Camping season has officially arrived! If your family is like mine, you decided to avoid the Memorial Day holiday crowds and are now ready to clean out the camper and dust off the tent and other camping gear for another great season spent outdoors. Before you stock the coolers with food, gather up the tubs of camping gear and plan out your campsite activities, check out some new ideas to make your outdoor adventure even more enjoyable.

Whether you’re looking for some new recipes and s’mores variations to try out, some fun family games to enjoy by the campfire or during the warm afternoons or even just some new hacks to make sure everyone’s camping experience is enjoyable, there are dozens of ideas available on Pinterest. Here are a few of my favorites. For even more, be sure to check out our Cheap Summer Fun board on Pinterest.

Recipe ideas

One of the best parts of camping is the food, right?! Whether it’s rustic Dutch oven goodness, delicious and customizable tin foil dinners or breakfast cooked on a hot griddle, food tastes even better when eaten in the great outdoors. It’s even better when it’s a little charred or flavored with a little campfire ash and dirt. This year, try out some new recipe ideas to add a little variety to your own campout cookbook.

Instead of tin foil dinners, try campfire nachos instead heated up in a skillet. Pre-make breakfast burritos the night before you leave for the campground and simply warm up the foil-wrapped burritos by the fire in the morning. And instead of s’mores, make campfire cones. Stuff waffle cones with bananas, berries, mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and marshmallows. Wrap in foil and place over a campfire for 3-5 minutes.

Camping hacks

Nothing is more frustrating when a camping trip doesn’t go as planned — tent collapses, air mattress deflates, rain makes everything super soggy, campfire won’t ignite, dead flashlight batteries, and the list goes on. While nothing can really prevent a sudden rainstorm, there are some other great camping hacks that will ensure everyone enjoys a weekend surrounded by family, friends and Mother Nature. Many tricks, too, can be sourced at the dollar store!

Hate fumbling for a flashlight in the middle of the night to stumble to the bathroom? Grab a bunch of cheap solar lights and create a lit pathway to the outhouse. Keep dirty shoes out of your tent by placing a cheap laundry basket outside the entrance. Use a collapsable laundry basket for a garbage bin. Cover your tent with an emergency blanket to deflect the sun’s heat. String up battery-operated fairy lights inside the tent for kiddos who might be afraid of the dark.

Campground games

Family reunion campout planned for this summer? Keep all the kids entertained with a variety of nature-filled games and activities. Whether looking for group games for warm afternoons, scavenger hunt ideas for morning hikes, creating original songs around the campfire or games to play in the tent during those sudden rainstorms, there are dozens of game and activity ideas to keep everyone entertained.

When on family hikes, give the kids a list of colors, objects, bugs, birds and more to snap photos of while on the hike. Cool off during those hot afternoons with a water balloon toss. For quiet games and crafts for afternoon adult nap time, have your kids create their own tic-tac-toe games by painting rocks. Or have them break out the crayons and create artsy rubbings of leaves they’ve collected.