Activity for hiking kids: Flower Headband

Dandelions are a perfect flower for making a headband.
Photo courtesy of mindweb / 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 those great for a rest stop is making a flower headband.

Begin by having your child pick flowers seen along the trail; ensure stems are the same length and at least two inches long.

At a rest stop, with a thumbnail pinch each flower’s stem about a half-inch from each one’s bottom, creating a hole like a needle’s eye.

Next, thread the stem of a flower though one stem’s slot so the blossom is snug against the hole. Repeat the threading, creating a circular chain of flowers. As doing this, estimate how many flowers are needed to encircle your child’s head.

Before placing the last flower stem in place to close the loop, place the headband on your child’s head. Then add the last flower.

Materials: Dozen freshly picked flowers with stems at least two inches long

Ages: 10 and up

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