Day Hiking Trails: Kid hiking activity: Identifying animal tracks

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Kid hiking activity: Identifying animal tracks

Illustration courtesy of Maryland DNR,

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 identifying animal tracks.

Find a kid-friendly field guide or brochure from a local nature center that shows tracks animals make in the region you’re hiking. Best for older kids. Materials: Field guide or brochure. Ages 12 and up.

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.

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.