As the weather changes and lends itself to more outdoor activities, hiking is an awesome family friendly activity! Pandemic parenting continues to evolve and finding engaging and budget conscious activities with young kids can be a challenge at times. However, it’s not impossible. Hiking is a lot more fun than many people realize, especially with little ones. There are great ways to prepare as well! I’m not sure if you’re an expert hiker or just starting out, but here are 3 quick and helpful tips for hiking with young children!
Sure you maybe thinking that you’re not the ‘outdoorsy’ type of family, but speaking from experience the opportunity to unplug altogether changes how you interact and see quality time spent. So if you’re up for the challenge, look up some local hiking trails and make it an adventure!
3 Quick tips!
Be sure when hiking with young children that you remember to plan for opportunities to explore! So before you go off over packing and hit the trails here are the best ways to be prepared:
- Bring snacks for before & after! Yes, you want to bring snacks. No you don’t need to take them along with you, but allowing snack time in the car on your way and back is great! It allows for any little hungry tummies to be full enough for the hike and can curb their appetites after expending all of that energy!
- Scavenger Hunt! Simple and fun scavenger hunts or even “EyeSpy” games are a great way to pass the time on your hike. I always love a great leaf collection or random rocks tend to be my kids favorite. Either way, it helps to keep little minds going as you check out the sights and sounds around you.
- Plan Your Route! Though my kids have energy for days, hikes wear them out! With that said, I know we usually can get a solid hour on a trail. With an 8, 5, 2, and 6mo old we’ve learned our maximum stride. So we bring both our carriers for the two littlest ones and try to work trails that don’t overdo it. Remember the trail goes there and back!
Special moments with your young children are important
Hiking is probably one of the most enjoyable and unexpected activity we do as a family. I’ve never been an outdoors, hiking, or nature type of gal… however Mike actually really enjoy it. Since having the boys, it’s become a part of helping us stay active and have fun! The more trails we conquer the more I truly love hiking with my young children. We have lots of adventures, but the simple ones hold a special place in my heart fore sure.
Finding new places to hike has helped us get out more and meet other people who enjoy doing the same. Also I’ve loved the views on our trails as well as incorporating historical facts for the kids.
More importantly it allows for new unique memories that you won’t have anywhere else.
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