Sitting around a campfire with family and friends makes for great memories. And great stories. Campfires usually mean relaxing in camp chairs. Roasting marshmallows. Stargazing in the night sky. And often storytelling and games.
Campfire games were always the highlight of the warm, carefree nights of childhood. Whether as part of a family trip or summer camp activities, a lot of us have cheery memories engaging with our friends well after bedtime curfews. The absence of gadgets and smartphones and the serene environment with an occasional crackle of the fire were enough to keep us absorbed.
In addition to acting as a getaway from the everyday stresses of life, times spent around the campfire are times to be enjoyed. Food, drinks, and games are always top on the list to do as we soak in the campfire goodness. If you are planning to bring back the memories, you might want to grab your friends, some snacks, and choose a game from this list of the following 5 campfire games.
We have a list of a few campfire games to get you started:
Sound Train
The campfire game starts with players agreeing on a sound. Example – “s” or “st”. Then you take turns saying a new word that begins with that sound. Players who cannot come up with a word are out. Keep going until you are down to one last person. That person becomes the winner and gets to choose the sound for the next round. This game will get you laughing. Players will create funny words as they start to struggle. If you want to add a bit more fun – step up the challenge by adding in a time element.
I went Camping
This is a fun game based on ‘going camping’. The first player starts by saying “I went camping and brought a _______”. The next person in line continues with I went camping and I brought a ‘first person’s item’ then add an item”. For example – I went camping and I brought a sleeping bag and a flashlight. Every player continues to add items. Any player that makes a mistake sits out for the rest of the round. You can make the game harder by choosing a specific letter the item needs to begin with. For example, all items must begin with a ‘C’.
Once Upon a Time
Create a story together. First, you choose a player to start. They start to create a story by coming up with the first few lines. Each player adds to the story by adding their own lines to continue the story. If you want to add a bit more challenge. Have the players clap or pat their knees as the next players think up their part of the story. That player must start his story as soon as the clapping or patting stops.
Telephone
This campfire game is sure to provide a lot of laughs. The game starts with the first person whispering a message to the person next to them. The message is then passed to the next person around the campfire. When it gets to the last person, they tell the group what they heard. The message will change as it gets passed along. Creating lots of laughs from all.
20 Questions
This game starts with one person being “it”. Each round “it” picks a person, place, or thing. Then each player then asks the person “it” a yes or no question to figure out what it is. Players can only ask a total of 20 questions. If a player guesses the item, they win and become ‘it’ the next round. If no one guesses correctly ‘it’ tells all players what the item is and a new round begins.
Truth or Dare
Truth or dare is a game that dates back to 1712, where a “commander” would ask his “subject” to answer the given question. If the subject failed to or refused to satisfy the commander with his response, he would be forced to follow an order or have his face dirtied (“smutted”).
Today, this game is played a little differently. The player picks between answering a question truthfully and completing a dare.
Story Telling
Not exactly a game, but storytelling is a rather popular campfire activity that allows everyone to make use of their imagination and go crazy. To begin the story, select someone to contribute the initial lines of a story and then everyone adds tidbits to the story. If someone fails to quickly think of lines to add, they are disqualified from the game.
Name That Tune
This game comes in variations, but the core is to “sing” a song and let the other players guess based on what they have heard.
Make Me Laugh
This game has a pretty simple rule: getting participants to laugh while keeping yourself from laughing. Divide your group into teams of two and decide which team has to perform first. Then pick one person from the opposite team to be on the “hot seat”. Set the time for about 2 minutes.
Create Your Own Campfire Games
Create even more fun by making any of these campfire games ‘your family games’. Put a little personal spin on them. Either way, you will have fun and create memories for years to come.
What is your favorite game to plat around a campfire?
