Weekly Quest · Adventure
Backyard Basecamp
Backyard Basecamp turns your own yard into a genuine first camp. Families pitch a tent or rig a tarp, make it cozy inside, and spend a couple of hours reading, snacking, and telling stories under the open sky. It is Week 3 of Outside's 52-week family quest calendar, and it earns every kid the Backyard Camper badge.
This page is the public web guide for Backyard Basecamp, Week 3 of Outside's 52-week family quest calendar available through the Outside family adventure app. The quest asks families to set up a tent, tarp, or outdoor sleeping area in their own backyard and spend roughly two hours together under the sky. It is rated Easy, awards 250 XP and the Backyard Camper badge, and builds foundational skills including shelter setup, gear familiarity, and outdoor comfort. The guide covers how to run the quest well, age-specific tips, and answers to common parent logistics questions.
| Week | 3 of 52 |
|---|---|
| Badge | Backyard Camper |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| XP awarded | 250 |
| Estimated time | 2 hours |
Why a backyard counts as a real adventure
There is a particular magic that happens the moment a tent goes up in familiar grass. The yard you mow every week becomes a different place entirely when you are looking at it from inside a shelter you built yourself. That shift in perspective is the whole point.
Backyard Basecamp is Week 3 of Outside's 52-week family quest, and it exists because the foundation of every great camping trip is comfort with the basics: knowing how poles fit together, understanding what makes a spot feel right, learning that a blanket and a good snack can turn any corner of the outdoors into home. You do not need a reservation, a long drive, or a permit. You need an afternoon and a patch of ground.
How to run this quest from start to finish
Open the Outside app and navigate to quest-3, Backyard Basecamp. The in-app steps will guide your family through the full experience and track your progress toward the Backyard Camper badge.
Start by walking the yard together and choosing a flat, shady spot. Let the kids have real input here. Next, set up your tent or tarp as a team. Nobody needs to be an expert. Fumbling with poles together is part of the education. Bring out cushions, sleeping pads, or folded blankets and make the inside genuinely cozy. Then spend at least an hour doing low-key things: reading aloud, telling stories, working through a bag of trail mix. The goal is not stimulation. It is settling in. Before you pack up, answer the app's reflection prompt together: what made your basecamp feel like home.
Making it work for every age in the crew
For kids around four to six, the setup is the main event. Give them one real job, like feeding a pole through a sleeve or placing pillows, and they will take ownership of the whole structure. Keep the inside hour gentle: picture books, stuffed animals, a favorite snack.
Kids eight to eleven are ready to take on a bigger share of the build. Let them read the instructions, sort the stakes, and problem-solve when something does not fit right. That productive friction is where confidence gets built quietly, without anyone calling attention to it.
Teens and older kids often respond best when you hand them the lead. Give them the bag and step back. If they want to rig a tarp instead of a tent, let them figure out the knots. The reflection prompt at the end tends to land well with this age group when it is treated as a genuine question rather than a homework assignment.
Gear you need and smart substitutions
The supply list for this quest is short: a tent or tarp, cushions or sleeping pads, and snacks. That is it.
If you do not own a tent, a tarp strung between two trees or a fence post works fine. A bedsheet draped over a clothesline and weighted down with rocks on the corners is a legitimate basecamp. The skill being practiced is shelter-making and outdoor comfort, not gear ownership. Bring whatever makes the inside feel lived-in. A familiar pillow, a library book, a thermos of hot cocoa in cooler months. The cozier the inside, the longer everyone stays, and time outside is the whole game here.
What families take away from this quest
The ambient skills Outside lists for Backyard Basecamp are shelter setup, gear familiarity, and outdoor comfort. Those are real and worth having. But the less obvious outcome is this: the next time a sleeping bag comes out of a stuff sack, it will not be strange. The family that has already built a camp together once arrives at an actual campground with a different kind of ease.
Kids who help pitch a tent in the backyard on a Tuesday afternoon are kids who feel at home in a tent at a state park that summer. That transfer of confidence is quiet and cumulative. Backyard Basecamp earns 250 XP and the Backyard Camper badge in the Outside app, but what it really earns is a slightly more settled relationship with the outdoors.
Describe your basecamp from the inside looking out. What did you see, hear, and smell? What would you add or change if you built it again tomorrow?
Frequently asked questions
Do we need an actual tent, or can we use something else?
Any structure that creates a defined shelter counts. A tarp rigged to a fence, a bedsheet over a clothesline, or blankets draped between chairs all qualify. The point is building something together and making it feel like a real space. Gear ownership is not a requirement for this quest.
What if our yard is small or we do not have a yard?
A balcony, a rooftop, a shared courtyard, or a nearby park all work. The quest calls for spending time together under the sky in a shelter you built, and that can happen in a lot of places outside your own backyard. Check your local park rules if you plan to set up a tent in a public green space.
How do we log this quest and earn the badge?
The Backyard Basecamp quest is completed through the Outside app under quest ID quest-3. Follow the in-app steps as you go, and answer the reflection prompt before you close out. The Backyard Camper badge and 250 XP are awarded in the app once the quest is marked complete.
Can we do this with very young kids, like a three or four year old?
Absolutely. Small children take to this kind of experience naturally. Keep their job simple and concrete during setup, one clear task they can finish. Inside, bring familiar comfort items and do not worry about keeping them there for the full hour. Even thirty minutes of outside time in a cozy shelter they helped build is a genuine win.