The Indoor Camping Party

Throwing an indoor sleep over camping party for kids featuring fun campfire foods such as Cheez Whiz soup, s'mores and Dough Boys as well as interactive group games, campfire sing-a-longs and constellation watching is a great idea. A sleepover camping party for kids makes an ideal birthday party, or it can just be a way to introduce younger children to the concept. You can of course just throw this type of party out doors but all you really need is a room that is.  big enough to support enough pup tents to accommodate the number of children invited. 

If you have a fireplace you can roast hotdogs, foil wrapped fries and s'mores over the flames. With a little planning and some simple ground rules, your children’s sleepovers will be a real hit. 

First, you’ll want to come up with a plan for the evening. Have your child think of a list of sleepover mates to invite. A good rule is that your child can only invite the number of kids that corresponds with their age. For example, if your child is 5, they may invite 5 guests. The recipes below are for a children's party of 8 or more, as that is how many hot dog buns come in a package! 

Next, you’ll want to make an enticing indoor campout invitation. One clever idea is to buy a rubber stamp in a shape that corresponds with camping theme and stamp on the front of plain cardstock. Enclosing a little laser flashlight or plastic flashlight on a keychain is a nice pre-party gift.  Fill in the time, place, date, and make it clear what items each child will need to bring. Asking them to each brings their own flashlight and pajamas are a good idea. The cheapest thing is to borrow the tents you need from the neighbors or ask the child's parents to bring one in advance. 

Also on the invitation you will want to give the parent's some idea of the menu. This can help them identify foods their children might be allergic to.  Ideas for food include Bubble Tea, Cheez Whiz soup, Chili Cheese Fries and Banana Boats. Hamburgers, hot dogs and beans can make great main courses. I

t is probably not a good idea to play music at this type of party as it might disturb the neighbors. However, if you play guitar you can always engage the children in a sing along.  A good game instead is to have each child make up a ghost story as they sit inside their pup tents. If they are not too young you can also encourage them to read from a book of ghost stories. Of course this entire party can be held out doors in the summer. The thing with outdoor parties is that you need strict supervision of the children by adults especially if you have a swimming pool in your back yard. However it is really nice to also cook those hamburgers and hot dogs over a real fire if it is warm enough.