Games for Kids while Hiking

Making sure you're armed with games for kids while hiking can be key to ensuring your hike ends up as quality time rather than a trying time. The idea of having a family hike with your children sounds wonderful – time to enjoy the great outdoors, watching out for birds and wildlife, enjoying the scenery, and spending some quality time together. The problem is that kids get bored very quickly, so a simple hike along a trail may not be enough to keep their minds occupied and your fun family hike soon turns into a disaster. To stop this from happening, make sure you're armed with an assortment of games for kids while hiking!

When you're hiking, especially hiking with kids, you don't want to have to carry more than is necessary, as extra items can drag you down and slow you down. So the last thing you want to do is bring a variety of games and toys for your kids to play with when they start to get bored. The great thing about hiking is that there's always something to see and discover so, with a little imagination, you can play some great kids hiking games using nothing more than the world around you!

What games for kids while hiking you play will really depend on the age of your children, so obviously make your games age appropriate. Here are some suggestions for a couple of games which suit many different ages of children.

I Spy... something with 12 legs

I Spy is an old favorite which can be played just about everywhere. Take it in turns to pick out different things that you see around you. Once the 'thing' has been guessed, make the game slightly more interesting by asking questions about it, or perhaps you could tell your kids an interesting fact that they're unlikely to know.

A Hunt... but not with guns!

On a similar note, but a little more interactive and hence suitable for older children too, is a scavenger hunt. Give your children the name of a natural object they must find, like an acorn, or a pine cone, or a certain type of leaf. This kids hiking game has several benefits… It keeps them occupied AND it helps them to learn about the things around them. Make sure your kids know that they must only pick up things which have fallen to the floor and are no longer attached to a branch and then, once they've shown you the item, they must put it back where they found it.

Use a Guide

If you're not 100% familiar with all the species of plants, trees, wildlife and birds around you, buy yourself a couple of field guide books before going hiking. A very simple game for kids while hiking is to see who can spot and identify a plant you've never seen before, or identify a bird flying overhead, or figure it out by its song or call. A good field guide will give you all sorts of information on what to look for when identifying flora and fauna. Many children love looking out for animal prints, so make this one of their tasks and, if you have an animal tracks field guide, you'll be able to figure out exactly what the animal is!