Hiking with Kids

The most important thing to realize if you want to take your children hiking is… NEVER take your children “hiking.” In a child’s optimistic worldview, the word “hiking” has already developed a depressing, negative connotation. Kids WILL explore, collect, scavenge, investigate, transform, etc. but very few will hike. Not just kids, either… after all, would you rather hike to that peak or transform yourself to the top of the world? Would you rather hike to a waterfall or explore somewhere that no one ever has? Now, I’ll be the first to admit that Front Range children are a different breed than the rest of the world (and I’m reminded nearly every time I climb with Avid 4 boys and girls, check out Avid4 Adventure's Climbing Weekend or Climbing Intensive), but I have hiked with hundreds of children over the last decade with Avid4 Adventure, including many of yours, and I have realized quite a few things: summiting 14ers is not a goal of most school-age children, above tree-line is boring, and heavy packs do more too upset kids than a strict substitute teacher (one of my many roles). So, “hiking” with children should be the ultimate in creating a positive relationship with the outdoors, and it won’t be long before your children are asking you to accompany them on a walk in the woods.
Ten Games to Play on a Secret Mission Into the Wild (language is vital):

1. Find a river, stream, brook, crick, or puddle, and encourage your kids to construct a boat of things from nature. Of course, be mindful of Leave No Trace and choose only things already on the ground.
2. In the spirit of our childhood… lie on your backs, look into the sky, and see what shapes, animals, and scenes you can devise in the clouds.
3. Scurry ahead of your children every few minutes and place silly objects in tough-to-find places… excellent for improving kids’ nature awareness.
4. Bring along paper and some crayons, and have your children make maps of the areas that they are exploring.
5. Invest in a compass and topo map of the area (sorry GPS fans)… it’s amazing the joy children take in shooting bearings and orienting themselves to a map.
6. Devise a scavenger hunt with your child before hitting the trail and see how many things your kids can discover.
7. Have your children pick their favorite animal (or make up a creature) and have them create its habitat out of natural elements.
8. Use a stick to create tracks in the dirt of all of the animals that live in the area that you’re investigating. Pull out a real tracking card to see how close you came to the real prints.
9. Hold a piece of paper up to various tree barks and color over the paper with a brown crayon… it’s amazing that all trees have different prints, just like all people have different fingerprints. If you have access to a stethoscope, listen to the beats of different trees.
10. Since we all have our 1st aid kits handy, stage a few first aid scenarios where your children are the rescue personnel and need to administer and learn basic wilderness medicine.

Most important, when your child is ready to be done… be done! Encouragement is great and setting goals are important, but nothing will make a kid more resistant to wilderness than a parent who does not realize when to turn around. Have a nice exploration!

Kyle Littman is a Camp Director for Avid4 Adventure and currently resides in Boulder, CO. Hiking with kids remains his passion because he truly believes that it is the ultimate way for children to develop a positive relationship with the outdoors. For questions, comments, or more ideas, please email his at kyle@avid4.com.