Hiking Games for Kids

[Bradsalex]

Hello Everyone,

I am starting to get my family more involved in hiking this year. My kids are 5 and 2 and I want them to enjoy the outdoors like I always have growing up. I'm sure everyone will agree with me that these generation of kids are different then the older generations.

Does anyone take their younger kids hiking with them? If so, are there any games that you play to keep the kids occupied and their mind's off of the walking?

Thanks

[Bradsalex]

Well I did a little research of my own and found that WTA (Washington Trails Association) has a good list of activities to do with kids while hiking. The information can be found HERE

I hope this helps other people with kids that they want to get involved in the Great Outdoors.

[jason]

I took mine last year. I have a few pictures of her in the backpack carrier. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with her this year. She will be two, and most likely too heavy to carry. I might just take her on short trips. Luckily so far she loves being outside, so I'm sure it will be easy to get her to go.

Also, thanks for the link. I will have to check it out.

[Bradsalex]

Hey Jason,

I just did a hike yesterday with my 2 1/2 year old in a pack. He's somewhere around 25-30 pounds, plus all of the clothes, water, and equipment in the pack I would guess around 40 pounds. We only did about 5 miles since my 5 year old was with us too, but it wasn't too bad. Once we got to the half-way point I was happy to get the pack off, but when we started back up again my shoulders didn't hurt much more. I would encourage you to take her out there, you may be in pain but she should have fun.

[jason]

Originally Posted by Bradsalex

Hey Jason,

I just did a hike yesterday with my 2 1/2 year old in a pack. He's somewhere around 25-30 pounds, plus all of the clothes, water, and equipment in the pack I would guess around 40 pounds. We only did about 5 miles since my 5 year old was with us too, but it wasn't too bad. Once we got to the half-way point I was happy to get the pack off, but when we started back up again my shoulders didn't hurt much more. I would encourage you to take her out there, you may be in pain but she should have fun.

Thanks. I know she is big for her age, she is already 30 pounds and stands taller then kids almost a year older then her. So that worries me a bit when spring gets around. I need to find the paperwork and see what the limit was. I could always use the exercise, I know she loved it last year. Fell asleep a few times she was so comfortable.

Worst case, she still fits in the bike carriage I have and we go for bike rides on the weekends too, and we walk around the block at night during the week.

[Bradsalex]

That sounds good. I edited my last post to put the pictures on there from our carrier pack. I don't know which one you have but I like the one I use.

[jason]

You can see my album here. Outdoor Basecamp Forums - jason's Albums

But the backpack pictures are as follows:







I thought there was more, but I do not see them. Could be because the wife had the camera and she tends to take strange pictures.

[Pebbles]

Originally Posted by Bradsalex

Well I did a little research of my own and found that WTA (Washington Trails Association) has a good list of activities to do with kids while hiking. The information can be found HERE

I hope this helps other people with kids that they want to get involved in the Great Outdoors.

Thanks for the list, there were some neat ideas. We have done versions of a scavenger hunt, but I like the general descriptive words it suggested. We also take along a bag just for neat things we may find along the way. This past holiday, we got each of our boys a pair of binoculars for them to experiment with and maybe try to do a little bird watching this summer.