A Few Ways to Make Family Walks More Fun

A Few Ways to Make Family Walks More Fun

If your kids are starting to complain about going on yet another family walk or wishing for something to make it a little more exciting, here are a few options to spice up your routine while maintaining social distance.

Looking for even more summer-time family fun? Check out our Summer Fun Guide.

Here’s 10 ways to make family walks more fun:

Pick up and identify leaves.
Kids love to pick up treasures along the way, so make a challenge to see how many different types of leaves you can find on a walk.

Keep your walk interesting with some large motor skills challenges. 
Can you hop this whole block or to that sign? Can you not step on any cracks? How far can you skip? The kids can even make up their own challenges that will give them a little extra exercise while having fun, too.

Count birds or another animal. 
Ask your kids how many birds they think they will see on the walk. Take along a pen and paper and record the number. To make it a more focused target, just look for one type of bird (or animal) that kids can easily identify, such as robins.

Play some games.
How many waves can you get? See how many people you can get to wave back to you on your walk. Play Simon Says or I Spy as you walk.

Try a photo walk
Have your kids pick things to take photos of along the walk. An advance version of this activity: Make the photos clues for another parent or family member to guess where you went on your walk. A Few Ways to Make Family Walks More Fun – dsm4kids.com

Race you to …
Pick a point and let your kids race each other – or even race you – to the edge of the third house up on the right. If you are in a neighborhood with a lot of car traffic, mind the rules of the road and try not to make the finish line at the end of the sidewalk.

Keep your route interesting.
Add a little variety to your walks. Adults may be happy with the same route day after day, but children are more easily bored. Change the route through the neighborhood, see new things like playgrounds, streams, parks, and other points of interest on your walking route.

Start a question of the day.
Use your walking time to have some great conversations with your kids. Have a question of the day to explore beliefs, values, and talents. Or, just find out how their day was.

Track your steps.
Get your child a pedometer to track how many steps you’ve gone.  Make it a game and guess how many steps you’ll get in on your walk.  Or set a goal and see if you can beat your previous day’s step count.

Participate in a virtual charity walk
Virtual walks can be done on your own time and your own turf. Many in real life events have been cancelled and are offering registrants a chance to participate in a virtual event. Complete with a metal at the end.

 

 

 

Give us a wave the next time you’re out on the trail!  Let us know, what you do to make family walks more fun.