Ever since I moved to Woodstock, Vermont, I have taken my boys out hiking whenever I could. I’m lucky to be living in a place where we are never far from a trail, a beautiful view, and a new challenge.
Since I last shared with you (and yes…I know it’s been a while) my life has changed exponentially. My long-distance boyfriend Michael made a cross-country move at the beginning of the summer to come and live with me. He brought his two boys with him, Parker, who is 12, and Austen who is just about to turn 10, so now I find myself a mama to FOUR boys. Since it was warm, and green, and gorgeous when they arrived (and we had just ended a particularly long and cold winter), one of the first things I did to start getting them acquainted with their new surroundings and to build bonds between the four of them, was to take them out hiking.
Every time we went out there was a different boy complaining, but there was also a lot of excitement about cool animals or bugs they saw, new milestones reached, and lots of talking, fun, and pride.
Now, the leaves are yellow, red, and orange, and we are digging out our sweaters and debating how soon the first snow might fall this winter. We have become a very happy expanded, extended family, with my boys’ dad and Grandma living right nearby, and our house always full. There’s a lot of love here, and I look back at my goal of just getting them all out as often as possible, trying all the trails and seeing what we could all do together, and I think it played a big part in helping us learn to live with each other and love each other as a family.
Through my crazy summer of going from single mama with two boys living in a condo to living with my partner and four boys in a house on the side of a mountain, I learned a lot about hiking with kids. If you have access to hiking trails, but you haven’t hiked with your kids because you think they’re too young, or won’t like it, or it’ll be too hard, then read on – yes, you should take them out and enjoy nature as a family, and I have tips on hiking with kids for you!
Give them a challenge
When I first moved here, we picked a favorite trail, and would try to make it to the same marker every time we hiked before we turned around. As my littlest one Tanner got a little stronger (he was 2 when we started hiking), we would try to get a little bit further past that marker each time we attempted the trail. Then we started tracking mileage and every time we went out, no matter what trail we took or area we walked, we would try to walk a little longer each time. Most kids react well to this idea of getting better and stronger. Roman, my 6 year old, now loves realizing that we’ve hit a new milestone: “Mama, this is the longest distance we’ve ever walked!” “Mama, this is the highest up we’ve ever been!” Bigger, further, faster, longer – this makes sense to kids, and is something they can understand easily when they’re little, and take pride in no matter how old they are.
This first lookout of the Faulkner Trail was the furthest Tanner climbed – after we took this photo, Michael took the three oldest boys to the top while I waited with Tanner, and they were SO proud of themselves!
Remember what you’re out there for
Yes, you want to get your kids active, but exercise should be fun and hiking together should be a family adventure rather than a chore to get through. Take your time, stop and check out interesting plants, or stop and watch an animal or bird, and spend some time at a lookout. My boys have always loved finding new creatures. I have had to crush dreams of having their own pet cricket/frog/crayfish/worm, but they loved examining, holding and marveling over them before I told them, NO they could not keep it in their room, NO not even if they used their own money to buy a house for it. Just no. Four boys, people. FOUR.
Pack snacks and lots of water
Snacks are necessary. If it’s a longer walk, you can pack a bigger snack, but even if you’re going out for a short hike, have a little something with you because the promise of a snack is perfect bribery for getting to where you want to go before you do your turnaround: “When we get to the lookout we can have a snack!” For longer hikes, when everyone’s feet are dragging and the complaining is reaching a fever pitch, a break for a snack and some water fixes everything. Water is key. We take four bottles of water for six of us, and we’ll drink all of it in the course of a one-hour out and back hike.
Take lots of short breaks
Kids’ heart rates are higher when they’re young, so taking short breaks during exercise helps ensure it stays pretty level and doesn’t get too high. Kids are usually pretty intuitive about when they need to rest, so don’t try to be militant about making them keep going if they decide they want to stop and sit for a bit.
Celebrate milestones
Praising your kids when they tackle a tough trail, when they don’t give up, when they reach a new distance or other milestone is a great way to keep them motivated. You know your own kids best – my six year old Roman really responds to getting better, so he likes to know when we’ve surpassed a mileage record, or when we hike past the farthest point we’ve done before. My bonus 12 year old Parker likes to be recognized when he does something well, and he happens to have a preternaturally good sense of direction. Letting him take the lead, or having him lead us back down when we’ve taken a new trail, makes him feel accomplished and proud of himself.
Reaching the summit of a mountain is a great, tangible milestone for kids
Try something you’re not sure about
If you’re going to be hiking regularly, then in order to challenge your kids, sooner or later you’ll also need to challenge yourself. A couple of weeks back, I finished work in the afternoon, picked up all the boys, and it was a beautiful autumn afternoon. I insisted we needed to go outside, but all my suggestions of our regular hikes were not being met with much enthusiasm. Finally, I said, “Do you guys want to see what’s at the top of our mountain?”
Our house is built right into the side of a pretty steep mountain. It is straight UP from our yard. We had heard that there was a clearing at the top of the mountain, and we’ve seen lots of deer and even a bear exploring their way down, without us knowing exactly what was up there. We’ve talked about it a lot, but with all the underbrush, and being in a tick area over the summer, I’d always said no to hiking up there. Now, though, the brush had cleared, and you could see the sun pouring through the top of the slope. The boys were besides themselves excited at the thought of exploring our unknown back ‘yard’, and we set out.
First impressions: a three year old finds even a gentle slope steep, so when faced with something that you, as an adult, think is nearly vertical, then guess what? You’re about to enjoy hiking with a 40 pound koala-style pack. 🙂 Despite my weighted, wriggly vest, this was the most rewarding, fulfilling hike we ever took. After just a few minutes, my nearly 10 year old Austen stopped to say, “Carly, this is SO cool. This is what I thought hiking would be!” He meant having absolutely no trails and forging our own path through the brush.
It was also so wonderful to see Roman keeping up with the big boys, exploring ahead, and coming back to me and Tanner to tell us what to expect as we tried to pick our way up. And it was hard – there was no trail, we were making our own, and there were points we would all get stuck and have to backtrack to find another way further up the mountain. So when we finally reached the clearing, it was all the more spectacular, because we worked hard for it. What made it even better was that we were all discovering it together. It was the first time that it wasn’t me taking them on a trail or to a place I had already been. We were all in the same boat of saying, “Let’s see what we can find, how we can get there, and how to do it.” It was the favorite hike for all of us by far.
This was the moment we got out of the woods and brush and found the clearing at the top of our mountain – it was a pretty special moment
Hiking is one of those activities that you can cater to your own fitness level (and your kids). It’s usually not too difficult to find an easy route to take (or take a “hike” in a local playground if you’re truly just getting started). While there may be complaining – and trust me, they are not always thrilled about being dragged outside – everyone feels better after getting some fresh air, exercise, and family time. It’s fun, it creates memories, and you’re teaching the kids to be active through your own example.
