt, capture their environment, spot animals and take great underwater pictures!
Fishing gifts for kids are always fun. So is this fishing set. Although they might not be as patient as an adult, having their own fishing pole makes them feel grown-up. If they even catch a fish, that will be the best moment ever!
Find & Seek Scavenger hunt card game
Games are always great camping gifts for families. This find-and-seek scavenger hunt card game is a lot of fun for everybody while camping. It can be played both indoor and outdoor from the age of 3 years.
These lovely camping tools for kids to pretend and play with are lots of fun for toddlers and smaller kids. Whether you take it along on your next outdoor trip or they play with it at home, they’ll have hours of fun pretending they are grown-ups out camping.
A slackline is a fun gift for kids who like to play outdoor. And perfect for a camping trip as well, as it is very compact to pack. It comes with an overhead training line.
Kids love hanging chairs! Whether they use it as a swing or as a place to relax, bringing a hanging chair on your next camping trip will be a big hit! You can also bring a lightweight hammock as an alternative.
This cool rocket launcher by National Geographic is not only a lot of fun. It comes with a complete learning guide on everything that happens. And the rockets have LED lamps, so you can light up the sky!
Outdoor games are always cool camping gifts ideas. This ring toss game is a lot of fun for all ages and therefore to bring along on a family camping trip.
Fantastic craft activity for kids who go camping is a rock painting kit. It will boost their creativity and is perfect to do outdoors. Once they painted all the stones delivered in this kit, you can initiate the next activity, looking for nice new stones!
Creating your own gemstones while camping, how cool would that be? With this kit, you get the stones, a jewelry kit, and an educational guide on how this all works!
Our girls love a metal detector! We often take one on our van life trips. It’s a fun outdoor gift for kids that will keep them busy for hours. Our kids have found some great stuff over time.
This fun camp craft kit has 12 different activities to keep the kids busy on your next family camping trip.
A classic memory game but with a fun, colorful camping theme. The ideal camping gift for kids!
The perfect gift for an outdoorsy child is this butterfly garden hatching kit. Seeing caterpillars turn into butterflies is one of the wonders of this world and very inspirational for kids.
Lots of fun with this cool slingshot, which comes with foam balls and a storage bag. Will be a hit with a lot of young campers!
Camping games for kids are always a great gift. This Spot it camping game is a lot of fun for the whole family. It can be played from the age of 6 years old as it stimulates focus, language, and visual skills.
There are many fun camping toys for toddlers, but this cute flashlight is definitely one of the better ones! All toddlers love their own light when they go camping with their family, especially when it’s shaped like a firefly!
Camping gifts for teens
Survival gear for kids is always a great gift! Every teen who loves the outdoors will be thrilled with this present! An entire survival kit, suitable to survive any kind of outdoor adventure!
A GoPro is a fantastic gift for active teens who love to go camping or be outdoors in general. It will enable them to get great footage of all their adventures, even underwater with the right gear.
A multifunctional pocket knife is an essential camping gift for teens! Whether you choose the famous Swiss knives or a regular pocket knife, your teen will love it! They even have them personalized!
String lights for camping (solar)
Maybe not one of the obvious outdoor family gifts, but teens (especially girls) love string lights to brighten up the camping scene or even to use at home. Try to buy lights that are suitable for the outdoors and solar-powered.
Paracord bracelet (and survival kit)
These paracord bracelets are a great gift for teens who love to survive in the outdoors. There are more fashionable ones or multifunctional ones, who even have a compass, fire starter, whistle, … Everything you need for an emergency in nature.
All teens love privacy! Sometimes a reason why they don’t enjoy camping with the family anymore. By giving them their own tent, they get the privacy they want while still enjoying a family camping trip.
Kids who want to camp at home
Wouldn’t it be fun to be able to sit (or sleep) in a tent in your bedroom? A tipi tent is one of the great camping-themed gifts for kids who want to camp at home.
Looking up and seeing a million stars, it’s what makes camping so special. With this star projector, you can bring the stars to your bedroom.
All kids love stuffed animals. But if you want them to get enthusiastic about camping (at home), this set of five forest animals is perfect.
Lego always has been a hit in our family! Ever since we started camping, our kids loved to play with all camping-related Lego. It makes them relive old camping trips and look forward to new adventures to come! The perfect camping gift for kids!
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