Day Hiking Trails: Great after the hike activity: Award Badges

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Great after the hike activity: Award Badges

Give kids who help one another on a hike award badges.
Photo courtesy of wsilver 2 / Photoree.

Once you’ve completed your first hike, pat yourself on the back. You’ve done a lot of work but have taken the first step into a larger world for both you and your children.

To keep kid’s enthusiasm charged, “review” the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can’t do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it.

One such after the hike activity is Award Badges. Young children will love receiving a badge or ribbon for their efforts. Award them, though, not for completing the hike but for positive behaviors they displayed on the trail. For example, maybe one child for the first time successfully read the topo map or compass to ensure the expedition didn’t get lost. Or maybe one of the children came to the aid of another who was having difficulty during the hike. Award badges can be made out of paper or cardboard; ribbons also can be purchased.

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

Meet the Author

My name is Rob Bignell. I'm a long-time hiker, journalist and editor. My son Kieran and I have been hiking together for the past decade. Before Kieran, I taught middle school students in New Mexico and Wisconsin, served as an infantryman in the Army National Guard, and worked in newspapers. I've won several journalism awards, from editorial writing to sports reporting. In 2001, The Prescott Journal, which I served as managing editor of, was named Wisconsin’s Weekly Newspaper of the Year. Currently I own and operate an online editing business, Inventing Reality Editing Service. After spending several years in Southern California, my son and I now live in Wisconsin on the scenic Red Cedar River.