Today I would like to welcome Dionna, who has written a guest post on tips for hiking with toddlers. Dionna is a lawyer turned work at home mama of an amazing son. You can normally find Dionna over at Code Name: Mama where she shares information, resources, and her thoughts on natural parenting and life with a toddler. I had a guest post there last week. So when you’re done reading about Dionna’s ideas to make hiking fun for your little ones, come check out my post on helping your little ones learn about local wild plants.
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Kieran and Papa stop to examine a pond/waterfall during one of our first family hikes.
I used to love to hike. When my husband and I lived in New Mexico, we hiked all over the scrubby mountains near our home. I loved the exercise and the feeling of achievement when we finished a hike, but even more important to me was the chance to see wildlife and scenery far removed from my desk job, to feel a connection to the Earth, and to spend some quiet time with my best friend. Hiking is one of the things I have missed the most since we moved away from New Mexico.
I want to pass on a love of hiking and the outdoors to my 2.5 year old, Kieran. But in order to do that, I need to make sure our hiking adventures are fun for him. His interests and motivations are different from mine: whereas I wanted escape from a desk, he might be more interested in the freedom to play in the dirt. Following are five things I’ve tried to keep in mind when hiking with Kieran, so that he will look forward to our hikes as much as I do.
1. Slow Down, You Move Too Fast: you might enjoy hiking for the exercise aspects, but your little ones will be more apt to enjoy it if they are allowed to set the speed. Let them walk at a comfortable pace – they aren’t trying to burn calories. Encourage them to stop and examine the flora and fauna, the scenery should be at least half of the fun of getting outdoors together. Talk about the new sounds and smells, touch the bark on the trees and the dirt under your feet. Make all of their senses come alive.
2. Bring Food: Little ones’ bodies are wired for grazing – their energy levels (and their moods) will be better with frequent small snacks. Plus, snacking will give everyone a reason to stop and admire the scenery. Some of our favorite hiking snacks are apples and peanut butter, trail mix (of course), sandwiches, granola bars, and melon. And of course remember to bring lots of water, at least one big water bottle for each person.
3. Make it a Learning Experience, in a Fun Way: Read up a little bit about local wildlife and/or vegetation. Pick a common bird several days before your hike – listen to its call with your child, look at pictures, talk about where you might see it. Then keep an eye and an ear out for it while you’re hiking. Or find pictures of some common local vegetation. See if you can learn (with your child) what poison ivy looks like, and then look for it on your hike. If your little one finds something familiar on your hike, she is sure to get excited about her discovery.
While you are hiking, talk to your little one about being environmentally friendly. Remember the adage “take only pictures, leave only footprints.”
4. Combine Hiking with Another Favorite Activity: If you’re worried that your bookworm won’t like the trails, bring the books along! You know what your child likes to do, find a way to incorporate it into the first few hiking adventures. For book lovers, check out some new books on the great outdoors and read them at different points along the trail. For crafty kids, bring along some paper and crayons and have them do crayon rubbings. For sports enthusiasts, bring along a frisbee or ball and stop to play catch after lunch.
Other ideas to combine different activities with hiking: Let your child bring a camera to take pictures. Put a favorite doll in your child’s backpack for company. Bring musical instruments and have a sing along. Stop to draw pictures of your favorite flowers or trees. Digitally record bird calls to play back and identify later.
5. Keep it Simple and Be Safe: No child will have fun if the hike is too long or dangerous. Follow basic safety rules for your area. Don’t plan long hikes, unless you want to carry your child most of the way. Bring a first aid kit and wear sunblock and appropriate clothing and footwear. Watch the weather and hike early in the day to avoid excessive heat.
Please, look at your local parks guide for more detailed safety rules and to find out if there are local hazards you should be aware of, this list is in no way an exhaustive list of safety measures for hikers.
Have you hiked with your little ones? What makes hiking fun for your kids?
Great tips! My son isn’t quite up for hikes yet, but hopefully will be soon. He’d love blueberries as a trail snack best I think
Right now I let him pick dandelions and clovers when we’re out & about, but they’re considered pesky weed everywhere we’ve walked with him so far.
As a kid, my favorites would’ve been singing songs and doing crayon rubbings.
