Grab The S'Mores Kit! It's Time For Camping Coloring Pages
As soon as it gets warm out, your kiddos probably start begging to go camping. There’s so much about being outside and in nature that appeals to many people. Everyone knows that spending time outdoors can help get you out of a slump. And many grown-ups will swear by the healing powers of being in the mountains. But for our children? It’s all about being close to their favorite bugs, breathing in the scent of flowers all night, and being able to look out and see the stars above their heads. And, well, those are all admittedly amazing things — which is precisely why we decided to memorialize them with camping coloring pages.
One of the best things about camping is that it’s wonderful and full of adventure, even if you’re only camping in your backyard. But what if you do decide to venture out in search of the next great camping spot? How do you keep your little adventurers happy when your campsite is a long car ride away? What do you do when storm season approaches or the weather turns cold? You have to look for other ways to entertain them. Coloring activities, in particular these camping coloring pages, might just be the answer.
Hopefully, filling in these free printables will inspire even more travel fun in the near future for your family. And if you need extra entertainment until then, trek on over to our other great outdoors-inspired options, including ocean coloring pages, forest coloring pages, jungle coloring pages, and nature coloring pages.
Free Printable Camping Coloring Pages
Camping Page No. 1
Just because you love nature doesn’t necessarily mean you enjoy camping. Some of us are left wondering whose bright idea it was to build a lovely, cozy, and relatively creature-free home only to abandon it to sleep in the woods. But since an estimated 40 million people partake in camping activities each year, it’s still clearly a very popular pastime.
Camping Page No. 2
If you truly hate camping, you can curse the ghost of one Thomas Hiram Holding the next time you’re peeing against a tree in the dark. Many suggest Holding is the “founder of modern camping,” thanks to its rise in popularity after he published the book The Camper’s Handbook in 1908. He learned to camp and fostered a love for camping when he crossed the prairie as a child with his parents.
Camping Page No. 3
Of course, many people will tell you that camping was already somewhat popular before Holding’s book was published. In the late 1800s, “pleasure boating” along the Thames had risen in popularity. In the evenings, people would disembark and camp/sleep along the riverbank. Because camping equipment was quite cumbersome at the time, hauling it on a boat proved much more manageable than carrying it on your back.
Camping Page No. 4
Did you know tents date back to 40,000 B.C.E.? They were usually made from animal skins. Well, camping equipment has come a long way since then. It’s much lighter now. In the tent fabric alone, tents have gone from being made of heavy leather to cotton or canvas to nylon in much more recent times. Tent poles have also evolved significantly since the time of Holding. Most recently, flexible rods made of fiberglass or aluminum alloy have become wildly popular thanks to their lightweight and flexible construction.
Camping Page No. 5
Now, let’s talk about everyone’s favorite camping snack: s’mores! The first official recipe for s’mores appeared in the 1927 Girl Scouts manual. If you’re especially obsessed with these sweet treats, you might consider making a move to Grand Rapids, Michigan — apparently, people there eat more s’mores than any other place in the U.S.
Camping Page No. 6
Camping doesn’t always involve a modern tent, though. If you’re survival camping or lightweight camping, you might opt for a simple “pup tent” situation, where you only carry a tarp and rope. You can use those materials, as well as nearby trees, to secure an overhead roof for yourself while being otherwise open to the elements. And here’s a bear-blocking tip: To keep bears and other hungry animals away from your campsite, check for any bear poo (aka scat) or scratched trees before settling down. It also helps to change clothes after cooking to get rid of lingering smells of food.
Camping Page No. 7
There are many types of camping, too. From adventure camping, where you might find yourself sleeping in a hammock tent suspended from a cliff, to car camping, where you literally just park somewhere and sleep in your car, “camping” can be anything you make it. But if you plan on camping out under the stars, bring some foam mats. Lay them down before setting up your tent or rolling out your sleeping bag. It will make bedtime a much more comfortable experience.
Camping Page No. 8
One type of camping, made particularly popular by Holding, is bicycle camping. The concept remains the same. But with the inclusion of a bike, campers can often travel farther and faster while carrying more. The modern sister to bicycle camping is canoe camping, which leads to even bigger adventures since a canoe might allow you to reach destinations inaccessible when traveling strictly by land.
Camping Page No. 9
Our favorite type of camping? Glamping, of course! Diehard campers will scoff at the idea of glamping, which is a “glamorous” version of camping. You can do it in tents (that someone else schleps for you) or RVs. It often includes such luxuries as basic electricity, nearby toilets/showers, and better bedding.
Camping Page No. 10
If it’s not already obvious, here’s the truth: Camping can be anything you make it. “Camping” can look like a pop-up tent in your yard or a pillow fort in your living room. It can be sleeping in a decked-out yurt in the middle of nowhere or cranking your driver’s seat back and catching a few winks in a rest-stop parking lot. So, the next time your kids or friends want to go camping, see what you can come up with to make it fun for all — whether you’re lying under real stars or glowing star stickers.
Click here to print all of the camping coloring pages at once!
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