Fun game for kids on hike: Tower Building

How high can you build a tower
made of rocks?

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 Tower Building.

If taking a rest break in an area with lots of small rocks, have children pass the time by building towers out of the stones. Children can compete with one another to see who can build the highest tower.

Most children will instinctively understand that placing larger rocks at the bottom of the tower allows them to build higher. But there are other strategies as well. For example, placing four or five large rocks at the base, then the same number of smaller rocks atop that, and so on, allows them to build an even taller tower. Another technique is to use flat, rectangular rocks, which give more stability than rounded rocks.

Materials: Rocks found along the trail

Ages: 3 and up

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