Best Camping Date Night at Home

Our camping date night at home includes a menu, decor, games, movie & music suggestions.

Absolutely everything that will make your camping date night perfect!

We love to create date ideas for couples that make meaningful memories

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Camping date night decor

Download our free invitation & Conversation Starters for your Date Night

Create your own camping experience either indoors or out. If you have a popup tent, you can set it up in your backyard. If your WiFi works that far, you can watch a movie on your laptop to add to your adventurous evening.

Whether you decide to have your camping date night indoors or in your backyard, this outdoor fire pit can add so much fun to your time at home.

Use battery lights and hang the strings from trees to create a beautiful lighted canopy. Put more lights in glass jars hanging set around your tent or as an accent near the fire pit.

Our indoor camping “canopy tent”

We decided to create an indoor camping date. We used things that where found around the house to create our “tent.” We wanted to create height to add some drama, while also being able to see the fireplace.

Twine was used to tie from the ceiling fan to a curtain rod. We found two sheets and pinned them together and hung over the twine. They are draped over chairs and pinned to stay in place. A large paper lantern is hung at the crown of the canopy & hung on the twine.

A small table holds flowers (whatever happened to be blooming or a bouquet) and Christmas lights frame the canopy, we used two strings. A feather bed, comforters and pillows add to the coziness. A bed tray holds candles, flowers and glow in the dark tic tac toe pieces.

Marshmallow roasting sticks are great and will save you from searching for branches every time you would like to roast marshmallows.

Enjoy this campfire candle indoors, if you do not have a fireplace handy. It actually smells like a real fire!

This gorgeous glamping tent is on my bucket list. How convenient would it be to have this in your backyard as a seasonal getaway, wow.

Camping date night menu

One of our favorite foods for picnic or grilling are Kabobs. This versatile recipe can be make with chicken, pork, steak or shrimp. It’s also very easy and can be cooked on the grill or broiled in the oven in aluminum foil

Kabobs

Use approx. 2 lbs. of chicken, or steak,
2/3 c oil
⅓ c lemon juice
½ c Tamari or soy sauce
1 garlic clove chopped
Goya adobo
8oz mushrooms
1 med. onion peeled & cut into wedges
1 green pepper cut into 2 inch pieces

Cut the meat into approx.. 1.5 inch squares
Mix the lemon, tamari, oil, & chopped garlic together add to a large bowl or gallon bad
place cut meat into the bowl and cover or bag.
Let marinate for 4 hours.
cut all the vegetables into 2 inch pieces and set aside.

Assembly

Remove meat from the bowl/bag

Use skewers to alternate the vegetables and meat until it’s filled.

Grill

lightly sprinkle Goya on the skewer and place on a hot grill cooking about 3-5 minutes per side. Check meat doneness and cook longer if necessary.

Broiling

Set oven to broil

Place all the ingredients on aluminum foil, fold up the edges of the foil to keep juices from running.

Broil 7-9 minutes turning the meat throughout

French Potato Salad

This potato salad is so flavorful and doesn’t have mayo, making it great for outdoor picnics. I always change recipes, but I have made Ina Garten’s so many times, and it is perfect!

Corn with chili lime butter & cotija

6 servings

Butter mixture

Makes about 3/4 cup

One stick of butter melted

Juice of one lime

1/4 cup mayo

Lime zest about 1 tbsp.

1 tsp Chili powder

1 tbsp. cilantro

Salt and pepper

Mix together in a bowl

Sprinkle the corn with ½ cup cotija or feta cheese. This recipe is fantastic with or without the cheese.

Grilling

6 cobs

Keep the corn in the husks and grill for 15 minutes, turning every 5 mins.

Remove husks

Add the butter mixture and serve.

Roasting

6 cobs

Remove husks and add the butter mixture to the corn

Wrap in aluminum foil

Roast for 40 mins at 350.

Unwrap and sprinkle with cotija cheese if desired

S’mores

6 servings

12 Graham crackers

6 Marshmallows

1 Chocolate bar (I prefer dark chocolate) or Hershey’s bar

1. If you are lucky enough to have a campfire, place a graham cracker on a plate,

2. Fill with 1 or 2 squares of chocolate.

3. Roast your marshmallow over the fire.

4. When done to your liking, place on top of the chocolate and top with another graham cracker. Enjoy!

Indoor S’mores

set oven to 225 degrees

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. place 6 graham crackers on the sheet. Top with chocolate squares, 6 marshmallows and finish with 6 graham crackers on top.

Bake until melted approx. 5 mins.

Optional

Add Strawberries! I love to bring fresh strawberries when making S’mores. Make a bowl out of aluminum foil and melt chocolate and marshmallow in the oven or on a fire.

