Day Hiking Trails: Fun game/activity for kids on day hike: Playing fetch

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Fun game/activity for kids on day hike: Playing fetch

A stick makes a great toy for kids. Photo courtesy of Ani-Bee / Photoree.

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 Playing fetch.

Toss an imaginary stick at a tree ahead of you on the trail. You preschooler has to follow the arc of your toss and run to the right tree. If he goes to the right tree, he gets a point. If he goes to the wrong one, you get a point. Whoever reaches 5 points first wins. Make sure the trail is flat and free of roots or boulders to trip over.

Materials: Your imaginations

Ages: 3-5

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.