Thank heavens companies keep coming up with ideas for keeping kids occupied on camping trips, although a recent river camping trip found the adults trying to muscle out the kids to play a game I’d never seen before.
Called Tailgate Toss, this simply constructed item involves two large, wooden boards with legs on one end that hold each board up at an angle. Teams divide into two groups – two to four people usually play – and each side then throws beanbags into the hole in each board. The scoring initially seems complicated, as it’s more involved than regular old bean bag toss, which is what this resembles, but eventually you get the hang of it.
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| Tailgate Toss, or "Corn Hole," is a big hit with all ages. |
Some of the people in our group knew this game as “Corn Hole” –apparently it depends on what part of the country you call home –but the result was a hotly contested battle that got so involved, we stuck flashlights under the holes and played it well into the twilight hours.
You can get Tailgate Toss with the insignias of your favorite sports teams or just plain wood. For ages 5+
Cost: $64-$120
Speaking of being on the river, whenever there’s water involved, stuff is going to get wet. We discovered a laminated version of the ever-popular Uno card game, called Uno H2O to Go, which works just like the original game except that each card is coated in plastic and has a hole in it so that the deck can be secured with a plastic hook, that then easily clips to pants pockets or the inside of a backpack or bag.
That means you can take the cards along hiking, in the car or anywhere that having something to occupy the group will come in handy. For ages 7+
Cost: $8
Get it here: Target, REI
An ideal in-the-car or RV game is Blokus to Go, a strategy game that’s fierce in its larger version and very fun in the smaller one. The pieces snap in place, with the basic idea being to get all of your tiles on the board, while touching another tile of the same color only at the corners. It gets a little maddening, but in a good way.
What’s also cool about the travel version of Blokus is that if you don’t finish – or, say, have to make a pit or picnic stop – you can just close the sides and hold your place. Young kids pick up on the concept very quickly. For ages 5+
Cost: $15
Get it here: amazon.com
The roadtripster is the handle of a longtime Coloradan who travels the country by any means possible, sometimes in an RV, sometimes car camping or in the backcountry, with kids and without.
