Tips for Hiking with Kids

So, when considering my most successful, kid-friendly hikes I realized that they shared these four main points:

Choose an enticing, kid-friendly destination.
Sometimes it takes a bit to get the kids motivated for a hike and out the door. It is helpful to “accessorize” by allowing our younger boy for example to bring his daypack with a stuffed animal and a small water bottle. The pack usually comes home stuffed with bark, pussy willows, rocks and yesterday a great fossil of a leaf! Our older boy often brings his daypack and pocket knife. Once out the door and in the car we may hear groans, but when the car stops and the boys jump out at the trailhead nature calls and they are off and running.
The key is to keep them hooked and motivated and we often do this with a hike that leads to a great view or to water (be it running, still or frozen). The boys and most kids love water either to wade in, observe, swim in, throw rocks into, create dams and pools in, make snow balls, sled and find creatures. Kids also like eye candy; if you can pick a hike with big views and vistas they will love it. This puts them in the moment and the uphill loathing they may have been experiencing only moments before arriving is quickly replaced by euphoria.

Hike at a gentle kid-friendly pace.
A hike that may take adults a few hours, may take a family an entire day. This is often because kids are in the moment and have trouble focusing on a goal that isn’t right in front of them. As you are prodding them to keep going knowing that they will love getting up to that awesome waterfall with a swimming hole, let them get wrapped up into some distractions along the way such as exploring the “fairy house” in the roots of the cedar tree or the web of the spider alongside of the trail. Finding the “perfect” walking stick or sword is a great way to explore the surrounding woods. The steeper the trail the harder it is to propel them forward for sustained periods so if you are on a long climb find that balance between keeping them going and letting them get soaked up into their surroundings which brings to mind the next point.

Make a game of it and bring a friend.
As the challenge of the trail starts to build and the magic wears off, the kids are going to need some added inspiration. Naturally if I chose a trail on the demanding side I throw in piggy back or shoulder rides as needed. But you can turn your child’s loathing of marching uphill into a delightful experience for all by playing games. If you do this right you may get your kids to run uphill. One way to do this is to invite a motivated friend for your child. Another way is to play games. Some of our favorites include I Spy; I’m Thinking of an Animal (the others ask yes/no questions about an animal that lives in the ecosystem that we are hiking in and then guess the animal); or Nature Rainbow Search (each member of the family has to find something in nature for each color of the rainbow, blue feather, blueberries, blue sky etc). As the children get older we include basic orienteering and map reading into the hikes. We occasionally bring field guides for the trees and birds and binoculars.

Bring ample food and water.
We often have easy-to-snack-on trail food for a quick nibble on the hike such as trail mix, healthy energy bars, or dried fruit. We save a good lunch for our destination spot and keep a few treats for the low energy/ need-some-motivation spots such as fresh berries or small bits of chocolate like M&M’s. Often when the kids slow down on the trail and lose energy, they need water. Water breaks are opportunities to explore the immediate trail, look under a log or a rock, find some animal tracks, catch your breath and regroup. Another seasonal way to do this is to pick berries, raspberries, blackberries, salmonberries, huckleberries and blueberries. Food and hydration are key to a successful hike for all.

So go ahead, plan a hike for your family. Grab some good snacks, lunch and water. Bring a pal and have a blast! Happy trails.

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