Backyard camping tips to take your group to another world

Don’t do the usual barbecue or eat “house food.” Go to your public library for great books on outdoor camp food, or download and use our affiliate e-book Ultimate Campfire Kitchen Camping Guide, which shows 580 fun camp food recipes you can choose from whether you rent a tiny camp stove, have a backyard firepit, or just need take-along foods to eat picnic style with no cooking. There’s another resource for backyard camping recipes at the bottom of the page.

Invite others for a sing along or outdoor storytelling session

One advantage to backyard camping is that you can invite lots of other people to join just parts of the adventure, such as the meal or the sing along, and then they can go home when it’s time for bed. Whereas when you travel, it’s just your own group. Camp sing alongs tend to need group energy to make participation feel comfortable.

Invite your neighbors or close friends to enjoy a camp sing along or story telling session (no electronics allowed). Short fables read aloud by flashlight make good backyard camping stories, letting listeners guess what the “moral” is at the end before revealing it. Storytelling can be quieter and might be best when nearby neighbors aren’t participating in your gathering.

The downloadable affiliate Great American Campfire Songbook has a collection of more than 80 favorite campfire songs with music, lyrics, and chords, as well as a lyrics-only version and tells tricks on how to succeed with group sing-alongs.

Sleep under the stars

Another advantage with backyard camping you don’t have when traveling is that you can be more spontaneous and choose the perfect clear starlit night for the occasion. When you sleep out under the stars rather than in a camper or tent, you really enter a world you rarely ever see.

Amy Rose has written a great how-to for group backyard camping out under the stars. So I’ll let her take it from here:

- Before the backyard camping event, see if your library has “Once Upon a Starry Night,” which is a story of the constellations. If not, there are other excellent illustrated books on the constellations. Check one out and bring it home. (Book image here opens a new window to our Amazon affiliate for this book.)

- You’ll need sleeping bags, either groundsheets (these can be picnic table oilcloths, heavy plastic, tarps), or air mattresses, a flashlight with a waterproof container, dry comfortable clothes (sweat suits work well), and if possible, star gazing binoculars.

- If there is an actual campfire, set up the sleeping area at least 10 feet away for safety.

- Choose dry, flat ground with either grass or soil. Avoid moss because it attracts and holds moisture.

- Check for lumps from stones, roots, or branches, and smooth out the site.

- Lay the groundsheets or air mattresses down, one for each backyard camper unless you want to use a large one for the parents or two small people.

- Lay out your sleeping bags properly. Most camping areas, even backyard camping areas, aren't completely flat. Set out your sleeping bags so the head is slightly higher than the feet.

- Secure the flashlight and binoculars in a waterproof container such as a plastic or canvas bag, next to your sleeping bags.

- Make sure whatever you're wearing isn't damp at all from sweating before climbing into sleeping bags. Sleeping outdoors calls for completely dry clothing.

- Between your sing along or story-telling time and when it’s time to go to bed, read the constellation book together assuming it’s not quite dark yet. Let children take turns shining the flashlight on the book to enhance the visibility. If you have really young kids, you may want to have read the book previously a few times in segments as a bedtime story, then use tonight to review.

- Climb into sleeping bags and look for constellations and search for falling stars. On most nights, especially in the summer, there will be at least three or four shooting stars and even more near August 12th. You’ll see a world you rarely ever notice.

- Electronic addicted kids, and any kids in general, may enjoy a little secret activity they can do on their own at bedtime after it’s time to be quiet. Give them their own flashlights for inside their sleeping bags and a storybook or activity book to enjoy by flashlight. If you feel they need even more glitz to keep them occupied, try glow-in-the-dark modeling foam or crayons. You can also give them a baggie of trail mix to eat on their own as they choose after bedtime.

You may also be interested in these other articles: Backyard Movie and Indoor Camping

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