Dip your strawberry in melted chocolate and marshmallow.

Camping date night cocktails

Don’t you just love a recipe that is so easy to make? This one is great, use your favorite alcohol. The lime juice is a great compliment with the kabobs and corn. My favorite is the Mexican Mule, Cheers!

Moscow Mule- Vodka

Kentucky Mule- Bourbon

Mexican Mule- Tequila

2 oz tequila or bourbon or vodka

1/2 oz lime juice

6 oz ginger beer

Lime garnish/ on the rocks

These drinks look so festive in these Mule mugs!

Camping To-Go Cocktails

We have found amazing cocktail infusions that are perfect to enjoy on your camping date night. Just fill with your favorite alcohol, wine or water, let infuse, strain and enjoy! So easy to have artisan cocktails without the fuss.

Camping date night craft

Glow in the dark Tic Tac Toe

Find or buy 10 smooth stones about 1.5” to 2” (can be found at a craft store)

Paint 5 X’s and 5 O’s in white paint on the stones

When dry use glow in the dark paint (can be found at a craft store) on top of the white

Approx 10“ Cardboard, foam core or wooden square painted with a tic tac toe grid

“Charge” the glow in the dark pieces and game under a bright light and turn off the lights and enjoy!

Camping date night activities

If you are lucky enough to have a clear night, then you and your partner can enjoy the stars.

According to a Harvard study on happiness, the emotion of awe seems to be a very important factor. Which leads us to how we feel when we are staring up at the skies.

Use these apps to discover the heavens above.

Use your phone to scan the skies! Download either the Skyview app & Star Walk 2 free to explore the night sky. Identify stars, constellations, planets, satellites, asteroids, comets, ISS, Hubble Space Telescope and other celestial bodies in real time in the sky above you.

This is very fun activity to share

Camping date night games

So technically our camping date craft is also a game, but it’s also fun to play a classic game of battleship or Scrabble. Grab a deck of cards that you may have handy to play your favorite card game.

Camping date night conversations starters

Download our Free Date Night convers ation Starters & Camp Date Night Invite

Did you ever go to camp? Or camping? Where?

What food did you make on the fire?

Do you have any special memories?

What stories do you remember telling when you were young?

What kinds of vacations do you like best, beach, mountain, lake? Why?

What traditions would you like to continue throughout your life?

If you could move anywhere, what location would you choose and why?

Have you ever kayaked or hiked? If not would you be game to go?

Ask each other their favorite memory of the other is and why?

Camping date night music

This is going to be very personal, but there are two things that make camping songs fun

1.Mostly acoustic-Many of us, at one time or another have sang songs around the fire with someone playing guitar. These songs help to bring back some memories or make new ones.

2.Fun to sing to. Some songs are classic and fun to sing especially some old school classics!

We put together a Camping Playlist on Spotify

It’s fun to listen to songs that you may not have heard for a long time!

Camping Nature sounds

Everlong- Foo Fighters

Sugar Mountain- Neil Young

Hotel California – Eagles

The Weight- The Band

You’re so Vain- Carly Simon

Wanted Dead or Alive – Bon Jovi

Drive – Incubus

Someone Like You – Van Morrison

Brown Eyed Girl- Van Morrison

Lost Stars – Adam Levine

Wild Horses – Rolling Stones

Wonderwall- Oasis

No Rain- Blind Melon

Wooden Ships- Crosby, Stills & Nash

Good Riddance – Green Day

Knockin on Heavens Door- Bob Dylan

Little Black Submarines – The Black Keys

High and Dry – Radiohead

Night Moves – Bob Seger

Landslide – Fleetwood Mac

Breakfast at Tiffany’s – Deep Blue Something

Midnight Rider- The Allman Brothers

Can’t you See – The Marshall Tucker Band

Camping date night movies

Keep the theme going by watching a movie on your laptop or TV if its handy. Pick a Netflix classic outdoor movie or some other fun camping themed movies.

The Great Outdoors (comedy)

A River Wild & A Walk in the Woods (action, adventure)

Ritual & Blair Witch (horror)

Homeward Bound (family)

Parks and Rec (short comedy)

Camping date night

Free download

Download our free camping date night invite & Camping date night conversation starters.

Our goal has always been to help create meaningful connections and memories with those we love. By creating our DIY date nights we hope to help you keep the spark alive in your relationship.

We love these fun creative date night ideas!

check back for new date and girls night themed get togethers that we will be adding regularly

P.S. Be Aware!

This tent design is loved so much, you may not be able to take it down.

My daughter will not let me remove it! I guess I won’t be able to use the ceiling fan for the time being.

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