How to make an adventure out of a hike with children

Eva Wieners

3 years ago

Just imagine this situation. It’s the weekend and you plan outdoor time with your kids. What do you think will get their attention?

“Let’s go on a family hike!”

“Let’s go on an adventure?”

If your kids are not completely different to all the kids I have ever met, the suggestion of a hike will just make them moan, but an adventure? That sounds interesting. It sparks their natural curiousness and motivation. It is much easier to get children moving and out of the door with an adventure looming on the horizon.

So how do we turn a hike with children into an adventure? It actually does not have to be super laborious! There are some things that you can introduce into your hikes that will make your kids want to go without complaining.

In this article I want to share our tips on how to manage to make a hiking with children more interesting and make them forget that they are moving their feet by creating a family adventure.

Include elements of a scavenger hunt on a hike with children

A scavenger hunt is a great motivation for children to go on a hike. They have to solve riddles, find clues, play games and get a price in the end. There are very sophisticated scavenger hunts available, but you can also keep it simple. We love to take our Nature Bingo Cards on a hike with children where they have to find things and actually pay much more attention to their surroundings.

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Another thing we love is a color walk – an easy element of a scavenger hunt. Cut pieces of colored paper and hand them out. During the hike, the task is to find stuff in the same color and to clamp it to the pieces of paper. At the end of the hike, you get to show and tell.

You can also go geocaching or letterboxing – basically anything that addresses the kids natural “hunting instinct” is a great way to make an adventure out of a hike and to motivate them to keep moving.

Make them figure out the way

Sometimes I tell my daughter that she is responsible for finding the way on our hikes, and she loves it. She gets a map and at every bend in the path she tries to figure out exactly where we are. It is even better if there are markings that she can find so we don’t lose the path. Every time she can find them before me, she is super proud.

Of course, this works much better if you are walking on a path that is not super obvious and straight forward. Which brings us to the next tip.

Chose adventurous paths on a hike with children

When kids hear the word hiking, they often think of long, straight, boring paths. But it does not have to be that way. There are so many adventurous and amazing hiking trails that almost feel like you are a path finder. You can choose small paths that are not overused. You can choose a way that has different markings, so you have to be super alert to find the right turn. Or you can even plan your next family adventure on a hike with climbing parts. Your kids will love it.

Pro-Tip – anything gets better if you add water. My daughter’s favorite hike is the one through a canyon, following a stream. We were all wet at the end, but this hike with children truly was an adventure!

Find a great story

Great stories can make an adventure out of a hike with children. Kids have a blooming imagination, and if you manage to tap into this, they will just walk by themselves. Whenever we hike to a castle or ruins, I research the place beforehand and try to find out any historic background that I can. Even better if there are legends or scary stories about the place – my daughter just gobbles them up and then can´t wait to get to the castle to check it out for herself. Knowing some background about the places you explore when on a hike with children really helps to keep it interesting and make it an adventure.

You can even take it to the next level and do some preparation. I will never forget the hike to an old castle in France that I was taken on when I was around 10 years old. We were with a group of adults and one of them had gone ahead and had placed a plastic skull behind iron bars in the basement of that castle. This was all that the kids talked about for the next week, and we all wanted to go back to the place to check it out again. This simple thing added such a layer of mystery to our hike and made it a true adventure that none of us ever forgot.

Give your kids the freedom to explore and make their own adventure

Often, kids create their own adventures as long as we let them. Climbing rocks, making up stories and swimming or just splashing around in water are the things that will stick with them. If we let them explore by themselves, they will have the most fun and also learn many important things like responsible risk management, cooperation and coordination.

When choosing a hike, I always try to keep in mind that we go to places where the kids can explore by themselves. Of course, making time for this is also crucial. If you can, go with the tide and make sure your kids get enough space to explore and adventure alone.

How do you make an adventure out of hikes with your kids? Please share your best tips in the comments!