Raising Trailblazers: Secrets to Getting Kids Excited About Family Walks and Hikes
How to Inspire a Love of Nature and Adventure in Kids of All Ages
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I recently wrote about how to fit more steps into your every day. This is a topic that is particularly important to me during the winter months, when it would be easy to park it on the couch, hibernate and vow to start again when spring finally emerges. But if I’ve learned anything after years and years of putting miles in, it’s that even if a walk doesn’t sound appealing from the get go, it ALWAYS feels great during and after. So, I’ve tried to make it a non-negotiable for myself and for the past 10 years, that’s meant including my children in the habit fairly regularly.
This has a few benefits for them AND me:
I never have an excuse to skip. Even if the kids are home from school for President’s Day or Bishop’s Day or a Teacher Workday … they know that every morning, we take the dog for a walk and that’s that.
It’s not just adults whose moods benefit from walking outside. You might recall that I implemented outside time during the holiday season long ago because I’ve found that it leads to 57.6% fewer meltdowns (fact check me!). There’s science here: research demonstrates that spending even five minutes walking in a nature setting can enhance mood, raise self-esteem, and promote relaxation. (source: nps.gov)
Walking, but hiking in particular, enables children to observe surroundings, which leads to asking questions and working on problem-solving skills. (source: tracks-and-trails.com)
I hope this cements a habit in them that they will carry on throughout their lives. Walking provides so many benefits to folks at any age and is something that can/should be done through one’s entire lifespan.
From a young age, walking and hiking can seriously help kids with the development of their motor skills: negotiating with uneven terrains and handling natural obstacles during hikes help to develop balance, and coordination. (source: sirenitytoday.com)
So, how do you get there? My kids are 10 and seven. Let me give you a bit of the behind the scenes up to this point.
Babies:
In some ways, this was the easiest phase to bring kids on the walk, though I certainly didn’t appreciate it as such at the time. Both of my kids are winter babies (December and February), so I really had to force myself to get up and at them outside to walk in the early months. In the very earliest months, a stroller is your best friend for this. For both of mine, I would plan one of their mini naps around the time that I wanted to take a walk. I’d cover the top, throw in a portable, battery-operated sound machine and let the soothing bumps on the road rock those babies to sleep while I chugged along. Did this work perfectly every day? Of course not. Were there walks where I had a grumpy, wailing baby in the stroller? Yep! I’m definitely not here to tell you that it’s easy, but sometimes, you just have to power through.
When the babies get a little older and aren’t sleeping in the car seat on top of the stroller, but actually sitting up IN the stroller, I would bring along a book, toy (or 13) to attempt to keep them occupied while I walked. This was one of the hardest phases to walk, if I’m being honest, but I have to believe that the routine of it all eventually made a difference because babies and toddlers love predictability. If you go for a walk EVERY day, eventually they will just resign to it, right? IF NOT. Maybe get a treadmill and walk while they nap. Desperate times call for whatever measures it takes to take care of you.
Toddlers (ages 2-3):
When they get a little older than THAT, this guy was a total saving grace for us.
(Buy on Amazon for $79.99 - it will get used ALL the time)
There’s shade in case it’s hot. There’s a tray and cupholder for snacks/beverages. You can lock the pedals in case an adult is pushing, and when they get a little bit older, they can pedal along! We bought one and used it for both kids. I’ve never recommended anything more strongly to new parents. They can feel like they are in control more than when they are in a stroller and more importantly, they can see what’s going on around them, which is SO important for a pleasant walk. You can talk to them about the construction going on down the street or what the squirrels in your neighbor’s yard might be saying to one another. They will want to stay out and continue walking, which is GREAT news for you and your daily step goal.
Bonus add ons: get a portable bluetooth speaker to hang on the push handle and play stories from your phone while you walk. My kids used to ADORE the Disney Storyteller collection on Spotify. You can also download audiobooks from the library on Libby or Hoopla for older kids.
Another amazing walking tool for toddlers and into “little kid” territory is just a plain ‘ole wagon.
(Buy on Amazon for $54.99)
This solution is perfect if you have TWO little guys to bring on the walk. Stock it with books, snacks, toys and that portable speaker … you’ll be cruising for miles.
For hiking and longer walks, I carried both my kids on my back. My favorite tool for this was the Ergobaby because you could start out with it in the front using an infant insert (my kids took plenty of naps with me on walks in this thing too!), and then when they get older, flip them to your back (which was much easier on my lower back muscles!) for hiking and walking. Fair warning: there is a small portion of time when this solution will be your worst enemy if your kid isn’t excited about walking on his or her own. They will KNOW that you have the option to carry them and BEG you to do it, but you insist they try on their own. This can lead to a few meltdowns until they feel confident in their own hiking abilities.
Little Kids (ages 4-6):
This territory was probably the second hardest for me. It requires a lot of upfront effort, but I’ll tell you right now that I reap the benefits of that work on ALL my walks with my kids. There is a little bit of an in between stage where they don’t really want to walk the whole way you walk but they’re a little too big for a wagon. This is where I taught my kids to ride bikes and scooters. Everyone has a different philosophy about how to do this, but what worked for both my kids was this:
Create a “balance bike” by pulling the pedals off the bike. This will get them used to the feeling of having to center yourself on a bike.
