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.