Keep kids excited about hiking with this game/activity: Log Book

Have older children keep a log book of their day hikes.
Photo courtesy of elementality / 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 post-hike game/activity you might consider is Log Book.

Have children keep a “log book” of the hike. It might include such information as the trail’s name, location, length, date you hiked it, start time, and end time. Most importantly, though, for children, have them tell about the interesting sights they saw and significant events they experienced during the hike. You might be surprised by what they considered important! Keep all of the log entries in a single notebook, like a ship’ log book. Older children can write the log book entries themselves. One day many years from now, it will be an important keepsake for your children!

Materials: Notebook, pen or pencil

Ages: 3 and up

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