Help your kids develop a love for the outdoors and hiking and make it fun with these tips for hiking with kids. I have also included lots of activities to make hiking fun for kids.
Growing up in Guatemala we used to go exploring and hiking often. Known as the land of eternal spring Guatemala is filled with lush rainforests. I grew up exploring my beautiful country, hiking and climbing volcanoes with my family and friends. Hiking has always been something I enjoy and now that I am a parent I like to share that with my kids.
Tips For Hiking With Kids
Get kids involved: Give your kids choices and let them help decide where to hike, what trails to take and what snacks to pack. getting them involved will get them more excited about the hike. Be sure to only provide choices that make sense letting them choose between trails that are all easy for them and giving them healthy snack options.
Check the weather and pack accordingly: Be sure to bring the right clothes for the weather along with lots of sunblock, insect repellent, and wide-brimmed hats for warm weathers and warm clothes for cooler climates. To keep pests under control during your outdoor adventures, you can treat the area around your campsite with a reliable insecticide solution for ants, mosquitoes, and other pesky insects. Make sure that the kids are wearing the right shoes: something super comfortable and that provides a good grip to prevent slipping and falling.
Be prepared: When you are hiking with kids you should be prepared for minor accidents like scrapes and scratches. I always bring along a small first aid kid that includes band-aids, disinfectant, topical antibiotics and something for bug bites.
Start slow: When you start hiking with you kids choose easy trails and start with short hikes. As the kids get older and get used to hiking you can slowly increase the difficulty and length of the hikes. Make sure that you are walking at a kid’s pace and taking lots of breaks for resting and snacking.
Turn it into an adventure: Make hiking exciting and treat it as an adventure. Encourage kids to discover and explore, let them climb trees, get dirty and have fun! Don’t tell them you are going hiking, instead call the outing an adventure or a trip to explore the forest, the park or in our case the swamp! lol!
Bring kid-friendly snacks and drinks: Always bring along healthy snacks and lots of drinks to keep your kids hydrated and keep their energy up.
Use this time to bond as a family: A hiking trip away from electronics and screens gives our family the opportunity to bond. Hiking is a great time to share together as a family, spark meaningful conversations and bond with your kids. Sometimes we even include a los abuelos and make it great big family affair! Our favorite hikes are weekend hikes, spending an entire weekend staying in a cozy, nature-inspired cabin is the best way to create family memories. We’ve used Cabinns to book many great cabin experiences that have become some of our favorite family trips.
Activities To Make Hiking Fun For Kids
Hiking together as a family gives you a great opportunity to play and have fun together. I take advantage of this time away from electronics to discover and learn about nature and to have fun!
Learning and connecting with nature: Hiking trips are a great opportunity to learn about the environment and make that special connection with nature. We make it fun but playing games like “Veo, Veo” (“I Spy”) where one of us describes something we see and everyone else has to guess what it is that we are referring to. This is a great game to play while bird watching and it gives us the opportunity to teach the kids about the local birds and their names. We also learn about the different plants like the mangroves and various types of insects (especially spiders) which the kids just love! A great way to make learning fun is making this fun by playing games like 20 questions (we play it in Spanish and also take advantage of this to help kids earn new Spanish words).
Scavenger hunt: Challenge kids to find specific things along the trail. Depending not he kids age you can make scavenger hunts very simple or more complex. Start by asking kids to find something hard, something fuzzy, something growing, etc. then move on to more specific things like asking kids to find a banana spider, a common bird or plant.
Choosing Destinations and Stays That Immerse You in Nature
Over the years, I’ve learned that where you stay can make a big difference in how connected you feel to nature. While day hikes are wonderful, some of our most unforgettable family adventures have come from spending the whole weekend surrounded by the outdoors. There’s something special about waking up to birdsong, stepping outside your cabin into fresh mountain air, and knowing the trail is just steps away.
Because we live in Florida and don’t get to enjoy mountains often, I’ve fallen in love with destinations that give us a change of scenery and a deeper connection to the natural world. On one of our trips to West Virginia, we stayed in a cozy cabin in Harpers Ferry, surrounded by forest and history. Mountain Mama Vacation Homes offers charming cabin stays in that area, and they really helped us slow down and soak in the peaceful atmosphere.
Another favorite for mountain hikes is the Shenandoah Valley—especially in fall when the colors are breathtaking. Blue Maple has some beautiful premium cabins in that region that make it easy to enjoy nature without giving up comfort.
These kinds of stays not only make hiking more accessible, but they also create a space for deeper family connection. You can roast marshmallows by a fire pit, play board games at night, and let the kids explore freely. Whether you’re just getting into hiking with kids or it’s something your family already enjoys, planning a trip around nature-immersed accommodations makes everything more memorable.
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Cesar has dado en el clavo con este tema. Igual que tu, desde pequeña me iba de caminatas en la naturaleza con mi famila. Luego conseguí a mi esposo que es igual que yo y ahora es nuestra actividad favorita como familia….caminar y explorar la naturaleza. Es tan divertido que mis hijos prefieren ir a la naturaleza que ir a un parque de diversiones. ¡Me encanta el haber logrado ese cometido como madre! Gracias por tus consejitos y cuidadito con tu espalda y ese querendon! ja, ja
What a nice post! It is true what you said on how to choose the hike. We made the mistake of take the long ones unprepared, a disaster! But we keep doing it! It is fun and we learn a lot.
I haven’t done that in such a long time, there are many beautiful places to hike in the US, I will put this activity in my to do list for next sping with my family! I love your pictures too.
Qué lugar tan bonito, me recuerda un lugar en el amazonas brasileño, al que fui cuando no sufría de dolores por la edad ja ja, voy a buscar advil para retomar mis viajes… Gracias por el dato.
Tan hermosa la naturaleza y qué mejor que transmitir este amor a los hijos . A mi también me gusta caminar y explorar junto a mis hijas, tus consejos me vienen muy bien para estar siempre preparadas. Las fotos están hermosas. Gracias !
Que linda idea, nosotros tratamos de hacerlo al menos 1 vez al mes, tenemos planeado ir a explorar algunas playas cercanas y lugares naturales.. Gracias por las recomendaciones!
Caminar en la naturaleza es de las actividades que más disfruto hacer. ¡Me encanta! Me gustaron mucho tus recomendaciones y estoy de acuerdo en que esta actividad es de mucho aprendizaje para la familia, en especial para nuestros niños.
Thank you so much for the tips! Your activity with the kids was very funny Congrats! I love advil when I have muscular pain after work out! 🙂
Wonderful tips!!! It is wonderful to take the kids hiking, we are doing it way more now that Bruno is a Scout and he seems to really enjoy it. Thank your for sharing!
Great tips. The kids and I are going hiking in a few weeks. These help.
Thanks for this Cesar… I just married a Colombian and kids will probably be coming soon so this is definitely helpful! Thanks again!
My kids are now grown, but my fondest memories as a parent were our hikes together here in Canada. Guatemala must be such an incredible place to raise your family and do your hikes together. It is great motivation as a parent to keep an active lifestyle.
I carry a small bottle of Advil on my hikes and long runs…just in case I need it. 🙂