Do your kids get out enough?  How old is old enough for an outdoor adventure?  Where do you start introducing your kids to the natural world?  What type of kid friendly adventure is a good introduction to the outdoor lifestyle?  Do we have all the answers…

No way! We most cetainly do not have all the answers. We’re not even parents and even if we were parents we still wouldn’t have all the answers.

While we don’t have all the answers, we truly believe more parents should get more kids into the outdoor world, so we thought we would use this BLOG to offer some tips that might help parents achieve all of the positive benefits that come with an outdoor experience and help eliminate some of the potentially challenging moments.

Once again, we are not parents. Most of our first hand experience with kids in the outdoors has been trips with our nephews or our godson. Because we know there are many parents that do expose their children to the power of nature we are going to be sure to enable the “comments” on this BLOG with the hope that some of those parents will share their experiences with us. The goal here is to create an environment in which children enjoy their first impressions with nature. Hopefully we can motivate more kids to become a generation of youth who benefit from spending time in the outdoors.

Let’s take a look at some potential pitfalls that parents should attempt to avoid:

 Problem: Too Much Too Fast. 

Solution: Start Small. Yes, start when the kids are small, but more importantly let their first trip into the outdoors start small. Don’t overwhelm kids with an experience that is too physically demanding. If you plan a day on trail be sure the distance is appropriate for everyone’s fitness level. Remember that your stride is much longer than the kids, so a short mile hike for you might seem like much farther for them.

 
 Enhancement: Deuter Kid Comfort. We have found that we can extend both our distance and time on trail when we use our Deuter Kid Comfort child carrier backpack. If you make the ride along feature of the pack a fun experience the kids will “want” to go for a ride before they “have” to go for a ride. The security of knowing your child is safely belted into the pack opens up the types of terrain you can tackle as well.  On a recent visit to Natural Bridge near the Red River in Kentucky our godson Lane loved riding in the pack and we loved the fact that we didn’t have to worry about him getting too close to the edge of the cliffs along the Gorge because he could only get as close as the adult carrying the pack would allow. 

 Problem: BORED. If the trees and grasses at the start of the hike are the same as those in the middle and end kids will lose interest.

 
Solution: New Around Every Corner. Search for trails or natural areas with diversity. Plan hikes with interaction and scene changes. Our Natural Bridge hike with Lane started along the Red River where Lane enjoyed the ducks and geese, then the hike changed in elevation so Lane could explore sedimentary rock formations and small caves.  At the top of the climb we reached the Natural Bridge where Lane not only received a geology lesson well beyond his years (It’s not all Randy’s fault, remember we don’t have kids), he was also able to climb through narrow rock walls and eventually stand on top of the rock formation with far off views of the Red River and the rolling hills of the Bluegrass State.

 
 Enhancement: SKY CHAIR – Keep The Surprises Coming. Lane was never bored because the experience was constantly changing. After reaching the summit with a diverse uphill climb Lane was surprised by the sight of the Sky Chair. Natural Bridge Recreation Area offers tourist a chance to see the Natural Bridge without having to take the hike to the top.  In all honesty, we would normally avoid these types of tourist filled areas and search out a more sucluded experience, but when you are a five year old (always try to think from the kid perspective) the Sky Chair was an awesome mid hike roller coaster ride. 

Problem: Hot, Cold, Wet, Bugs, Dirt. All of the natural aspects that make an outdoor adventure so wonderful can also make a kid quite uncomfortable.

 
Solution: Be Prepared. Sounds too simple doesn’t it. Truth of the matter is that the same type of effort you would make to ensure your comfort should be magnified to meet the more sensitive nature of kids. Some kids will love the chance to get dirty or wet and to play with small bugs, but there is a fine line between fun and miserable and you need to be able to push kids toward the fun side of that fence when you get the chance. Remember to bring plenty of food and water and use breaks to keep energy and hydration in check. Dress for the weather, bring clothing to match potential weather changes, and bring a change of clothing (change of shoes too) no matter what the weather (kids are like magnets for dirt and wet, well at least Lane is like a magnet to dirt and wet). Bring sunscreen and bug spray (kid friendly for both).

 
  Enhancement: Make Dirt Fun – Plan To Use The Backups. Encourage kids to dive in head first. When you bring a change of clothes and a second pair of shoes, plan to use them. Don’t pull the fun out of the experience by trying to stay clean and neat, rather turn the dirt and wet into the fun!

Problem: Not enough kids exploring the outdoor world.

 
Solution: Parents get involved, turn off the video games and the television, plan a trip today.

 
Enhancement: Come see the Get Out More Tour. The Get Out More Tour is traveling the country offering a backpack filled with tips and techniques that will enhance anyone’s time in the outdoors. Learn what you need to have with you to enable you to experience a fun, comfortable and safe outdoor experience. For a Tour stop near you check out our Tour Schedule.

Parents please help us motivate the next generation of outdoor explorers. We would love to have your comments about your experiences with kids in the outdoors.

See You Outside,
Sheri and randy Propster

Tags: Backpacker Magazine Get Out More Tour, Randy Propster, Sheri Propster

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 17th, 2010 at 4:03 pm and is filed under Advice From the Experts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.