Great hiking game for kids: Be the Animal

"I hide in the grass and hop. What am I?" Photo courtesy of George Hodan.

Generally, exploring and discovery is enough for kids, but sometimes even they can grow bored with that and become restless. Remember that they naturally have shorter attention spans than adults.

Fortunately, there are lots of tried and true activities you can do on the trail that’ll keep kids from getting bored. Among them is Be the Animal.

This is a great game for when some of the group needs to rest but others still have energy. Have the energetic kids get down on knees like a low-lying animal would and tell how their perspective of the world changes (of what they can and cannot see). Then have them climb atop a boulder, pretend they are a bird and again tell about their change in perspective.

Materials: None needed. The game can be played by children as young as preschoolers if they simply pretend to be an animal.

Ages: 10 and up.

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