Put the pedals back on WITH training wheels. This will teach them how to push and pull the pedals without ALSO having to remember to balance.
Take the training wheels off and let ‘er rip.
Now, it was not as easy as 1,2,3 (especially with my strong willed son, but that’s a convo for another time). There were a lot of tears, arguments and “I can’t do its.” Ultimately, one of the things that helped us (as above and I’ll continue to repeat) was that this was already a habit and a ritual. Going for walks as a family is something we DO and if you can’t keep up or ride your bike or walk, you can’t do it! This was pretty good motivation for propelling both my kids forward.
Bigger Kids (ages 7-10):
Bring on the entertainment!
We still bring stories and podcasts on our walks with us sometimes - my kids LOVE to listen to Greeking Out or Story Pirates, so while we don’t always have to bust these out for shorter walks, sometimes it keeps us going a bit longer than we would normally go, especially on those gorgeous North Carolina summer mornings when the weather is perfect. We also listen to music - each person picking a song back and forth OR we institute a theme upfront (Ella and I have taken several Wicked walks, for example). Just like Mel Robbins episodes encourage me to keep going, kids are no different! You can also make your own entertainment. Our kids love playing “I Spy” or “Nature Bingo” where the kids try to find a certain number of animals, plants or rocks in different categories.
Bribe them with food:
Another major motivator for longer walks and hikes at this age group are the snacks. We don’t buy bars or chippos or pretzels too often in our house, but if we’re going on a hiking experience, we usually make an exception. Then, at our halfway point in the hike, we can all find a bench or a rock to sit on and enjoy our snack. This keeps everyone trucking along (although we do get a lot of “are we halfway there yet?” along the way.
Make them comfortable:
The kids have their own hiking gear. Just like in my steps post, you will walk more if you are comfortable while doing it. That means if the kids ask for long underwear to layer under their hiking clothes, I get them some. 32 degrees is our favorite brand and they have this AWESOME two piece layering set on sale right now for $9 in a variety of colors. (Buy on 32 Degrees website for $9.) They have each owned waterproof hiking pants, hiking shoes/boots and a wide variety of colder weather layers to make walking outside a more pleasant experience.
Give them a choice:
We frequently let the kids “choose their own adventure” for hikes. I offer up a variety of choices for lengths, scenery and distance from our house and let the kids weigh in on what they feel like doing that day depending on what else we have going on as well as the weather and whether we’re watching someone else’s dog. When everyone gets a vote and there’s more agency, we’re all a little more motivated to work as a team and make things happen. This is especially powerful if the destination has more than just walking in store for the kiddos. We can’t always make it happen, but we try to incorporate hiking destinations that have a nature center or a playground that the kids can play around in before or after the hike. Sometimes they will literally beg to go back to these places. We’re so fortunate in North Carolina to have so many of these destinations within an hour’s drive of our house.
Give them a box to check:
Just like adults, many kids (including my daughter) love to set and smash goals. If we write down that as a family, we are going to hike 100 miles in 2025, you can bet she will get right on the task of making a chart where we get a sticker for every mile hiked and then tracking our progress throughout the year. If we are lagging behind where we should be, she’ll help us find time in our calendar to schedule another hike. The bonus here is instilling goal setting behavior for positive habits at a young age. What’s not to love?
Let them document the journey:
My kids are both hella into photography at the moment. They each have a digital camera, and every time we go on a hike to a new place, they insist on bringing them along to take pictures of interesting animals, trees and leaves to show their grandparents and teachers and friends later on. They also love to photograph our dog as he romps along beside us on the trails. This is a great motivator to get out there - they need new photographic fodder! Here are the cameras we have that work best for our age groups:
Buy Ella’s Camera on Amazon for $36
Buy Linus’ Camera on Amazon for $20
Biggest Kids (ages 10+):
I’ll let you know! I’m sure there will come a day when it’s hard to get my kids to do walks and hikes with us because they’ll be too busy or embarrassed by us or something. I’ll just try not to think about that for the time being.
I’ll close this by saying that this has NOT been an easy journey by any stretch of the imagination. I remember one hike in particular when our family journeyed to Asheville for Thanksgiving. It had snowed and we thought that would make the hike more “magical” for our children. Wrong. They were freezing, and overstimulated and tired and out of their element and wanted to go home. I was carrying Linus in the baby backpack and he screamed in my ear for a straight mile because he dropped his mitten over the side of the mountain and his hand was cold. We took a wrong turn and the hike ended up taking way longer than it was supposed to.
BUT. I’ll argue that sometimes those situations are the ones that end up being the most important. We all got a little bit better at overcoming adversity and dealing with being uncomfortable, a sensation that no one is TOO familiar with in the year 2025 with temperature controlled housing and heated beds and commercial-free streaming television. One of the lessons I love most for my kids about hiking (that has come with a lot of tears and emotional pain for us all) is that once you’re out there, the only way out is through. There’s no shortcut or magic solution. You just have to keep walking until you get to the car.