Hiking with children

4 TIPS TO KEEP THEM MOTIVATED

1. Create your own highlights

Children get easily bored on trails that lead through monotonous landscape, with nothing new to discover along the way. Choose a route that has surprises in store for children, for instance a waterfall or wildlife.

2. Play games while walking

A treasure hunt or scavenger hunt is not just great fun, but also ensures that children walk through the landscape with their eyes wide open.

We have compiled a few ideas for you:

Spot a cloud that is shaped like an animal
Treasure hunt (one parent walks ahead, dropping little treasures along the way)
Find a four-leaf clover
Identify animal tracks
Find rhymes (“What rhymes with...?”)
"I packed my suitcase” memory game
Colour-spotting (“I spy with my little eye...”)

3. Let the kids guide you

Put the children in charge of the route. Depending on the age of the child, they can practise mapreading or learn to use a compass.

4. Sharpen the senses!

Seeing: Find a good hiking stick, look through the binoculars
Hearing: Close your eyes. What can you hear?
Touching: If possible, walk barefoot over moss, wood and grass
Smelling: Smell flowers, pinecones, fresh earth...