Hiking in itself is already fun but if you’re with your family and you have kids, they might get impatient with a constant “are we there yet?” tune. Or worse, they may become less motivated to finish the hike and give up completely. After all, they’d rather stay at home and play games with friends right? Why not bring those games along?
Here now are some simple games to play while hiking. These are mainly for kids but grown ups should play too!
Engage the Senses
Stop, look, and listen. Encourage kids to use their hands to explore the textures of nature. Rub your hand on the bark of one tree and compared it to a different looking tree. Let children get their hands dirty on a soft moss-covered log or feel the hard and bumpiness of barnacles. Listen to the sounds of nature.
When I go on a Holiday
The first player says, “When I go on a holiday I pack…” and states an object, for example, “toothbrush”. The second player repeats the sentence and adds another object. For example, “When I go on holiday I pack a toothbrush and a pair of jeans”. The players keep adding to the list until nobody can recite the list correctly.
The Never Ending Story
One person begins to tell a story and then passes it along to another person to continue the plot and so on. This game has actually been proven as a successful way to keep groups of kids hiking together, laughing, and being creative.
Hunter and Prey
One player is the hunter while the others shout out an animal name and the hunter needs to remember who says what. The hunter then decides which animal he is going to hunt by saying, for example, “I am going to catch the bear”. The hunter then chases the player who is the bear. If the hunter comes close, the bear then needs to shout out another animal’s name before the hunter reaches him. And if he does, the hunter then needs to hunt the other animal instead. Once a player is caught by the hunter or calls out an animal that nobody has chosen, they become the new hunter.
Want more games to play while hiking? Or do you have one of your own? Do let us know and share it with everybody!
Leave a Reply