Maman A Droit´s last [type] ..Tuesday is Newsday
Yes, I agree with all of these! I have been having lovely, lovely hikes (we call them rambles) both with my local AP group and just me and my girls. I’ve actually started organizing some with my multiples club, though it takes work to convince the mamas and papas of twins (or more) that trail walking is actually WAY easier than playground tending with multiples. Trails are pretty much closed on two sides (unless you have kids ready to do some bush wacking) which makes containment of multiple toddlers MUCH easier. They love it. My girls are very physical and love the hills, climbing tree stumps, sitting or hanging from branches, picking up walking sticks or rocks, and more. My only issue is the load I have to carry with clothes & food for 4 of us – heh!
Kristin @ Intrepid Murmurings´s last [type] ..A Visit to Greenbridge
We live in the city so our hikes take place on the weekends and at parks. But during the week we take a long (several mile) walk each night which feels really great and is just as enjoyable but in different ways. We can always stop at Starbucks for water if we drink our bottles dry and the kiddo can ride in her stroller if she gets wore out.
Of course I would add make sure they have appropriate footgear- keen shoes are a pretty good choice but we’ve found shoes like Crocs really won’t hold up comfortably for walking. It’s not a big deal if you’re a grown up but our kid is prone to tripping/ stumbling/ stubbing toes if she’s not got good shoes on.
Of course by ‘add’ I meant ‘reiterate.’ lol
When we lived in Florida, we used to “hike” on the beach. The further we walked, the more treasures we discovered. It was such a great learning experience, and we could always stop and jump in the water whenever we needed a break.
I also love collecting natural elements (whether it’s seashells, plants, etc.) to take home and use for art projects. It’s amazing what kid’s create with that kind of stuff!
St. Louis Smart Mama´s last [type] ..Do Parents Really Hate Parenting
Maman a Droit – I *still* haven’t done crayon rubbings with Kieran, even though I keep meaning to!
Kristin – I agree, I think trails are much easier than playgrounds, and I’ve enjoyed the quietness of them
pshouseblog – we’ve only put Kieran in tennis shoes so far, but I’d love to get him something else to try.
St. Louis Smart Mama – I would love to live near a beach! We had so much fun when we visited FL last year, I’m looking forward to going back this year to visit my sisters
Dionna @ Code Name: Mama´s last [type] ..Hiking Fun
We SO *heart* hiking with all of our kids! Lava fields were a favorite in Iceland, as well as around hot springs. In Cali, our favorite area as a family was Las Trampas. The friend who started the walking group I joined started an offshoot outdoor playgroup for our kids. It was awesome! We did many nature hikes in the East Bay area…we went at their pace, had lots of healthy snacks, stopped frequently to look at creeks, flowers, trees, you name it, and Nicholas loved it. One of our favorite areas was the Redwood Forest in Oakland.
We started off hiking (as Nicholas was so young and didn’t walk yet) with him in the Ergo. Gradually, he walked (and then ran) more. During the summer (actually most of last fall, too), he only wore Keens. I was amazed he didn’t wear holes in the soles, but they were perfect and had tons of life left when he outgrew them. He has a new pair now and those are really his primary shoes…though we do like Crocs for the beach or pool and sneakers for special occasions (we’re kinda casual here…).
Jen – your experiences sound amazing! I hope you have lots of pictures
Dionna @ Code Name: Mama´s last [type] ..Hiking Fun
Hiking is a wonderful perk of living in New England. We pack our 10-month-old into a backpack carrier several times a week and head out onto a different trail. Yesterday, instead of just walking, we found a brook and let him play in shallow, sandy water for awhile. We’re looking forward to toddler hikes, thanks for the tips!
Lynne´s last [type] ..The most whole babyfood
We love hiking too! We try to balance out our toddler’s desire to explore with our desire to actually *walk* some distance along the path too… We take frequent stops for snacks and time to toddle around, but put her back into the ergo for the actual hike.
Another fun thing to do is identifying wild berries and other edibles. Just be sure to bring a berry book or field guide so you can be *absolutely* sure a berry is safe before snacking on it! We discovered huckleberries a couple of weeks ago on a local hike and I couldn’t believe I never knew what they were before then. My 3.5yo was delighted with the idea of berries growing wild in the forest.