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Camping Gifts for Kids: The Best Gifts for outdoorsy kids

If you are looking for a great gift idea, check out these Camping Gifts for Kids!

What do you get for a kid who loves camping? What do you buy for an outdoorsy girl or boy?

We just got back from camping for three nights. Holy moly we had to pack SO much stuff for our family of 7 but my kids had SO much fun. I think all kids are born with love for the outdoors, and camping (whether real or pretend) is a great way to honor that love. Whether you want some fun camping gifts for inside or outside or for little kid or bigger kid…here are 30 camping gifts for kids!

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Camping Gifts for Kids: Tent-type toysairfort tent for pretend play Camping Gifts for KidsAir Fort Tent 

This tent looks amazing…you attach a box fan to one side (there is a flap so it isn’t near little fingers) and it makes this awesome air fort.  The material weighs only 24 ounces and fits into a small bag…but when it is inflated it is 77 inches wide and 50 inches tall! This would be so much fun for kids who love to camp!

kids colorful teepee
Blue Tent

We have a tent like this that our amazing neighbor sewed for our son…if you want to go an easier route then DIY, this tent is colorful and could also be a really fun reading nook for a kid who loves camping! Add some pillows and a fuzzy blanket and you could keep this up year-round in a playroom or big bedroom.  This also folds to be pretty compact and includes a carrying bag (and a safari flashlight projector!) If you DO want to sew one of these, here is a great tutorial on a similar (not so compact) DIY kid tent.

bed tent for kids for girl who loves to be outdoors

Pink Bed Tent
I added yet another tent because this is a fun one that they keep on their bed…it will be like camping every single night!

Camping gifts for kids: Toys for pretend indoor camping

bear sleeping bag for kids buffalo check red
Raccoon Sleeping Bag

I love the pattern and plaid on this sleeping bag…littles will love this one!

night sky projector for kid camping gift

Ceiling Stars 

One of our favorite things about camping is looking up at the stars at night. This amazing set of stars will have your camping kid loving their bedroom each night!
Nature Sounds for kids for pretend play

Nature Sounds 

Add the sound of birds or crickets chirping or maybe a river running. We have this sound machine and my kids love to play pretend storm and turn on the thunder setting (plus it helps them sleep at night!)

Toddler Fishing Pole Toy

Toddler Fishing Pole

This fishing pole is great fun for a little one pretending to camp. Just be prepared to string these fishies on 7,299,999 times haha!
Fishing Pole for kids Captain America

Youth Fishing Pole

My two littlest boys have started watching fishing shows on Netflix and I knew they would love a little fishing pole of their own. Boy was I right! These run around $10 at Walmart…look for the kind that has a plastic fish you can attach for practicing. On our camping trip my 5-year-old spent LITERALLY hours practicing his casting and still does it for about 20 minutes a day at our house. Seriously people, I am not exaggerating! 
high quality walkie talkie Camping Gifts for Kids

Walkie Talkie

These are high-quality walkie talkies! 3 mile radius and great reviews. You can find walkie-talkies for cheaper…but it is better to spend a little more (so they actually work!) woodland creatures stuffed animals
Nature Stuffed Animals 

I think this set of woodland creatures (in their own tree no less!) would be an adorable camping gift for kids!

Camping Gifts for Kids: Tools to use while camping

Nature Explorer Vest for kids
Nature Explorer Vest
We bought this for my six-year-old and it is such high quality! This vest looks like a fishing vest, it has tons of pockets and is perfect for stashing all of their handy-dandy camping tools. Add some explorer tools before for an epic camping gift for kids! Binoculars for kids
Think Peak Binoculars
I have five kids and we have gone through our fair share of binoculars. The problem with binoculars for kids is that they are either A) fake and don’t actually magnify anything (why, why do they make toys like this?) or B)They work okay, but get dropped two times and are broken. Think Peak was nice enough to send me a set of these binoculars and not only have my kids loved them, but they are great quality that I highly recommend. My 7-year-old has been wearing these almost non-stop and his 5-year-old brother is regularly stealing them.  These actually work and are super sturdy! They would also pair awesomely with the books below.

