Day Hiking Trails: Fun activity for kids on day hike: Animal Homes

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Fun activity for kids on day hike: Animal Homes

Wood stork nest. Photo courtesy of South Carolina 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 Animal Homes.

Have children identify place animal might live, such as in a tree (nest on branch, hollow in trunk, beneath fallen log). Ask them what different animals live in those spots and why the animal might choose to live there.

Materials: None

Ages: 9 and up

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

Meet the Author

My name is Rob Bignell. I'm a long-time hiker, journalist and editor. My son Kieran and I have been hiking together for the past decade. Before Kieran, I taught middle school students in New Mexico and Wisconsin, served as an infantryman in the Army National Guard, and worked in newspapers. I've won several journalism awards, from editorial writing to sports reporting. In 2001, The Prescott Journal, which I served as managing editor of, was named Wisconsin’s Weekly Newspaper of the Year. Currently I own and operate an online editing business, Inventing Reality Editing Service. After spending several years in Southern California, my son and I now live in Wisconsin on the scenic Red Cedar River.