10 Fun Ideas for Hiking with Kids
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Tec Labs for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.
One of the luxuries of living in Southern California is that we can hike pretty much all year long. It’s something we have really loved in the past and have gotten away from this year. I guess because it’s always available it’s easy to take for granted.
I want to bring hiking with the kids back into our regular routine this fall. It’s such a great way for us to connect as a family, along with enjoying the outdoors.
Partnering with Tecnu Extreme has given me a great reason to start pulling together my hiking plan. Tecnu Extreme Medicated Poison Ivy Scrub is the first all-in-one product that can be used before a poison ivy rash starts, or after the rash has begun. Plus, it also stops the itching.
With our first trip on the calendar and Tecnu Extreme in the first aid kit we are all set!
Tips for Hiking with Kids
- Pack easy and healthy snacks that you can eat while walking. Carrot sticks, apples, and granola bars are great. Or get a little creative with these easy (and healthy) “candy” bracelets.
- Prepare a mini first aid kit that is easy to carry on the hike. If you can, leave it in the backpack you use for hiking so you don’t have to think about it every time you set out on a hike. Include sunblock, band aids, wipes and Tecnu extreme Medicated Poison ivy scrub.
- Keep in mind how much your little one can actually handle. Even though my kids are 10 and 8, we haven’t been on a hike for a while. Our first time out we’ll keep it short and pick a trail we are familiar with. It’s better to be too short than too long when you have kids with you.
- Plan around naps and meals. Tired and hungry is no way to feel while hiking. Make sure that you plan to be off the trail before your little on hits a wall of exhaustion.
- Bring along friends. Hiking can make for the perfect play date and everything is more fun with friends!
Hiking Activities for Kids
Bringing along a hiking activity can make hiking with kids even more fun.
- Prepare a sense of touch scavenger hunt for the hike.
- If your hiking spot is near your house, visit the day before and collect a few leaves. Then have the kids play find that tree while you hike. You can also find leaves on the ground and challenge the kids to find which tree it came from.
- Some trails will have maps at the entrance. Take one! Younger kids can pretend they are following along while older kids can help navigate your route.
- Have some fun taking pictures. Let your little one take pictures through out the day and use one of these photo activities to expand on the experience.
- Bring along a drawing notebook and a pencil. Find shadows on the trail and trace their shadows. Expand on it by writing notes about what’s been traced.
Learn More About Poison Ivy and Tecnu Extreme
- A rash is created when a resin-like substance from the plants gets on a person’s skin. That substance, if not removed, will create a rash in nearly everyone within about eight hours. Some people take a day or two to break out with the rash.
- A poison ivy rash can last 2-4 weeks depending on the person.
- Get more Poison Ivy Information.
- Tecnu Extreme removes the rash causing substance called urushiol (pronounced: oo-roo-she-all) from the skin.
- To use Tecnu Extreme a person should wet the skin and apply a generous amount to the entire body—focusing on exposed skin first (hands, arms, face and legs).
- When using Tecnu Extreme before a rash breaks out it should be applied within eight hours after exposure to the plants, but the sooner the better.
- Tecnu Extreme is available at all major drug store chains including Walmart, Walgreens, Rite Aid, CVS and Target.
Enter to Win {Giveaway Closed}
Tecnu Extreme is giving away two $100 Target gift cards and one $300 Target gift card. To enter, leave a comment sharing your best tips for hiking with kids!
Giveaway ends October 1, 2015. One entry per person. Winners will be chosen using random.org.
I have little kids, 2 under 4 and our faveorite tip when hiking is to bring baby carriers so we can carry our little ones. This is so much easier then dragging a stroller with us and is more enjoyable for the kids.
Bug spray is essential for us! And a comfortable carrier for the baby.
Tuck pants into socks to avoid bug bites.
My kids are little and our hikes are on walking trails at a local nature park. My biggest tip is to not over estimate what you can do. A short trail explored with wonder and awe is much better than a long trail with over tired kids.
For smaller kids, take them mostly on shorter hikes. It’s easier on you and on them. You have to bring water and snacks for them so the shorter the hike, the less you have to carry. It also helps to give them their own small backpack to carry some little things in and also helps in teaching them in deciding what things they need to bring.
Bring tons of snacks and water, and you have a baby bring lots of diapers and plastic bags!
It is absolutely to bring water and snacks. Every time we go out without snacks, our walk is usually cut short by cries of “I’m hungry!”
In addition to water and snacks, we like to take along smart phones. We can always find interesting things to take photos of and to research. It’s a great way to make something that is healthy also educational!
Always make sure you have enough water and snacks and giving them each a camera and doing activities like scavenger hunts makes a long hike or a hot day go by smoother!
Make a game out of it, so they concentrate less on how far it is and more on how many different colors they have seen or types of trees.