4. Make it a Learning Experience
Beyond being a great outdoor family activity, hiking is an excellent learning experience. Find objects in nature that look like objects your child has seen elsewhere. On a recent hike, my family saw this large rock (pictured above) and my son thought it looked exactly like the missing piece from Shel Silverstein’s book. Allow children and adults alike the opportunity to stop to observe a caterpillar out for a walk, view eggs in a bird’s nest, smell the flowers, collect rocks, visit with a woodland creature or dip their feet in the river. Young or old, we all learn through observation and physically experiencing the world around us. If your children grow up immersed in nature, they will grow up loving, appreciating and even helping our environment. Teach children to leave nature as they found it, leaving nothing but footprints behind. Or, better yet, teach them to clean up any garbage that they find along the trail as well.
Does your family enjoy hiking together? What type of hiking does your family do? Please leave your comments below!
LOVE This! You really taught me some stuff here that I had never thought of! Thanks so much for this post and the awesome pics (especially the one of the squirrel)!