I’ve been craving outdoor excursions beyond the joys of daily walks around the neighborhood (though the flowers are blooming and I’m grateful for all the recent sunshine!) Definitely ready for some true adventures to return to the schedule.

In the meantime, I thought I might stay sharp practicing my camping skills. Enter: fireman drills, camping edition! Here’s some activities I had space for in my sweet little shared yard. Can’t wait to see how you adapt it to your space! Have some fun, practice your setup, and get a sneaky workout in the process with fun for all ages. My obstacle course took 6 minutes and 48 seconds, let’s see what you’ve got!

1: Run the stairs.

We happen to live on the second story which gives a fun intro to the backyard and mimics some of the climbing you might have to do to reach your campsite. This for me is highly reminiscent of a car camping trip to Kirby Cove, or a tiny rendition of an actual backpacking trip. Let’s run some stairs.

You can add weight to your pack to be more reminiscent of an actual trip if you want to train for backpacking. Take a stroll through the hills, confuse some people.

2: Log hop squats

Okay, we didn’t have any logs handy, but if you’ve got some firewood or tent poles or anything long and low, hop em and do some squats!

3: Sack race, sleeping bag style

Hop in! Maybe take your shoes off if they’re dirty, or use this as an excuse to wash your gear afterwards.

4. Setup camp

Now race to put together your setup like you’ve rolled into camp past dark, it’s pouring rain, and your camp crew is hungry as heck! Maybe staying home isn’t so bad after all…

If you’re doing this in a group or with the kids, maybe delegate or race against one another.

Pro tip: open your sleeping mat first; many are “self inflating” to a point, and you can finish up once you’ve got the tent set.