The range of activities include cardboard boat regattas, game show nights, TikTok-inspired challenges and old-fashioned barn dances.
For Jessica Malsack, one of the greatest joys of co-owning and operating Lake Arrowhead Campground in Montello is developing new activities to entertain families during the camping season.
“We do challenges like picking pennies out of the mud with your toes or putting your hand in a bucket of live cockroaches — things you can’t do at home!” Malsack says with the laugh.
Sometimes Malsack and her team will mix it up by mimicking games they see on TikTok or on television game shows. They also create challenges, like “Rock and Roll bingo,” in which guests have to correctly name the song to win the game.
“We do quite a few carnivals,” Malsack said. “We give out the tickets for free and then the kids can play games until they run out of tickets. They then use their tickets to get tokens to redeem for prizes at our store.”
“While campground operators usually repeat their most popular activities each year, many try to create new activities to give families something different to try out each summer,” said Lori Severson, executive director of the Wisconsin Association of Campground Owners, which hosts WisconsinCampgrounds.com, the travel planning website that lists independently owned and operated campgrounds.
Campgrounds typically have sections on their websites where they describe many of their organized activities and themed weekends. Here’s a sampling of some of the newest activities planned at Wisconsin campgrounds this year:
— Buffalo Lake Camping Resort in Montello: One of the newest activities at this campground is a cardboard boat regatta, which takes place Aug. 18-20 on the campground’s “Pirate Takeover Weekend.” Other exceptionally popular weekends include a “Tropical Splash Weekend,” July 7-9, when the park will have a bubble slip and slide, a dunk tank and a contest to see how high kids can make a splash in the swimming pool. A vintage camper weekend is set for the weekend of Sept. 16, when the campground will be filled with vintage RVs from the 1940s to the 1970s. This campground also offers rocket making activities July 28-30 during the AirVenture Oshkosh, which is scheduled for July 24-30.
— Indian Trails Campground in Pardeeville: This campground’s pirate-themed weekend has become so popular that had been selling out two years in advance. So this year the campground is offering two pirate-themed weekends, July 28-30 and Aug. 4-6. Activities include a buried treasure hunt for kids, a decorated bike/stroller parade around the campground, a pirate-themed movie at night on the big screen, and a cardboard boat race in which families build a boat out of cardboard and duct tape and race it on the park’s swimming lake. There are multiple heats for the cardboard boat race for kids 12 and under, teens 13-17, adults 18 and over, and adult with a child. Camp store certificates are presented to the top three winners in each category.
— Jellystone Park Camp-Resort in the Wisconsin Dells:
This campground has several new themed weeks this year, including a “Junior Ranger and Park Princess Week,” June 1-7, when park staff will train junior rangers and park princesses to catch Yogi Bear! Activities include binocular making, disguise making and making picnic basket booby traps. There will also be a nature scavenger hunt and park escape challenge. The week of August 24-30 will be an “All Bears Bonanza Blowout” week with the bears out and about almost every hour of the day. Guests can enjoy ceramics with Cindy Bear, Tie-Dye with Boo Boo, and cartoons with Yogi Bear, among other activities. All three bears and Ranger Smith will also participate in a DJ dance party.
— Pineland Camping Park in Arkdale: The new owners of this campground have introduced themed weekends for each and every week of its 26-week camping season. New weekend themes include Superhero, Olympic, Mardi Gras, Christmas in July and pre-Halloween activities along with fun activities for campers of all ages, like jousting during the Medieval weekend a beer crawl and Dirndl/Lederhosen contest during the Oktoberfest-themed weekend. The park is also planning its first ever music festival featuring local amateur music groups during its Music Fest weekend. Each weekend will also include recurring activities, such as kids’ crafts, wagon/barrel cart rides, charity raffles and weekly live music.
— Red Barn Campground in Shell Lake: During the summer months this campground will be holding old-fashioned barn dances where you can swing your partner and do-si-do in a vintage Wisconsin barn after a long day of trail riding. This campground offers 250 acres of ATV and UTV trails that connect to over 100 miles of trails that are part of the ever-expanding Northwest Wisconsin ATV Trail System. Campers can bring their own ATV or UTV or rent one from the campground.
Scores of other Wisconsin campgrounds also offer organized family activities and themed weekends, from pet costume contests and 100-foot chocolate slip n’ slides. Many Wisconsin campgrounds even organize special events with members of the Green Bay Packers.
“To find the best campgrounds in Wisconsin with organized family activities, entertainment and some of the best onsite amenities, we really encourage people to visit WisconsinCampgrounds.com,” Severson said, adding that most campgrounds have themed weekend activity schedules on their websites.
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About the Wisconsin Association of Campground Owners, The Wisconsin Association of Campground Owners (WACO) is the trade association that represents over 200 independently owned and operated campgrounds, RV parks and resorts in Wisconsin, including most of the family-owned campgrounds in the state. The association hosts WisconsinCampgrounds.com, a travel planning website that features campgrounds, RV parks and resorts not typically listed on state or national park websites. The association also publishes a campground guide, which is available for free in digital and printed formats through WisconsinCampgrounds.com.
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