Fun activity for hiking kids: Gravity Race

If dropped, which of these three rocks would hit the ground
first? 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 Gravity Race.

Have children collect a few objects of different weights and surface areas, such as twigs, leaves and feathers. Then during a rest break, select an easily identifiable height on a tree trunk. With a child on each side of the trunk, have them drop an object on the count of three. Have children try to figure out why some of the objects hit the ground faster than others while some objects, despite being very different weights, hit at the same time (Answer: The wider the surface area or the more able the object is able to experience air resistance, such as a feather or a large leaf, the slower it will float the ground.).

Materials: Objects gathered on trail

Ages: 13 and up

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