If your camp offers after-care programs, Thanksgiving camp, or other fall camp experiences for kids, these fall-themed activities are great for entertaining campers and don’t require a lot of setup.
Fall Leaf Dish
Materials: air-dry clay, markers or paint, toothpicks
Directions:
Give each camper a small piece of air-dry clay.
Have them form the clay into the shape of a leaf and use a toothpick to make leaf details in the clay.
Have campers fold the edges up to form the leaf into the shape of a dish. Explain that the dish could hold soap, butter, or anything else they can think of. The leaf dishes make great gifts.
If possible, wait until the next day for the dishes to dry. Then kids can color details with markers or paint. A coat of glue can help seal the dishes and make them shiny.
Turkey Feather Race
Materials: feathers, hoops (for extended fun)
How to play:
Give each camper their own feather.
Explain to campers that they have to get their feathers from one end of the playing area to the other without touching them with their hands. Encourage them to get creative — they can blow it, fan it, wave air at it — whatever works!
On your signal, kids will race their feathers from one end of the playing area to the other. Give a prize to the first camper who gets their feather to the other side the fastest.
Extended fun:
Have kids play again with partners or teams.
Challenge kids to get their feathers in a hoop to win different amounts of points.
Pilgrim Hat Ping Pong Game
Materials: five ping pong balls, one paper plate, one piece of black construction paper, one roll of tape for each group, spoon (for extended fun)
Directions:
Divide your campers into two to three groups.
Give each group five ping-pong balls, a paper plate, tape, and a piece of black construction paper.
Choose a starting place for each group and a finish line about 10–15 feet away from the starting place.
On your signal, each group will race to build a pilgrim hat with the supplies. One team member will run to the finish line and put the hat down.
Next, each team member will take a turn throwing a ping-pong ball into the hat.
The first team to build their hat and get three ping-pong balls into the hat wins.
Extended fun:
Make this game more challenging by increasing the space between the start and finish line.
Adjust the number of ping-pong balls each group must get in their hat.
Have kids use a spoon to fling the ping pong balls into the hats.
Amy Middleton has 25 years of experience as a teacher and camp director and knows how to make every moment count with campers. Her book, 50+ Nifty Ways to Keep Little Hands Busy, available through the ACA Bookstore, shares quality activities that provide simple, hands-on fun for kids.
