CANTAMOS

In Spanish, “cantamos” means “we sing,” so warm up your vocal cords for this one!Have one person pick a word and announce it to the group. The first person to think of a song that uses that word and to sing the line it shows up in wins and gets to choose the next word.For example, if the word was “carry,” someone in the group could sing “Carry on my wayward son” to win.There are only two key rules to the game: The person who chooses the word must have a song that features that word in mind when they announce it, and to win the round, you mustsingthe relevant line. This game gets harder and more fun the longer you play it—especially if there are any adult beverages involved.

Team Storytelling

Think Dungeons and Dragons, but without all the dice rolling.Have one person come up with a setting and a starting plot point for everyone in the group, then work together to tell the story of your journey. Go around the circle, and each person adds just one sentence to further the plot. With the combined imagination of your group, you never know where the story might go!

Categories

Have one person pick a category, such as “flowers,” “places that start with ‘M,’” or “female singers.” Right away, start a beat (by slapping your knees and/or clapping your hands), and go around the circle. Each person must name something that fits into the chosen category on the beat. The first person who messes up the rhythm or can’t think of anything loses. The more creative you get with your categories, the more fun this game becomes!

Telestrations

This is a board game that’s easy to take camping and hilarious to play with big groups. The game is a blend of telephone and Pictionary, and players draw a card with a word or phrase written on it, then alternate drawing pictures and writing short descriptions on dry-erase notepads.For instance, if the phrase on a player’s card was “alien invasion,” she would draw a picture of an alien invasion and pass it to the next player. That person would look at the picture (without knowing what the original phrase was) and write a description of the picture.At the end, each player can look back through and see exactly where the miscommunications began—and how far off track the end result really is!

Botticelli

This is a variation of 20 Questions with a more challenging twist.One person thinks of a famous person and reveals only the first letter of that person’s last name (so, if the famous person was Abraham Lincoln, the revealed letter would be L).The other players are trying to guess the famous person, but they have to earn the right to ask questions. They must do this by asking trivia questions of the first player (the one who’s thinking of Abraham Lincoln), and the answers to their questions must also begin with the letter L. If they manage to stump the first player, they get to ask a question about the secret famous person, just like they would in 20 Questions.This game takes more time and cleverness than 20 Questions, and it’s a great way to spend a lazy evening around the fire.We hope one of these campfire games leads to fond memories on your next camping trip.