Like I’ve mentioned before, we love to make hiking fun. We try to get outdoors at least once a month to explore some new part of our pretty Washington State! It’s such a great way to discover new things, have great conversations, and get some exercise to boot!

5 Ways to Make Hiking Fun for Kids

Because it’s something very important for our family, I hope I can encourage you and your family to get outdoors as well. Here are 5 ways to make it outdoors and head out for a hike with your kids!

1. Give them a responsibility

If children have ownership in something, they are much more likely to be ready and willing for an adventure. We make sure to let each of our kids take turns being the leader of the line. As hiking paths are usually skinny and our line is single file, we put each one in charge of line leader for a while. They love to lead! We’ve also come up with silly arm and hand signs when we see something. So the leader will put their hand in a fist raised up to let us know there might be an animal in sight. It makes it a little more fun if the kids feel a responsibility on our family hike.

2. Make it a game

Just like we’ve done on our last hike, print out our Hiking Scavenger Hunt printable to take with you and let them find all the things on the paper. You can even play counting games as well. Have your kids find 3 birds or 6 pinecones, etc.

3. Take pictures

Bring along a camera, or even just your smartphone, and take lots of picture. We like to find fun trees that are wonky or stumps and make sure to take pictures of the kids posing. Kids love to see themselves in pictures and will remember all the fun they had on their hike. Maybe even the kids can have the camera and take a few pictures of you! Make sure you let them make googly faces when they are high up on a trail.

4. Be consistent

Try to plan at least one hike every couple of months. Maybe once a season. It can be fun to hike in the rain, sun, and snow. So no matter where you are or what the weather is, there’s always fun to be had. Like I mentioned, we like to go once a month at least, sometimes every Sunday. There’s a few close parks near us 10 minutes away, or we’ll plan on making a long trek an hour or so away and make it a day adventure. However often you go, just make sure you keep it on the schedule regularly. Everyone will benefit!

5. Have fun! 

If you are having fun, it will rub off onto the kids and they’ll have fun. They can see what’s on your face and you body language, and if you’re being silly or adventurous, they will imitate that and love to go hiking!

Have fun while you make hiking fun! We’re always looking for new places to discover with our family, it’s always an adventure.

*This adventure was proudly made possible by Subaru. Find yours today.