Awesome Camping At Home Ideas: DIY Kids' Tent

Camping is a fun activity where kids get to stay outdoors, interact closely with nature, and learn some valuable life skills. But they need not wait for the summer to go camping anymore, nor do they have to step out of their home to pitch their tent. With some creativity and imagination, you can help your child set up camp within the premises of your home during any time of the year and under any weather conditions. Here are some ideas to help your child build a DIY kids' tent so she can have hours of adventure and fun with her siblings or friends.

But first, let's look at how camping at home can contribute to your child's well-being and happiness.

Benefits of camping at home

• Encourages imaginative and creative play
• Keeps your children active and engaged
• Helps them spend time away from gadgets
• Gives them their own personal space to play or relax
• Ensures their safety as you can be nearby to take care of their safety

Now let's look at some creative ideas to build a temporary tent for kids, which is sturdy and stable, yet easy to assemble.

Camping at home: How to build a simple DIY kids' tent

Indoor DIY tent for kids

A 'blanket' fort is a great idea for your child's indoor camping trip. This simple DIY indoor tent is ideal for indoor spaces such as the living room or even the balcony.

What you will need:

• Four chairs
• Colourful bedsheets or blankets
• Pillows and soft toys
• Decorative lights, bells, dreamcatchers, etc.

Instructions:

• Select a suitable corner to set up the tent.
• Place two chairs adjacent to each other with the backrests forming the left wall of your tent.
• Likewise, place another two chairs eight to ten feet away from the first set of chairs, with their backrests forming the right wall. (Note: The backrests of both the sets of chairs should be facing each other.)
• Position the chairs in front of a wall, sofa or cupboard, so that you have the rear wall of the tent.
• Now drape a long colourful blanket or bedsheet over the chairs to form the roof of the tent.
• Secure the blanket by placing some heavy objects on the chair seats or by tying its ends to the backs of the chairs.
• Now spread a blanket on the tent floor and place some pillows for cushioning.
• Spruce up the interiors with decorative lighting and your kid's favourite toys.
• Make sure there is enough space for your child and her friends to crawl in and sit down comfortably.

Table tent for kids

For another variation of an indoor DIY tent for kids, drape blankets around the four sides of the dining table so that the blankets touch the floor. Leave an opening in the front for your child to crawl in and out of the tent.

Outdoor DIY tent for kids

Here is how to build a lightweight tent with PVC pipes. This easy DIY kids' tent can be set up in outdoor spaces such as the garden or terrace. Since it is lightweight, it can be easily shifted from one place to another.

What you will need:

• Twelve PVC pipes of equal length, preferably 5 to 6 feet long
• A 6 to 7 feet tall wooden pole
• Bucket of sand
• Pipe connectors
• Butterfly clips, clamps
• Tarpaulin or bedsheets
• Blankets, pillows and soft toys

Instructions:

• Create a cube-shaped frame by joining the PVC pipes with connectors.
• Spread out a tarp on the floor on which you can place the frame. This will protect against dampness in case the tent is set up in the garden or backyard.
• Now throw another tarp or a bedsheet over the box frame.
• Fix a tall wooden pole into a bucket of sand and place it in the centre to prop up the tent roof.
• Secure the fabric ends to the bottom portion of the frame on all sides using clamps or butterfly clips.
• Cut out small square holes in the fabric to form windows.
• Place blankets, pillows and your child's favourite toys inside the tent to make his space cozy.

Now, that you know how to set up a DIY tent for kids, let us see where to pitch it so that you can gift your child a fun family camping experience right at home.

Camping at home: where to pitch the tent

The ideal spots for your children to set up their camping tent would be in the porch, garage, balcony, backyard or the terrace.

With many Indian families residing in flats or high-rise apartments, open spaces for camping at home is very limited. So, if you don't have an open space to pitch your kids' tent, put it up right inside your living room. Turning the drawing room into a camping site will certainly bring a lot of fun to your children.

The private balcony is also an option for camping. Supervise little children at all times to ensure their safety. Of course, if you have teenagers at home, they would love to spend time relaxing in their own private space in the balcony.

Safety precautions

• Make sure your child can get in and out of the tent without toppling the furniture or without getting entangled in the blankets.
• Ensure that you always supervise your child closely when camping on the terrace, in the garage, porch, garden or balcony.

Outdoor camping activities for your child

For your child to get the experience of real-life camping in the forest, encourage her to emulate the activities she would do in an outdoor camp. Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Make a list of the birds and insects seen in the garden
• Observe the morning dew on the leaves
• Gaze at the stars and constellations at night
• Have a moonlight dinner
• Read favourite books using a lantern
• Sit around an artificial campfire (lanterns should help here) and sing and dance

Indoor camping activities for your child

• Watch a movie
• Play board games
• Engage in camp-themed arts and craft activities
• Gather for story time in the dark inside the tent
• Spend time writing a diary or drawing pictures
• Have fun engaging in hand shadow puppetry with flashlights
• Mimic the sounds of animals and birds (even the rustle of the leaves and the breeze)
• Prepare typical camping meals

Narrate to your child this cool story of a young lad, Nickolas Green, who went camping in his own backyard in the bone-biting cold to celebrate getting 70 subscribers on his YouTube channel. He posted his camping video on his channel on 1 January 2018 which soon went viral. People loved the boy's authenticity and enthusiasm in narrating his camping experience and his channel now has a whopping 6 million subscribers.

Well, it may not get viral, but your child can make a cool video of his own camping at home experience to share with his friends.

About the author:

Written by Dr Shyam Kumar on January 29, 2021

The author holds a degree in Homoeopathy with an MBA in Hospital Management and has worked across multiple disciplines including healthcare and technology. As a nature lover, he attended the world's first underwater CEO's conference to combat marine pollution.

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