10 Camping Games to Send Off Labor Day Weekend Right

Labor Day is the unofficial last call on summer camping season, and it deserves better than everyone staring at a phone waiting for the fireworks or the drive home. This is the weekend to go out loud: relay races, family bragging rights, and one last round of the games that made the whole summer worth it.

None of these need much planning, either. Most use gear you already have in the car or cost next to nothing to throw together on the spot. Here are 10 ways to give the season a proper send-off before the campground empties out for fall.

1. Run a Backyard Camp Olympics

Three-legged race, sack race, egg-and-spoon relay: string together three or four backyard classics into one mini-Olympics with a homemade medal ceremony at the end. It takes ten minutes to set up and turns “one more weekend” into the highlight of the month.

2. Settle It With Tug-of-War

Kids versus parents, one rope, no excuses. It’s loud, it’s a little unfair, and it’s exactly the kind of chaos a last-weekend-of-summer campsite should have. Loser makes s’mores, no negotiating.

3. Keep Fly Swat in the Car for Rain Delays

Labor Day weather is a coin flip. If it rains you out of the campsite games, Fly Swat moves the fun inside the tent or the cabin without missing a beat. Fast rounds, zero setup, still no screens.

4. Build an Early Fall Nature Bingo Card

Swap the summer scavenger hunt list for early-fall signs: an acorn, a red leaf, a spider web, a blue jay feather. Draw a quick 3×3 grid before the trip and let the kids race to fill it in around camp. Whoever gets a blackout card first picks the next campfire game.

5. Run a Cornhole Tournament

Set up a bracket, print out a scoreboard on a paper plate, and let the whole family (and any neighboring campsites who want in) battle it out. Bag tosses are simple enough for young kids and competitive enough that adults get invested fast, which is exactly the kind of chaos a last big weekend calls for.

6. Do the Season’s Last Gear Check with 10 Essentials

10 Essentials turns the backcountry checklist into a game, which makes it the perfect way to mark the shift from “summer camping” mode into “real hiking season” mode as the weather cools off. Play a round before you pack up for the year.

7. Have a Rock-Skipping Contest

If there’s water nearby, this one is free, endlessly replayable, and surprisingly good at settling arguments about who’s the most athletic person at the campsite. Best of five skips wins, and there’s always a rematch two minutes later.

8. Pack CAMP: Travel Edition for the Drive Home

The ride back after Labor Day always feels a little heavier than the ride up. CAMP: Travel Edition keeps the mood light and the screens off for one more stretch of road.

9. Hold a Campfire Awards Night

Give out silly, made-up superlatives on the last night: Best S’mores Chef, Loudest Snorer, Most Bug Bites. Write them on scrap paper if you want to make it official. It’s a five-minute ritual that turns into a tradition fast, and next year’s list only gets funnier.

10. Close It Out With Camp Board Game

End the season the way you started it: everyone at the table, no devices. Camp Board Game is built to grow with your kids, so next Labor Day’s game looks a little different from this one, and that’s the point.

One Last Weekend

Summer doesn’t need a big finale, it just needs everyone off their screens for one more weekend before the routines of fall take over. You don’t need all ten games to make it count, either. Pick three or four, let the campsite fill in the rest, and let the school-year schedules wait one more day. Browse our full games and activities collection to stock up before you head out, and give the season the send-off it deserves.