Help kids make their own utility belt pockets

Use duct tape to make hiking gear.
Photo courtesy of David Niblack,
Imagebase.net.

You can help kids craft their own equipment for the hike using materials found in your own home. Here are instructions for making utility belt pockets:
g Materials – Craft knife, duct tape, scissors
g Instructions – (1) Lay out a foot-long strip of duct tape, sticky side up. (2) About halfway down this strip, place a second strip sticky side down. (3) Turn over the strips then halfway down the second strip stick a third piece. (4) Repeat steps 1-3 until you have a sheet about three quarters the height of the item to be carried. (5) Fold over the top and bottom sticky edges of this duct tape sheet then wrap it around the item to be carried. (6) If necessary, trim the sheet, then tape it in place to form a loose pocket. (7) Close the pocket’s bottom with another piece of duct tape and trim the edges. (8) Slip a piece of scrap cardboard into each pocket as a temporary backing (for a stiffer backing, thin scrap wood also can be used). (9) Near the top of the pocket, with a craft knife cut two vertical slits about 1-1/2 inches apart and slightly longer than your child’s belt is wide (if a child is making the pocket, a parent should do this step). (10) Slide the pockets onto your child’s belt.

Learn about more than a hundred other hiking diversions for kids in Hikes with Tykes: Games and Activities.