Saturday, September 24, 2016

Reason No. 52 to hike: Learn to cooperate

Hiking in groups can help children learn to cooperate.

That's because outdoor play activities often don't involve competition but instead efforts in which children work together to obtain a goal, according to research. Creating obstacle courses over and around trees and rocks, as well as nature-oriented activities such as scavenger hunts, require working together and sometimes even compromise to achieve the objective.

Being in nature alone serves to de-stress children and adults like, making learning how to cooperate easier for children.

In addition, the diverse and interesting play spaces that a hiking trail offers contrasts with the monotone and featureless asphalt playgrounds of many urban areas. The latter leads to boredom, a condition that often results in aggressive behavior such as bullying, researchers say.

Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.