9 Great After-the-Hike Activities for Kids

• Paper Doll Friends
• Pine Needles in Bottle
• Photo Trail
• Rockin' Colors
• Same Thing
• Save trail maps
• Share your day hike
• Totem Animal
• Trail Tree Guide

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

6 Great After the Hike Kid’s Activities

• Nature Cards
• Nature Collage
• Nature Frames
• Nature Friend
• Nature Names
• Nature Scrapbook
• BONUS: Quick precautions before hiking with kids

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

6 Great After the Hike Activities for Kids

• Go back
• Great books to get kids exciting about hiking
• High point, low point
• Log Book
• Look at your photos
• Make Like a Tree and Leaf Nature Art Activity
• BONUS: How to change reluctant little hikers' minds

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

5 Activities to Keep Kids Interested in Hiking

• Intro: How to keep kids excited about hiking
• Acorn Tops
• Award Badges
• Create nature club
• Fall Leaf Suncatchers
• Get involved
• BONUS: Fun nature games for your drive to trailhead

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

Five tips for post-hike apparel maintenance

Always take the time to maintain clothing after a hike.

After a hike – even a short one of a couple of hours – your clothing will be a little dirty and a bit beat up. Taking care of your apparel when you return home can increase its longevity, ensure you’re warm and dry on the next hike, and keep the clothes from smelling.

Once home, inspect the clothes for damage. Sometimes snags tears can happen without you even realizing it, such as when you brush up against a tree or shrub. You may then need to sew, patch or even replace some items.

Next, hang and air dry any wet jackets, snowpants, raingear, and boots. Don't dry them near a heater, as that can cause leather and other fabrics to turn brittle and crack. You can have a simple fan blowing on them, though, to help them dry faster.

Brush any dirt, mud, leaves and other debris off your clothing, especially the boots. Prolonged exposure to the moisture in the debris can damage apparel. In addition, eventually the debris will dry and falloff, creating a mess.

Wash and dry clothing, even if worn for only part of the trip. Follow instructions on the clothing tags so that you don't accidentally shrink or damage through overheating. Remember that synthetics often require different care than cotton when washing and drying.

Finally, replace any clothing articles – those lost on the trail, items that no longer fit, and those that are damaged beyond repair – so that you don’t go without on your next hike.

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

Keep kids excited hiking: Nature Friend

Meet your new "Nature Friend".

Once you’ve completed your first hike, pat yourself on the back. You’ve done a lot of work but have taken the first step into a larger world for both you and your children.

To keep kid’s enthusiasm charged, “review” the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can’t do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it. One post-hike activity you might consider is Nature Friend.

During the hike, have kids secretly collect something from the trail and place it in a paper bag so others can’t see it. Nothing should be broken off of the surroundings and nothing live should be collected. The item collected is the child’s “Nature Friend.”

Once home, each child makes a “home” for their Nature Friend. They then can give a presentation about their friend, perhaps including a story about how it came to land on or near the trail and what it misses about the wilds where it was collected.

For example, if an oak leaf were collected, the child might build a home of twigs so that their Nature Friend can feel close to the tree she fell from. The Nature Friend might miss talking to the gray squirrel that collected acorns.

Materials: Paper bag, items to make a “home”

Ages: 4-10

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

Keep kids excited about hiking: Leaf Crowns

Maple leafs are perfect for making leaf crowns.
Photo courtesy of kevinrosseel / Photoree.

Once you’ve completed your first hike, pat yourself on the back. You’ve done a lot of work but have taken the first step into a larger world for both you and your children.

To keep kid’s enthusiasm charged, “review” the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can’t do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it. One post-hike game/activity you might consider is Leaf Crowns.

Have kids collect leaves during the hike, storing them in a bag. Once home, cut a white strip of paper about 3 inches high and 25 inches long (though you may need to adjust this for child’s head size) for each child. Depending on age, child can measure and cut the paper strips themselves. Next, for each strip, glue or tape the ends to form a loop or crown. Next, have children decorate their crown by gluing their collected leaves to them.

Materials: Paper, glue or tape, leaves collected on hike, bag for collected leaves

Ages: 3 to 8

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

After hike activity: Look at your photos

Make sure you’ve taken photos of each kid and of the best sights you saw.

For toddlers, looking at the photos may be all that you do. With older kids, you might play “Where were we?” and see if the kids can guess at what point of the trail you were on using a map. The photos can be made into posters for your family or living rooms, or you can make them into cards sent during the winter holidays.

Such activities make a memorable end to a day hike. To keep kid’s enthusiasm charged, “review” the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can’t do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it.

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

How to get kids excited about hiking

Looking over photos from a hike is a great way to keep kids
interested in day hiking. Photo courtesy of gracey / Photoree.

Once you’ve completed your first hike, pat yourself on the back. You’ve done a lot of work but have taken the first step into a larger world for both you and your children.

To keep kid’s enthusiasm charged, “review” the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can’t do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it. One post-hike game/activity you might consider is Review the map, pointing out the trail you took and where various fun things occurred or interesting sights were seen: “Here’s where we forded the stream”; “Here’s where we saw the eagles”; “Here’s where we skimmed rocks into the pond.”

