Hiking activities, games are age dependent

The types of games and activities you select for a day hike with kids – or if you select any at all – depend largely upon the child’s age. That’s because as children grow, their interactions with you and with nature change.

Infants in baby carriers largely are passive passengers. While you must be aware of and tend to their needs as you would any infant, no special games or activities really are necessary for the trail. They’ll be happy to see the sights around them, play with the back of your sun hat, and sleep in the gentle breeze created by your steady pace.

For my son, that passivity changed sometime during his first year when he began to string words together into sentences and started talking with me. His passivity totally ended when he came down from the carrier sometime during his third year. Toddlers in the carrier generally are easy to amuse with songs and simply pointing out the names of various trees, birds and other objects in nature. To them, the outdoors is still all brand new. Once toddlers begin walking on their own and through their preschool years, however, they’ll flit from point to point, touching and examining everything around them. Engagement with them becomes increasingly important so that they behave and do not become bored. This is an excellent opportunity for adults to employ games and activities that build their skills and love for nature while strengthening the parent-child bond.

Most elementary school kids generally are able to amuse themselves, especially if a friend comes along on the hike, but you shouldn’t pass on this chance to continue developing their cognitive, observational and creative skills. The games now can become more sophisticated, and they’ll likely want to play a variety of them (unlike the preschooler who usually likes to do the same game over and over). Interacting with your child remains as important as ever so you can lay a good foundation to ensure communication is possible during coming teen years.

Teenagers generally will become more interested in the destination rather than the journey, taking a more adult view of hiking. They still will enjoy games and activities but are likely to be more selective about which they play. Most will prefer activities that revolve around their interests, such as drawing or journaling. A good way to keep teens involved in the hike and interacting with you is to give them leadership roles and responsibilities: Allow them to select the trail, to help plan the trip, to navigate during the hike, to locate rest spots. You’re now developing their hiking skills, teaching them the fundamentals of the sport so that once they become adults, they will be excellent hikers … who in turn take their own children down long trails into the wilds.

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

Engage kids in games, activities on the trail

There are quite a number of good reasons to engage kids in games and activities when hiking.

First and foremost is the bonding experience it provides. For some children, especially those who already enjoy a strong relationship with their parent, simply being with mom or dad on a hike may be enough. But often it isn’t; instead, child and parent (or grandparent or guardian) must interact. They forge an unbreakable bond with one another when they share experiences. Games and activities on a hike can be those experiences that children fondly remember years from now – or they may be the ice breaker that provides the child with enough comfort to broach difficult subjects with their elder.

Many games and activities played on the hiking trail can increase a child’s knowledge and understanding of the natural world. From making bark rubbings to identifying animal tracks, from becoming more observant in a scavenger hunt to being the assistant map reader, games and activities geared toward nature and the environment can establish a life-long love for Mother Nature and her wonders. The great outdoors is a whole new, even alien, world for children to discover. Certain games and activities on a hike can prod them toward exploring it.

On a broader scope, many hiking games and activities can develop a child’s general cognitive, physical and creative skills. Solving word puzzles and geocaching, walking like an animal and rock climbing, drawing and journaling, all can develop a child’s abilities and talents in fun ways and in an unique environment. Many children won’t even realize they’re learning.

Ultimately, games and activities can keep kids from getting bored. Some children just won’t appreciate the beauty of the trail (at least not at first) or will argue that the walk is too long (usually they realize this just as you’re about to reach the destination). A competition or singing of songs will take their mind off their boredom or tired legs. This can help maintain an adult’s sanity, as he then doesn’t have to put up with parent-nag (You know, when kids says, “I’m hungry”, “Or we almost there?”, “I have to go to the bathroom.”). In the long run, games and activities on the trail not only can make the hike more enjoyable but can even cause children to want to go on more hikes.

On this blog and in Hikes with Tykes you’ll find a number of games and activities geared for hiking children. To find them at this blog, simply type “activities” into the search engine at the upper left. Find a couple that you think your children will enjoy and give them a try!

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

How to change reluctant little hikers' minds

"But I don't want to hike anymore."

Is your child reluctant to hike? Don’t worry, you can get them excited about the hike.

First, there are a couple of different kinds of reluctant kids you might run into. There is the one who doesn’t want to go hiking at all, and then there is the one who doesn’t want to explore when on the trail. Each needs to be addressed a little differently.

Doesn’t want to hike at all
You’ll need to find some ways to get kids enthusiastic about the hike. Consider allowing them to bring a friend along or go hiking with another family that has children (especially of similar age). You also can involve them in the trip planning, selecting snacks, packing, and navigating with map and compass. Then they feel as if you are giving them attention, and they will associate hiking with your respect and love for them.

Do something special at the destination, so the child has something to look forward to. In fact, this is a great idea even if your child is excited about the hike, as doing something special upon reaching your goal is a great way of bonding. Some hikers carry a small camp stove and whip up cups of hot chocolate for everyone in the party. My son and I always share a package of freeze-dried ice cream while gazing out at the view from the mountain top or rock formation we’ve reached.

Doesn’t want to explore on a hike
Let such children focus on what they want to do: scampering over boulders, swimming in a pond, pretending to fight off dragons in the woods. You also might engage them in some activities, particularly ones they like.

Penny J., of Ogden, Utah, offers this unique suggestion: “If a kid who is too heavy to carry doesn’t want to walk anymore but isn’t tired, bribe him by offering him one M&M for every 20 steps he takes. Twenty steps is doable for any kid, especially if there is a reward at the end of it. Be careful, though – you don’t want every hike to be an M&M for every 20 steps beginning at the trailhead.”

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

Free booklet promotes child-parent bond

The Children & Nature Network has just released a new booklet about developing parent-child interactions that promote and sustain good attachment via nature-based experiences. "Together in Nature: Pathways to a Stronger, Closer Family" is a free and downloadable from the C&NN website. Says C&NN chair and co-founder Dr. Martha Farrell Erickson, a developmental psychologist, “By following a prescription for more nature experience together, families will discover a win/win situation in which both children and adults benefit as individuals, even as they are strengthening those important family bonds that all children (and adults) need.” This philosophy is at the heart of the "Hikes with Tykes" book series: That the primary reason to hike with children is to reinforce, develop and strengthen the child-parent bond. Let me add here that I sometimes blog for C&NN.

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

Reason No. 1 to hike with kids: Bonding

This is the main reason to take your kids hiking: to spend quality time with your children.

The trail marks a place where you can grow closer together, where unhindered by the distractions of mobile phone texts, emails and the next television program we can talk with one another, where you can revel together in discovery.

Hiking with young children can lead to a family tradition, experiences that later in life both parent and full-grown child will reminisce fondly about.

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