Make The Most of Your Fire
A blazing campfire is a simple pleasure, but it’s one of the big features of a glamping holiday. You really can’t beat the atmosphere around the fire after a lovely day out, and it’s a great way to socialise outdoors once restrictions allow. Sales of fire pits and outdoor heating devices rose dramatically last year, with many makes selling out fast. John Lewis reported an 82% increase compared to the same period last year. We have some tips to help you get the most out of your campfire or fire at home to ensure some great memories are made and treasured.
If you’re glamping with a group of friends and acquaintances the campfire is the best place to get to know each other. Ice breaking games, such as “two truths and a lie” are a fun activity that helps you get to know surprising facts about each other. Everyone has to say two true statements about themselves, and one lie. The rest of the group have to guess which one is the lie, and you can add an element of competition by assigning points to the number of incorrect guesses made – the person whose lie is the hardest to guess wins.
An adult/drinking game called “never have I ever” is a fun, sometimes risqué, game to play. Each person takes it in turns to say something they have never done, and anyone who has done that thing takes a drink. You might start tame with things like “never have I ever pulled a sickie” and as the alcohol flows the game gets progressively more revealing.
If you have enough light to play by, Cards Against Humanity is a fun campfire activity, as is the game where everyone is randomly assigned a famous person and has to guess who they are using only yes or no questions. Post-it notes or cigarette papers can be used to stick the name of the famous person on everyone’s foreheads, so they can’t see the name, but everyone else can. All these games pair well with some mulled wine or cider made over your campfire – it’s not just for Christmas!
When the sun goes down it’s time to get the marshmallows out for toasting, or to make chocolate banana splits by slicing a banana almost in half down the middle, popping some chocolate squares inside and wrapping the whole thing in foil and placing it on the embers so that the chocolate melts. You can do similar things with apples and berries.
Stargazing is the perfect activity for a clear night round the fire. In the city we don’t often get a clear view of the night sky, but out in the countryside there is less light pollution and we are able to see the stars more clearly. Some constellations, like Orion, are easy to spot, but others take a little more effort to see. There are several stargazing apps you can use, including ones which use GPS to work out your location and show you exactly what’s above you, and what’s visible on the other side of the planet. If you’re already pretty good on astronomy, you could point stars and constellations out to the group, or set a challenge to find a particular star. You can also track the International Space Station and watch for it as it passes overhead.
We can’t wait to try out some of these ideas on our next glamping trip, but why wait until then? Many of these games can be played over Zoom (except the name guessing one), and when we are allowed to have visitors in the garden, a campfire with games is a perfect evening together.
