Camp S'more Camping Birthday Party

Camping birthday party planning doesn't get more authentic than this one. Over the weekend we celebrated my daughter Paige's eighth birthday at a local campground, complete with a genuine campfire, roasted hot dogs, and s'mores under the trees. We called it "Camp S'more," and it's still one of my favorite party themes we've ever done, since it works beautifully for boys or girls.

The idea came from my daughter simply wanting a campfire to roast hot dogs and marshmallows, so that's exactly what we did. No summer birthday or campground nearby? These same ideas work beautifully as an indoor party at home or a backyard camp out too.

If you love this camping birthday party, you'll probably also love our s'mores charcuterie board for an easy campfire dessert spread, or our s'mores trail mix if you want an easy, giftable party favor with a free printable tag. You should also check out our camp themed party for adults here.

Camping Birthday Party Location

Book a Local Campground:  We found one close to home -like 10 minutes, that most of our guests had never visited, and several said they'd always wanted to see what it was like. This solved two problems at once: it gave us a legal place for a real campfire, and it provided a gorgeous forest backdrop with plenty of room to play.

No Campground Nearby? A Few Easy Alternatives:

• Backyard camping party: works great depending on your local fire bylaws.
• Indoor camping party: perfect if your birthday falls outside summer, or if outdoor space isn't an option.

We didn't sleep over for this party, just a great campfire lunch, games, crafts, and then home. These same ideas work just as well for an actual overnight camping trip if that fits your family better.

Camping Themed Birthday Party Decorations

Paige's favorite color is aqua, so that became our accent color throughout the decor, layered over natural, woodsy elements. I had a lot of fun pulling things together with our color scheme, and getting crafty with a little spray paint.

Welcome Table Details:

• Bunting Flags: sewn from aqua fabric, and perfect for reusing for many birthdays to come.
• Wrapped Letter: ("P" for Paige) made by ripping fabric strips and wrapping them around the letter for a rustic look.
• Rustic Twig Picture Frame: made by hot gluing twigs around a photo of the birthday girl.
• Camp S'more Sign: made from an old board spray painted aqua with twig letters glued on -this totally set the scene.
• Camp Hats: party hats just got a makeover for camp with a Camp S'more logo sticker, doubling as both decor and a wearable party favor. Stickers meant they could be removed after the party, and reused. The bucket hats were from the dollar store. Get this printable in our Free Resource Library.
• Bug Spray and Sunblock: in a pretty basket on the welcome table, since campgrounds can get buggy and sunny.

Camping Themed Party Table:

• White tablecloths layered with burlap for texture and a rustic look.
• Reusable dollar store plastic plates, layered with polka dot napkins and aqua water bottles.
• Personalized Water Bottles: made with card stock, stamps, and aqua baker's twine, and using the same free printable logo stickers as the camp hats, making everything matching and reusable.

Centerpiece and Natural Styling:

• White lanterns paired with fern and white flower arrangements in glass mason jars.
• A natural table runner made from twig and moss balls, pine cones, birch bark covered Styrofoam balls, and aqua butterflies.
• Spray painted acorns and pine cones for pops of aqua without overdoing the color.
• A second picnic table for crafts and adult seating, styled to match.
• A vintage lantern displayed on an upside down vintage wood crate, alongside spray painted dollar store squirrels (for a little whimsy). Look for these in the garden ornaments section of the dollar store.
• A "Don't Feed the Bears" Sign, made from an old board and a white paint pen, plus a teddy bear or two for a laugh -which the kids loved.

Camping Birthday Party Games and Activities

Polymer Clay S'more Charms: Each guest made their own miniature s'more out of polymer clay, turned into a key ring or backpack clip. We did this activity at the beginning of the party, while the kids were still calm, and so the clay had time to bake and cool, then added them to everyones loot bag to take home.

How To Make:

1. Shape the marshmallow first. The tan and brown clay leave residue that the white clay picks up if you make it last.
2. Roll and cut the graham cracker piece using a dowel rod and a small square cutter, then use a toothpick for the classic dotted line detail.
3. Roll and cut the chocolate piece the same way, using a toothpick for the chocolate bar lines.
4. Stack the pieces, add a jewelry eye pin, and bake in a toaster oven for 30 minutes according to your clay's package instructions.
5. Once cooled, add a jump ring and key chain hook.

