camping birthday party
My fiancé Sean turned 30 this summer (!!) and when asked what he wanted to do to celebrate his birthday, he said “go camping, take photos, eat food!” But since it was his 30th birthday, I didn’t want to do just any old camping trip. I knew I needed to figure out a way to make it special. I also knew that he wouldn’t want to have to think about the logistics of a large group event, so I decided to surprise him with a camping birthday party!
After some sneaky planning, I convinced Sean that just he and I were just going to go camping for the weekend and that I would take care of all the logistics to “surprise” him with where we were going. Little did he know, that when we arrived at our campsite our friends and family would be waiting there to surprise him!
When I was planning his birthday, I Google searched and scoured Pinterest for HOURS trying to find some good examples of camping birthday party and was sorely disappointed at the lack of helpful tips.
So I’m sharing the details of how I planned the perfect camping birthday party in the hopes that it will give you some inspiration and help you plan some fun camping trips in your future!
decorations
The hardest part of planning for me was finding inspiration for how to decorate a campsite, so here are a few ideas to get you started.
Keep it light & bright! When possible, look for decorations that are light and biodegradable. Decorations you can hang with string can be easily tied to tree branches (tape doesn’t really work in the wild ha) and pick bright colors that will stick out against a more natural backdrop.
I got two of these decoration packs from Amazon and they worked so well to add color all over the campsite. I also got some big foil balloons from Target and used string to tie them between some trees. No helium needed!
In the wise words of the boyscouts, always, always, always remember to leave no trace. Make sure your decorations don’t blow away and get lost, and ensure that your campsite looks exactly the way you found it when you leave.
games
One benefit of a camping birthday party is that you get to leverage the open space and outdoors! If the area where you’re camping has lots of activities, you can likely skip this step, but if you’re planning on sticking around the campground, lawn games are a perfect addition to a camping birthday party.
One of our absolute favorite lawn games is called Kubb (rhymes with tube), a Scandinavian game we learned from our friends a few years ago. It can take a round or two to get the hang of it, but once you do, it’s so fun! Plus, you can play with 2 people all the way up to 12, so it’s great for any size group!
We actually made our current set ourselves (it’s super easy!), so if you’re a DIYer, here are some good instructions. Otherwise, you can pick up a set on Amazon for under $30!
Some of our other favorites are corn hole (another easy DIY but takes up more room if you’re driving in smaller car) and bocce ball.
food
After several summer camping trips, we’ve continue to use our tried and true recipes for group camp dinners because they’re so easy and delicious!
Baked potatoes & chili - Nothing quite like chili around a campfire! Simply wrap potatoes in aluminum foil after poking holes in them and brushing them with olive oil. Put the potatoes in base of the campfire while you cook the chili. We typically bring a big pot, cook some ground beef first and then add chili mix, tomato sauce & water. Make sure to bring all the toppings as well! Sour cream, cheese, bacon, chives, the works!
Cajun sausage & shrimp packets - Foil packets are such a great way to cook food over a fire because you can really do any combination you like. Our favorite is shrimp, cajun sausage, potatoes, and corn. We put each of the ingredients in their own foil packet (make sure to double wrap them), putting the potatoes on the fire first, followed by sausage, corn, and shrimp. You can also add some Tony’s seasoning before cooking and then combine everything together in a bowl and enjoy!
Birthday cake - If you’re up for a challenge, you don’t have to give up on birthday cake just because you’re camping! You can use a cast iron dutch oven to bake a cake at your campsite! Sean pulled out this trick for one of our group camping trips last year and it worked SO well. We like to keep it simple and just bring box cake mix, but any cake should work. Just be sure to bring some coals (that’s how you ensure even heat) and check out Lodge for some awesome recipes for easy cast iron baking!
If you want to switch to the classic s’mores, try some different graham cracker flavors or a Reese’s instead of chocolate to mix it up!
Now that you’ve got decorations, games and food, you’re all set for a camping birthday party! If you use any of these tips, let me know in the comments!