Light Up magnifying glass for kids
Light-Up Magnifying Glass 

Not too expensive…but with a cool light-up feature. Kids LOVE to use magnifying glasses. (We’re looking at you bugs!) Just make sure to have the safety talk about how these can actually start fires if not used correctly!!

field tools camping gift for kids
Explorer Field Tools 

I bought this field tools set for two of my little boys and they used them like CRAZY! It has a brush, tweezers, a mirror, a scraper and an extendable poker all attached to a caribiner. These are plastic so are sadly NOT indestructable…but they have lasted us several years and are still being used! Way fun and inexpensive!
flashlight for kidsFlashlight

I’ve never met a kid who doesn’t love a flashlight. This flashlight checks all the boxes…inexpensive, sturdy, great reviews. Grab a few for your kiddos!toddler flashlightToddler Flashlight
This is another favorite flashlight that we have at our house! It is easy for little hands to hold, you can rotate the top to change colors, and it has fun music!

headlamp for kids
Headlamp

Hands-free light while you are camping is priceless…and kids pretty much glory in being able to run around with a light attached to their forehead…hahaha! This has amazing reviews, is a great price, and comes in tons of fun colors. (Even the littles love headlamps at our house!)

pretend play camping toys
Pretend and Play Camp Set

This would be best suited for the toddler/preschooler crowd. It is an adorable set of tools (that camping stove!) that your littles would LOVE to pretend camp with!

Books to fuel their love of camping


Bird Watching For Kids Book
Bird Watching Book for Kids

Not only does this book help kids learn about birds (with gorgeous pictures!) but it also has some awesome backyard projects.

Camp Out! The Ultimate Kids' Guide Book
Camp Out! The Ultimate Kids Guide

This books goes over the ins and outs of camping for kids in a really fun way. Kids will love reading this and becoming the camping expert in their family! This would be a good pick for 6-11 year olds.

My Nature Journal for kids
Kids’ Field Journal

This journal would be fun for kids who have camping trips on the horizon! Survivor Kid A Practical Guide to Wilderness Survival
Survivor Kid: A Practical Guide to Wilderness Survival
My oldest son has a similar survivor book and reads it over and over again. This would be a great pick for kids from 8-14 years old.

Extreme Wilderness Survival Book camping gifts for kids

Extreme Wilderness Survival 

This book would work great for the tween through teenager group. A  little more serious information but a really interesting and fun read.

Curious Kids nature Guide for Pacific northwest Book

Curious Kids Guide to the Pacific Northwest 

I wish there was a book like this for every region, but you lucky PNW (Pacific Nortwesterners) have this book available for your kids. It goes over the nature, flora and fauna, that you will find exploring nature there.
My Side of the Mountain Book for kids

My Side of the Mountain

This is an awesome read-aloud book for kids, but also a compelling one for them to read on their own. We read this on our trip to Yosemite one year and my then 10-year-old boy and 7-year-old girl were totally spellbound.  It’s the story of a boy who decides to live off his family’s land by himself for a year. Kids will love to imagine themselves as the hero all while safely snuggled in bed.

Hatchet Survival Book for Kids

Hatchet

This is a way more mature read (it talks a little about infidelity and divorce) but is also an intriguing survival book for teenagers who love the outdoors.

Camping Books for Small Campers

Llama Llama loves Camping Book
Llama Llama Goes Camping

S is for S'mores Camping Book for Kids
S is for S’Mores
Goodnight Campsite Book for Kids

Goodnight Campsite

I think any of these gifts (or a combination) would be a super fun and unique camping gift for kids or gifts for outdoorsy kids (=pretty much every kid!) Are there some camping gifts for kids that you would add to this list? I’d love to hear them below!

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Happy Gifting!

Steph

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Jenjo Games

Thursday 26th of August 2021

These are some great gift ideas for kids and I am sure kids would love them too. Thanks for sharing this list, It would help many!

Brian

Saturday 21st of September 2019

I'm lovin' it! I actually just read like three of your posts today. So that means you better keep writing more, because I am going through these like they're going out of style.

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