Game for hiking kids: Nature Word Chain

"There is a tall tree, and a short log and
a blue sky and..."

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 Nature Word Chain.

This activity works best with a group of children. First select the order they will go. Then have the first child give a descriptive sentence about the trail, such as “There is a tall tree.” The next child adds to the sentence by describing out loud another aspect of the trail but saying it with the first child’s description; for example, “There is a tall tree and a blue lake.” The third child then adds another description and repeats the previous players’ words, as in “There is a tall tree and a blue lake and a singing bird.” The longer the sentence becomes, the more difficult it is to remember. When a child can’t correctly remember the sequence of descriptions, start a new sentence, beginning with the child whose turn would have been next.

Materials: None needed

Ages: 10 and up

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