Fun activity for hiking kids: Alternate Uses

Rocks could be piled as trail markers.

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 Alternate Uses.

While children wlk the trail, have them each pick up a different object found on the trail – a stick, a leaf, a pine cone. Next, have them come up with a way to use the object. For example, a stick could be used as a shovel to dig dirt or as a pencil to write messages in the sand while leaves could be used as pillow stuffing.

Materials: None needed

Ages: 6 and up

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