Fun game for kids on hike: Bird and Seed

You'll need some small rocks to play Bird and Seed.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

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 Bird and Seed.

If with a group of at least five children, this is a great game for them to enjoy during a rest stop.

Have them sit in a circle with one child in the middle. The child in the middle is the bird. Give three of the children sitting in the circle a rock; each rock is a “seed” and is held behind their backs. The bird gets to know who you gave the seeds to.

On the word “Go,” the children pass the seeds around to one another behind their backs. After you count to 10, say “Stop.” The children must stop passing around the seeds.

The bird now guesses who has the seeds. If the bird gets at least two right, he can choose to remain the bird or can exchange spots with the child of his choice.

Of course, if you only have four children, as an adult you can be one of those passing the seeds.

Materials: Three rocks

Ages: 4-12

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