We love doing family campfire dinner nights around here. If it’s not the dead cold of winter, you can often find us cuddled up around the fire enjoying the evening. The convenience of having a family date in your own backyard can’t be beat! Plus, it’s something all four of us genuinely enjoy, and it’s a low-cost way to spend quality time together outdoors. Even better, if you use these time-proven hacks to make the night flow smoothly, the stress of managing the evening clears out and makes room for lots of fun and special memories!
10 hacks for an easy family campfire dinner night:
- Keep the menu simple. It might sound boring, but we know what we like, and my kids like knowing they can look forward to the same treats every time we do a campfire dinner, so we always stick to hot dogs, smores, popcorn and maybe some veggies or fruit we have in the kitchen.
- Organize in the kitchen and carry everything down on trays. This is my favorite hack, because after I figured it out, doing a campfire dinner became so much easier! I typically put all the hot dog items on one tray, and the smores items on another. That way we can easily carry the specific items we need right out to the fire whenever we are ready to use them.
- Set up a camp table as a supplies station. This helps keep the area right around the fire tidy (i.e. less kids stepping on ketchup-covered plates!). It also prevents animals, mainly our food-crazed chocolate lab, from nosing into the food stash.
- Use disposable items. Outside is dirty and marshmallow-sticky fingers don’t help. We burn our paper plates and napkins in the fire, but it’s easiest to just toss plasticware and wipes at the end of the night. Bonus tip: Buy the heavy-duty plates! With getting bumped around by being outside and around kids, it’s worth it. Plus, the heavier plates serve well as assembly surfaces for smores and hotdogs!
- Be prepared. Speaking of wipes and trash, I always carry out a case of wipes and a bag for trash. If you want to make it really nifty, grab this easy wipes dispenser and one of these cool disposable trash cans (opening up the plastic bag to toss stuff can be tricky with messy hands). And make sure to take time to set up all the campfire dinner tools you will need around the fire before getting started.
- Fill up plastic water bottles for each family member. Campfire dinner foods make you thirsty, so you’ll need lots of water! Anything you put in a cup is bound to get spilled, plus it’s nice for everyone to have their own water bottle to stash beside their chair.
- Get the kids to help. They help us carry everything down and are responsible for putting items and trays back on the table after we use them.
- Set a tradition. After we’re done eating we have a silly tradition where they put on a show for us using “props” from the garage (or check this cute prop set–my kids would be so creative with this!). While they practice, Mom and Dad get to kick back and enjoy some downtime. If performing isn’t your kids’ thing, no sweat–find a game or something that is fun for your family and look forward to doing it after every campfire dinner.
- Family story time! After the performance is over, we all sit around the campfire and play story-down-the-lane. The kids ADORE this idea. One of them starts it, one continues it, Mom chimes in, and then Dad ends the tale. Or maybe we’ll loop through each family member a few times.
- Keep clean-up light. We carry in all the food at the end of the night, but the chairs and the table can wait until morning. For now, go cozy up in bed and enjoy that warm fuzzy feeling of having just spent a special night with your family!
Your next family night? Consider the plans set! Use these easy hacks to make your campfire dinner a smooth success and get ready to relax fireside, friends.
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For the full list of products that will help make your campfire dinner night a win, check out the idea board I curated on Wayfair–it includes everything you’ll need for a super family evening!
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Recipe for campfire popcorn: Add a 1/2 cup of kernels and 1 Tbsp. of coconut oil to the popper and shake gently over the fire until popping slows down. Allow to cool and pour out onto plates, salting to preference. Easy-peasy and yum!
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For more fall fun inspiration, grab some of these fantastic free Halloween printables from Wayfair!
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Janine Huldie says
Love this and was hoping we could use our fire pit more this fall. So this just gave me the added incentive. Thanks 🙂
Meredith says
Yes, get out there and use it, love! It’s such a fun treat 🙂
Meredith says
Awww, that sounds like fun and the picture is absolutely adorable! I love it when we go to the lake or cabin camping; foil packet meals are my best friend. I should really try to do that sort of thing more often at home; thanks for the inspiration!
Meredith says
Yes! Foil packet meals are the best! We haven’t made these in forever…thanks for the reminder 🙂
Marina @ Parental Journey says
Great tips! I would love to make this a tradition for my family, but we live in a flat, don’t really have a place for having a campfire dinner!
Meredith says
That would make it tough! Maybe next time you take a camping trip, Marina? 😉
Kim Croisant says
Oh, I haven’t thought of the popcorn popper – I’ve got to get one of those as I think popcorn popped this way is the best. I’m a blogger from Wayfair who came by to say hi. Love your yard too!!
Meredith says
Thanks for stopping by, Kim! And yes, I LOVE popcorn made this way–yum! 🙂
Jamie says
I love the brick idea – that would be perfect when we’re camping! 🙂
Meredith says
So simple and easy, huh? 🙂 Thanks for checking in, Jamie!