Nature

If you want to make hiking a family activity, here are some hints to make it fun for the younger ones. 1. Start hiking with children on small treks do not get them so tired that they cannot enjoy themselves. 2. Forget your adult rules about how fast you want to go. Instead, think about how your children would about spending their time. Walk for fifteen to twenty minutes, then look around for fifteen to twenty minutes. Throw rocks in a creek, float sticks in the stream, flip a bug on its back and see how it turns itself over. Look at and smell weeds, flowers, moss, rotten logs, and interesting rocks. Watch a hawk in the sky, a squirrel in a tree, a birds, a bug on a log, or other people on the trail. Prepare a surprise piece of candy, bring a small toy to play with, have a story ready, make a stick whistle, or imitate a bird call. Sing songs on the trail. Make up a song, rhyme, poem, or story with your children. You can count the numbers of animals you see or see who can be first to spot a certain colored flower. Allow some freedom and independence in hiking, but set limits for how far children can move away from you.