One of my favorite things to do while I’m camping is sitting around the campfire at night. I love to feel the heat of the fire against my legs and the cool breeze at my back. I find gazing into the campfire mesmerizing with all its flicking lights. One thing I can’t stand is the smoke as it makes its way to each person choking them out with its nasty smell. But I can put up with the smoke because there are so many things you can do around the fire. If you are hungry or even if you’re not, you can roast marshmallows, hot dogs or make s’mores. I like to make spider dogs. To make a spider dog, all you need is a sharp knife. Place the hot dog on a cutting board. Cut an “X” into each end of the hot dog leaving at least an inch in the middle for the body. Insert a stick into the middle and roast over some nice, hot coals. The ends will curl making your hot dog look like a spider.  You can also cut one end into eight strips leaving at least a thumb width to insert your stick. Either way you choose will be delicious.

Another thing I like to do around the campfire is play games. We like to play the called “name a song”. Someone in the circle starts with the first letter of the alphabet and must name a song that starts with that letter. For example for the letter “A” you could name “Amanda” or “Abracadabra”. The next person in the circle would name a song with the next letter in the alphabet. The game would continue around the circle until all the letters of the alphabet have been used. You can even start over again with the first letter in the alphabet making it harder to come up with songs for those harder letters like “Q, V and Z”. You can also use movie titles instead of songs. A really funny game that will definitely make you laugh is the counting game. The object of this game is to count from 1 to 100 (or as far as you can get) but any number with a seven in it or multiple of seven, you have to say “buzz”. Failure to say “buzz” and you are eliminated from the game. In addition you cannot point at someone or say their name or you are also eliminated. This game works better if you have a lot of people because it never fails that someone starts pointing and it’s an automatic reaction for you to say their name. So next time you’re camping try a few of these games that I’m sure you will enjoy!