The weather is finally warming up here in Colorado. This year we’ve had the snowiest, iciest winter in the fifteen years we’ve lived here. As the days are finally getting warmer, we are all anxious to be outside.
I love to hike. I’m a slow hiker and I like to take my time and notice the changes the seasons bring. I look for wildflowers, or the way the ice has formed at the creek edges, the autumn leaves laying on the ground damp from a recent rain, or the way the wild roses form rose hips in the fall. So I like to take my time and lots of pictures.
My husband and boys are more goal oriented hikers. They like to set out and get there. If my husband is with me, that’s okay. I let the boys go ahead with him and take my time. If I’m hiking with just the boys, I have a few tricks for slowing them down. I don’t want them rushing ahead and off the sides of cliffs, or taking the wrong trail or anything. I hurry my pace some, but I need them to stay with me. So I ask them to find five different kinds of leaves or trees. We look for different types of wildflowers. I show them the many types of rocks on the path and tell them the names for sandstone and quartz. If we hear a bird, we stop and try to identify it by the bird call, and then we try to find it and see if we were right. We look for animal tracks in the snow or mud. And we try to spot other signs of animals, teeth marks in the tree bark, nests, feathers, burrows near rocks, and even the animal droppings. We hop from rock to rock and balance on logs. And I let them take pictures of rocks, bugs, trees, and each other.
All of these small, informal games do teach them more about nature and animals. And these games occupy the reluctant hiker. The best thing though is that the games also slow the boys down enough so that I can keep up with them!
More on Hiking:
Kid Fitness – Take Your Toddler Outside
In Search of the Elusive White Deer