Fun game/activity for kids on day hike: Rainbow Search

Photo courtesy of *bri* / 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 Rainbow Search.

Have kids draw a rainbow on a piece of paper; make sure they leave room so they can write a word next to each color. Paste the paper to a piece of cardboard or clip it to a clipboard. Tie a pen to the cardboard (this can be done by punching a hole in the cardboard’s corner) or clipboard. As children hike, have them write down objects they see along the trail that are the colors on their rainbow. As a competition, whoever finds all the colors in their rainbow wins (To make the competition fair, you’ll have to check beforehand to ensure that all children have the same number of colors in their rainbows!). Upon returning home, date the paper and keep it in a scrapbook/box of your hikes.

Materials: Paper, colors/markers/colored pencils, pen, cardboard or clipboard, yarn or string; if using cardboard: paste or glue, hole punch.

Ages: 7 and up.

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