Seven Tips for More Enjoyable Hiking with Kids

With the holidays — or is it the holidaze!?! — all around us, plenty of parents are looking for excuses to get their kids out of the house. Why not take a family hike? While many associate hiking with summer or early fall, the winter can be a terrific time to hit the trails. Cooler months often mean far fewer crowds and present different viewing opportunities for young eyes. So with that in mind, here are seven tips for a more enjoyable hike (these work, of course, regardless of season). I won’t add it to the list, but clearly, if your climate calls for it, dress in layers — ideally non-cotton layers — appropriate for where you live. Now, the list:

• » See also: Grow Your Own Tree Hugger: 101 Activities to Teach Your Child How to Live Green
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1. Give kids real responsibility

Captain (hiking leader), Cook (snacks holder), Chief Navigator (map holder/user), Lead Photographer, etc. These all work. Just be sure you have a role for each child.

2. Switch roles frequently

If you have 4 kids or fewer on the trip, switch often enough (roughly every 7-8 minutes for four kids) so that all can be Captain at least once per half hour.

3. Think Journey, Journey, Journey

Every time you announce a role change, remind yourself that this is about the journey, not the destination,  and that the kids are dictating the pace (30 photos of tree sap? Of course that’s a good idea!)

4. Count what you find

Look for specific objects and/or count them as you hike (a new role: Official Object Counter!). On a recent hike with our five year-old, we counted 32 yellow jackets (mostly flying solo missions, thankfully). Counting them somehow made them less scary AND gave him something that kept his attention on his surroundings.

5. Bring a few props

Grab a handful of crayons and ask each child to find a natural object that matches the color of their crayon. Switch crayons during role changes and/or assign a specific color to each role (Navigator is looking for objects that match the “Sea Foam” crayon, for example). Paint chips or cloth swatches would also work with this game. Bring flash cards or pieces of paper with letters (”What do you see that begins with “T”?) and/or numbers (”Find an object with six legs”). If you have a magnifying glass, bring it. Don’t make your backpack weigh 30 pounds and don’t bring a Nintendo DS. But if you have something simple that will increase engagement on the trail, you should consider it.

6. Pack a Journal

During snack breaks, at particularly interesting segments of the trail or after the hike is complete, hand out journals (or have kids carry their own) and crayons, pencils or pens and ask each child to write or draw what they’ve seen, where they’ve been and how they’ve felt about the experience. After the trip, the hike photographer may be able to provide photos for kids to tape into their journals as well. Of course, modeling behavior is crucial. So be sure to pack a journal for yourself and for each adult as well.

7. Remember that this is supposed to be fun

It won’t go perfectly. Few hikes do. Focus on the big picture … not on individual pouting/crying/whining episodes that may occur on the trail. You’ll be happier — and so will your kids — if you do.

Image: Jon Ferron at Flickr under Creative Commons License

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