Such activities make a memorable end to a day hike. To keep kid’s enthusiasm charged, “review” the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can’t do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it.

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

What to do after a day hike with kids

Keep up kid's enthusiasm for hiking by celebrating and reviewing the
adventure afterward. Photo courtesy of Trevor Manternach / Photoree.

“Let children walk with Nature, let them see the beautiful blendings and communions of death and life, their joyous inseparable unity, as taught in woods and meadows, plains and mountains and streams of our blessed star, and they will learn that death is stingless indeed, and as beautiful as life.” – John Muir

Once you’ve completed your first hike, pat yourself on the back. You’ve done a lot of work but have taken the first step into a larger world for both you and your children.

Before getting home, you may want to celebrate. Perhaps boost everyone’s energy with a stop at a restaurant or somewhere else special back in civilization. As Monica S., of Manchester, N.H., writes: “After being hauled around all day in a baby carrier, my infant and toddler always enjoyed a stop at a playground near the trailhead, especially when it was in a village or park that we’d never been to before.”

Such activities make a memorable end to a day hike. To keep kid’s enthusiasm charged, “review” the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can’t do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it.

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

Great after the hike activity: Award Badges

Give kids who help one another on a hike award badges.
Photo courtesy of wsilver 2 / Photoree.

Once you’ve completed your first hike, pat yourself on the back. You’ve done a lot of work but have taken the first step into a larger world for both you and your children.

To keep kid’s enthusiasm charged, “review” the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can’t do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it.

One such after the hike activity is Award Badges. Young children will love receiving a badge or ribbon for their efforts. Award them, though, not for completing the hike but for positive behaviors they displayed on the trail. For example, maybe one child for the first time successfully read the topo map or compass to ensure the expedition didn’t get lost. Or maybe one of the children came to the aid of another who was having difficulty during the hike. Award badges can be made out of paper or cardboard; ribbons also can be purchased.

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

Bring extra kids clothes for after the hike

Dry clothes kept in the vehicle will ensure these kids don't go home
wearing wet garb.

Even if the weather is warm, bring a complete change of clothes, including footwear, for each child, just in case.

The clothes don’t have to be those that the kids would wear in the wilds. If all goes well on the hike, you won’t need to change clothes, but it’s best to be prepared. You never know when they'll step in mud puddles, rip a shirt on a branch, or go sliding through the dirt.

Related articles:
g Wear proper headgear when hiking with children
g Selecting rain gear for hiking children

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.

After hike activity with kids: Save trail maps

Once you’ve completed your first hike, pat yourself on the back. You’ve done a lot of work but have taken the first step into a larger world for both you and your children.

To keep kid’s enthusiasm charged, “review” the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can’t do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it. One post-hike activity you might consider is save the trail maps.

Write on the map the day you hiked the trail and store them away in a notebook or file folder. Years from now, your kids may wish to make the same hike again … perhaps with their own children.

More great after the hike activities:
g Go back

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.

After the hike activity with kids: Go back

Revisit trails that kids love in a different season.

Revisit trails your kids really enjoyed, especially if they ask to go back there. The place is special to them and certain to become a fond memory of childhood. For many adults, revisiting a trial may seem dull, especially given that there are tens of thousands of other ones yet to explore, so to break the monotony, visit the trail in a different season. Such activities make a memorable end to a day hike. To keep kid's enthusiasm charged, "review" the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can't do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it.

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

After the hike activity: Get involved

Children and parents can volunteer to help maintain their favorite hiking
trails, such as picking up litter.

If your children really enjoy hiking, they might like to attend local slide shows, lectures or orienteering courses, usually offered by sporting goods outlets, libraries and bookstores.

They also might like to meet other kids who also are into it by joining hiking or scouting clubs in your community. Many such clubs organize group hikes. Most also volunteer their time to improving trails in the parks and wilderness areas where they hike or give back in other ways, such as picking up trash along trails, clearing growth from them, or raising money for facilities and amenities like nature centers.

Such activities make a memorable end to a day hike. To keep kid's enthusiasm charged, "review" the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can't do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it.

Read more about day hiking with children in my guidebook Hikes with Tykes.

After the hike activity: Share your day hike

Have children post pics
from your day hike to
an online photo album
or blog.

Have teenagers post pictures on an online photo album or maybe create a blog about your hike. Just as you researched your hike by going online and seeing what others had to say about their adventure, so others also can learn from your treks.

Such activities make a memorable end to a day hike. To keep kid's enthusiasm charged, "review" the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can't do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it.

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

After the hike activity: High point, low point

Once you’ve completed your first hike, pat yourself on the back. You’ve done a lot of work but have taken the first step into a larger world for both you and your children.

To keep kid’s enthusiasm charged, “review” the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can’t do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it. One post-hike game/activity you might consider is High Point, Low Point.

Ask your kids what were the highlights and the boring parts or disappointments during the hike. You may be surprised by what they say. It’ll also help you make the next hike even better.

Such activities make a memorable end to a day hike. To keep kid’s enthusiasm charged, “review” the hike in kid-friendly ways. While you really can’t do this with infants, most toddlers and older kids will enjoy it.

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