Nature Scavenger Hunt: We printed a scavenger hunt list directly onto paper sandwich bags (get the free printable in our Free Resource Library), including a paper gnome hidden throughout the woods for kids to find.

Tips for Printing on Paper Bags:

• Tape shut the bag and bottom flap so your printer doesn't jam.
• Set your printer to thick paper.
• Feed the bags in one at a time, removing tape once printed.
• Painter's tape works but can be reused a few times if it's too sticky at first.

Outdoor Games: Badminton, kids' horseshoes, and croquet were all available, though honestly the kids had just as much fun running around, balancing on logs, and roasting hot dogs and marshmallows.

Camping Birthday Party Favors

Camping Themed Books were the main party favor, and easily my favorite part of the loot bags. "Cara the Camping Fairy" went to the older girls, since Paige and her friends love the Rainbow Magic Fairy series, and "Curious George Goes Camping" and "Caillou Goes Camping" went to our younger guests. Giving one meaningful thing kids will actually read and use felt so much better than a bag of little trinkets, that often end up in the garbage.

Guests also went home with a few other favors from throughout the day: their camp hats, their personalized water bottles, their handmade polymer clay s'more charm, and their own custom roasting stick.

Camping Themed Birthday Party Food Ideas

This is where the party really shined. We had so much fun with the camping themed food, and it really acted as one of the party activities.

Hot Dog Buffet:

• Hot dogs and buns roasted right over the campfire.
• Toppings included ketchup (the kids' favorite), fresh chopped tomatoes, relish, sauerkraut, pickles, onions, and cheese.
• Simple veggies and dip in individual containers to avoid double dipping -always a great idea for a kids' party. 😉
• Kettle cooked chips served in cute take out french fry boxes for easy individual servings.

If you love campfire cooking you might also love our savory smores, made with cheese and crackers.

Custom Roasting Sticks: One of my favorite little details from the whole party, was this easy idea. We collected birch bark from the woods, cut it into labels with a paper punch, stamped each guest's name or "Camp S'more" on it, hot glued it to a real stick, and tied on a little aqua ribbon. These were such a fun and inexpensive customized detail.

Drinks:

• Spring water and pink lemonade.
• Hot chocolate, made ahead and served from thermoses since the day was a little cool, topped with mini marshmallows (store bought and homemade) and whipped cream.

S'mores Buffet: The most anticipated part of the whole party. A marshmallow tree centerpiece, made from sticks and mini marshmallows, anchored the table.

• Cookies: homemade graham crackers, chocolate chip cookies, and peanut butter cookies, displayed on rustic DIY tree slice cake stands.
• Marshmallows: six varieties, including chocolate, chocolate mint, cinnamon bun, coconut, giant strawberry, and homemade vanilla, the homemade vanilla being the clear favorite.
• Chocolate: six varieties, including milk, dark, chocolate with almonds, mint chocolate, caramel chocolate, and cookies and cream.

Guests mixed and matched to build their own s'mores creations, and there were so many options that most kids didn't even have room left for cupcakes.

Birthday Cupcakes in a Jar: Served in small mason jars tied with baker's twine and wooden spoons hand stamped with aqua polka dots. Each jar held a vanilla cupcake layered with raspberry jam and aqua icing, easy to serve without slicing a cake, and perfect for easy transport to the campsite.

This party was so much fun, I highly recommend this theme. It works great for boys and girls, and lots of different ages, even the grandparents had a great time and we made so many great memories together celebrating our birthday girl.

Free Printables

This party comes with three free printables to make your own Camp S'more celebration even easier: the Camp S'more logo used on the hats and water bottles, the scavenger hunt list ready to print onto paper bags, and the food labels. Find them all in our Free Resource Library, free for subscribers with instant access.

Frequently Asked Questions

More Party Ideas to Try

If you try anything from this Camping Birthday Party or any other ideas on my blog please let me know how it went in the comments below. Thanks for visiting today!