What are some ways to make hiking fun for kids?

m16shane
m16shane Posts: 393 Member
in Chit-Chat
We have recently took up hiking, its great exercise and you get enjoy the outdoors. We have a 6 year old girl that seems to like it so far but she gets board with things easily like most kids. I was wondering if anyone has any ideas to keep kids more interested in hiking. We were thinking of coming up with a seek and find check list, or getting her a camera. Do you have any ideas?

15676875.png
Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Weight Loss Tools

Replies

  • stacyjbaker1010
    stacyjbaker1010 Posts: 161 Member
    Geocaching! It's like treasure hunting. :) Google it!
  • Annie_Oakley
    Annie_Oakley Posts: 73
    I've done this with my own boys...a lil camera is a GREAT way of getting HER view of the world around her - maybe put them online for relatives to see - give her an "album" to store her photos in - say if you have facebook or whatnot - let your family see it too.
  • rossi02
    rossi02 Posts: 549 Member
    We let our oldest (about to turn 5) be the lead hiker and it's his job to keep us on the trail and look for the trail signs. Also, there are a couple of briges that go over small streams that he and his little brother love. When we get to them, we let them do leaf races for a little while then start back up again. Also, we count and see how many squirrel or other animals we see.
  • OLFATUG
    OLFATUG Posts: 393 Member
    Make a list of things to look for and/or collect on the way.
    Also a destination hike can be a lot of fun. Hike in to a waterfall or pond, eat a picnic lunch, hike out.
  • tyrog11
    tyrog11 Posts: 35 Member
    I have 10 and 12 y/o girls...we started geocaching last year...they LOVE it. If we are truly hiking, I will pack some water bottles and nutragrian bars or something and we stop along the way for a snack...for some reason they really like that part of it.
  • bmxpop
    bmxpop Posts: 353 Member
    Geocaching! It's like treasure hunting. :) Google it!

    This!! We've been doing it for a few years now and love it...fun for the whole family!!
  • LastMinuteMama
    LastMinuteMama Posts: 590 Member
    The seek and find is a great idea as well as her own camera!

    Also, I noticed someone added Geocaching. That is great fun! There is also Letterboxing.

    When we hike, we also look for birds. My boys have their own set of inexpensive binoculars. We're in Massachusetts and there is a great Audubon Society here. Each of the places we go {that are Mass Audubon} have a stamp that they can add to their book.

    Last year when we finally spotted Eastern Bluebirds, the boys were beyond excited! They ask to go hiking now!
  • misticache
    misticache Posts: 364 Member
    Geocaching! It's like treasure hunting. :) Google it!

    This! She beat me to it. www.geocaching.com . It's free site and there are thousands you can find on a free membership. If you like it the annual membership is dirt cheap also. Nowadays you don't even need a hand held GPS because you can download an app to your smartphone.

    Hence my name Misticache...hehee I love caching.
  • catshark209
    catshark209 Posts: 1,133 Member
    My son and I are gamers, so I tell him we're on a mission with a big XP reward at the end. We are both into the Fallout series, so I tell him we're gonna pretend we are a Brotherhood of Steel squad out on a recon mission. Works for us lol.
  • LordBezoar
    LordBezoar Posts: 625 Member
    The photography thing could be a huge help. Also, you could create some kind of bingo/scavenger hunt game to play while you hike. Make a list of things you might encounter and assign them points. When you get home, go through the photos and find out what score you got.

    You can also make it fun by singing trail songs. If you don't know any, look up a couple or make your own family trail song.

    Make sure you are not always going on the same trail, I don't know much about Virginia, but around here we don't lack for trails. My brother-in-law is out at Darden right now and I hear it is beautiful, so you shouldn't have any problems with this either.

    Geocaching is also a lot of fun. If you have a smartphone, you can get an app that uses your built in GPS with no additional hardware. I use C:Geo on my Android

    I'm interested to see what other people come up with.
  • dschavers
    dschavers Posts: 55 Member
    The color game.....were she trys to spot as many different colors in nature as she can.
    The plant game.....were she spots as many different kinds of plants as she can. This is also a great learning game for plant identification.
    Marking trails......let her mark a trail using only things from the environment......like laying sticks down in the shape of an arrow or using rocks.
    Scavenger Hunt...
    These are all hiking ideas we used with our girls scouts and they always had a great time. I could send you some examples and ideas if you like. Just send me a message.
  • m16shane
    m16shane Posts: 393 Member
    Wow, thanks for all the great ideas so far! I'm really liking them.

Categories