Why the kids remember the simple stuff

Ask any kid what they loved most about a holiday, and chances are it wasn’t the museum tour or the perfectly timed itinerary. It was the ice cream that melted down their arm before they could finish it. The glow-stick game that kept them running in circles until bedtime. The marshmallow that slipped straight into the fire.

Here’s how to make more of those moments on your next stay (with a spooky October twist):

Foil Parcels: Because kids love unwrapping things

Foil dinners are as fun to make as they are to eat. Let the kids wrap their own little parcels of potato, corn, or sausages in foil, then tuck them into the coals. The wait makes it exciting - and when the parcels come out all smoky and sizzling, it feels like magic they cooked themselves.

🎃 Bonus for Halloween: carve silly faces into potatoes first, then cook them in foil for a “monster mash” dinner reveal.

Shades of the great outdoors

Grab a paint colour sample chart from the hardware store and head out on a walk. Kids love the challenge of matching shades of green, brown, and blue to the leaves, bark, and sky around them. Suddenly, an ordinary stroll turns into an adventure in noticing and being present. A twig the exact colour of “Eucalyptus Mist”? That’s going in the memory bank.

🎃 Halloween spin: encourage kids to hunt for “witchy” shades - think pumpkin orange leaves, bat-black rocks, or ghost-white shells.

Craft supplies, courtesy of nature

Armed with sticks, string, and feathers, kids can weave their own dreamcatchers or mini sculptures - a slow, creative way to bring a little of the outdoors back to camp. The best part? Every lopsided loop and knotted string becomes a keepsake of the day.

🎃 Halloween twist: swap dreamcatchers for spooky string “spiderwebs,” carve a potato stamp to print bats onto an old tee, or grab a bin bag and a broom - poof! instant witch.

Tasman’s got talent (Sort of)

Nothing fancy required - just a speaker, some glow sticks, and the freedom to stay up a little past bedtime. Kids will remember the silliness, the music echoing across the park, and the feeling that for one night only, they owned the dancefloor.

🎶 Turn it spooky with a Halloween playlist, a glow-stick mummy wrap contest, or a campsite “Monster Mash” dance-off. Who needs a disco ball when you’ve got a campfire?

When dinner is a craft project

Cooking doesn’t have to be separate from play. Turn veggies into critters, make fruit kebabs with funny faces, or set up a “decorate your own pancake” station. Think capsicum trains, celery butterflies, or just a sprinkle station with choc chips and berries.

🎃 And for Halloween? Spook up your dishes! Freeze blueberries in ice cubes for eerie eyeballs, rim glasses with honey and red food colouring for blood-drip drinks, and you’ve got a party-ready showstopper right at your campsite.

Trick-or-treat, Tasman style

🎃 Many of our parks also run in-park Halloween fun and kid-friendly activities, so your little ones stay entertained while you kick back and relax.

The simple stuff sticks

It turns out kids don’t need perfect. They just need presence, patience, and a place to play. At Tasman, that’s always been the heart of it - those messy, unfiltered holiday moments are the ones your kids will remember.

👉 Turn up the real at Tasman - book your stay and start making those messy, magical memories.