Fun game for drive to trailhead: Packing List

“We’re going hiking. I have packed my backpack. In it
I have a compass.”

Once you’ve got your children excited about the hike, you next have to get them to the trailhead, probably in a motor vehicle. Sometimes those drives to a national forest, nature preserve or state park can be long. You can keep kids’ spirits up by playing games on the drive there.

One tried and true possibility is Packing List.

Go in order of youngest to oldest. The first player starts with, “We’re going hiking. I have packed my backpack. In it I have a compass.” The second player then repeats what the first player says and adds an object to the backpack; for example, the second player might say, “We’re going hiking. I have packed my backpack. In it I have a compass and a map.” The third player adds a third item and so on. The round ends when a player doesn’t correctly remember what goes in the backpack or lists an object that wouldn’t go in it for a hike, such “a video game.”

Materials: None needed

Ages: 5 and up

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