Take a Hike! (Creative Hikes for Kids)

This is a guest post by my BFF, Staci. She’s a teacher of the year, baker extraordinaire, doting aunt and all around creative genius.

I’m so excited to be a part of 2 Weeks of Summer Camp here at Impress Your Kids!  Summer camp has always been a part of my life.  I went to lots of different types and styles of camps and I loved them all.

Today, I want to share with you some different variations of the ole “hike through the woods”.  This is great especially for those times when you need something last minute to do because most of these require materials that you already have lying around the house.

1. Flip the Penny Walk – Get a penny and assign each side to be LEFT and RIGHT.  When you come to a juncture, flip the penny to see which way you’ll go.  Make sure to keep track of where you came so you know how to get back!

2. Micro Walk – Take a rope or string about 3 feet long.  Every so often in your walk, stop and make a circle with your rope on the ground.  Examine what’s inside the circle.  Kids could even bring sketch pads and colored pencils to draw what they see in the circle.

3. Color Walk – Choose a color before you leave.  Try to find things that match your color.  You could take pictures or have kids sketch what they find.  When you get back, you could make a collage from the pictures or drawings.  Another variation is to use paint strips.  You know, like what you would pick up at Home Depot or Lowes.  Choose shades of greens, browns, yellows…shades you would find in nature.  Try to match nature items to colors on the paint sample.

4. Egg Carton Walk – Give each kid an empty egg carton.  You could also cut one in half if you didn’t have enough whole ones for every kid.  At the bottom of each egg cup, write a descriptive word…like “hard”, “smooth”, “rough”, “fuzzy”, etc.  On your walk, have kids fill their egg carton with nature items that match the words.  When you get back from the walk, compare what everyone found!

5. Monogram Walk – Make sure each kid knows all 3 (or more) of their initials.  On your walk, have kids find items that start with each of their initials.  Another variation, is to find objects that are more pliable (like pieces of pinestraw, tall grasses, etc) and have kids form them into the letters of their initials.  When you get back from your walk, have each kid make make a display by gluing down their objects in order of their initials.