Fun hiking game: Unfortunately-Fortunately

"Unfortunately, our Jeep had to take a bumpy road." "Fortunately, I was
making a milk shake at the time." Photo courtesy of Indiana 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 Unfortunately-Fortunately.

Have one child make an “unfortunate” statement – that is, one showing a hiking problem – such as “Unfortunately, I stepped into a patch of poison ivy.” Another child then must counter with a “fortunate” statement, or one that shows all is okay, such as “Fortunately, I was wearing my pants and a long sleeve shirt!” Of course, the game is most fun when the unfortunate situations get silly (“Unfortunately, I met Bigfoot on my hike.”) and the fortunate statement is even sillier (“Fortunately, I had extra beef jerky with me!”).

Materials: None needed

Ages: 6 and up

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