Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post, at no extra cost to you.

Last summer, Joe could easily accompany us on trips without anything to complain about. She’d dig in the sand and pick flowers. Now that she’s 5 years old, there’s something new : she gets bored!

Our Saturday, fishing was extremely boring for her, and obviously we don’t want her growing up thinking fishing and camping weekends are not fun.

On Sunday I came up with a few easy activities to keep her busy by the lake and even though we stayed there a few hours, she didn’t complain once!

Games!

We left the dice to play Yahtzee in the car, but we took Uno with us. At 5, it’s a game she can play and fully understands. It’s easy, lightweight, nothing complicated, no preparation (except putting the cards in your backpack).

Foraging

There wasn’t much to forage by the lake we went to… But there were dandelions! I proposed we make dandelion’s roots tea and cooked leaves and suddenly, she had a mission! She had to look for nice, young leaves so she couldn’t just pick any plant. There were everywhere but she had a specific task and anything wouldn’t do. It definitely kept her busy for a while

Make a fire

We watch a lot of survival and bushcraft videos, and Joe asked for a fire. But not any fire. A fire started with a ferro rod. Luckily, I had one on me (this one precisely)! I made her gather the stuff : rocks to contain the fire, small branches, dry grass… It took a while, as she would bring back one stick at a time, but that’s how she kept busy.

Shovel

I don’t know what it is with kids, but they LOVE to dig. Bring a shovel and they’ll just, well, dig. That’s it. We got a shovel for 50 cents at the local thrift store and next thing you know, Joe is just digging and playing in the dirt.

Get wet

This one is easy. We’re by the lake, we’re fishing. There’s water. I don’t know about yours, but this kid loves water. She had her swimsuit in her backpack so, why not? She got in there and enjoyed it, even though she’s get stuck in the dirt. Dirt scares us, not the kid.

Other ideas

I looked up for ideas on Pinterest on how to keep kids entertained on a hike or when camping and I totally forgot to print them, but there are some pretty cool hiking and camping bingos and scavenger hunts printables! That is definitely something I will put in Joe’s backpack for next time.

On this note, here are the essentials I carry for the kids : sunscreen, kid friendly bug spray and a pack of Uno cards.