You will need to send invitations out to invite guests to go camping. Decide where you might like to camp and design a scenery prop behind the tent. You could choose the woods, the ocean, the desert, or the mountains. Your invitations should be decorated to reflect your choice of places or just a camping theme.
Of course anticipate the problems associated with little kids spending a night away from home. The tiniest kids need adults in their tent, and older ones can have mom and dad nearby, or possibly can be alone in the yard in a safe enclosed setting. The door to the house must remain open for those who cannot tolerate bugs, scary sounds, or in the event of rain.
Ask each guest to wear suitable clothes for camping, and bring with them a sleeping bag, flashlight, and canteen if possible. Only invite the number of guests that you can safely monitor and supervise. Get additional help for large guests' lists.
Provide a small fire ring if possible; otherwise settle for a pretend campfire. It goes without saying that kids should never be left unattended while a real fire is live. An adult should always check the fire to make sure it is completely out after dousing it with water.
Food should be typical. If the fire is available, plan on doing hot dogs on sticks. Have rolls and relishes on a table nearby. Roasting marshmallows for Smore's is expected and makes the evening fun. No fire, why not grill hotdogs or burgers? Add chips, pickles, brownies, and fruit? Your little campers will be thirsty so serve juice, root beer, or lemonade.
Don't forget to sing camp songs around the fire. Try doing motions with some or sing them in rounds. Found A Peanut and Row, Row, Row Your Boat are good to start. Bible school songs like This Little Light of Mine and Jesus Loves Me are fun to do. Ask your kids they always have ideas and favorites. Make sure whoever leads them is loud, not necessarily a good singer.
Take hikes around your neighborhood before dark and make sure each one has filled his canteen with water. If you have a wooded area or park, you can play some discover nature games. I asked fifth graders to try to find four- leaf clovers and they weren't interested, but when we changed it to ants, they really got into the spirit of things.
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