Game for hiking kids: Find Your Way Back

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 Find Your Way Back.

During a rest stop, blindfold the child with a bandana or handkerchief. Using a zigzagging, indirect route, lead the child to a tree. Have the child touch the tree for a minute. Then lead the child away. Take the blindfold off and have the child find the tree to which they were led. Works best with older elementary school children.

Materials: Bandana or handkerchief for blindfold

Ages: 10 and up

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

Consider carrying bandana on hike with kids

Photo by Montauk Beach /  Photoree

When hiking with children, give serious consideration to bringing along a bandana.

A bandana can be very useful in a number of ways: sweatband when wrapped around head; earmuffs; bandage; sunshade over neck when wrapped over top of head; washcloth; towel; sling; pad for lifting hot pots. It even can be doused in cold water and worn on the head to keep cool.

Related articles:
g Consider bringing binoculars on day hike with children
g Select right sunglasses for hiking children
g Pack waterproof bags on day hike with children
g Carry safety whistle when hiking with children

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

Avoid, treat mosquito bites when on the trail

Photo courtesy of
Wisconsin DNR.

The burning bites of mosquitoes are more of a nuisance than anything, but they can carry deadly diseases, such as West Nile virus.

To avoid mosquito bites, stay away from water at dusk and early evening when the bugs tend to come out. You also can wear hats with flaps and tie a loose bandana around the neck to keep the pesky little critters away. Don’t hike in areas heavily infested with mosquitoes, such as near old tire dumps that can hold sitting water and thus are the bug’s breeding grounds. Finally, if you see a swarm of mosquitoes, expect there to be more swarms and move away.

Treat a mosquito bite as you would a typical bug bite: wash with soap and water, apply an anti-itch cream, hydrocortisone or Neosporin with Lydocain, and don’t itch.

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