Walks with kids

Next week the Wildlife Trust are hosting the #bigwildwalk to raise much needed funds towards their mission to restore at least 30% of the land and sea for nature by 2030. 

Your challenge if you choose to accept is to walk 30km over the Big Wild Walk Week. Monday 25th October - Sunday 31st October. 

We love walking as a family, and my two, now age 6 and 8 enjoy walking up hills, in forests and generally enjoy being outdoors. 

Walking with kids can be so much fun, so when I heard about the challenge I signed up straight away, but also thought of the perfect person to document their adventures and provide some ideas for getting outdoors and walking with kids. So here goes .........

Laura @one.wild.family.life

We are an outdoors family, I try to get outside at least once a day with my two children who are 2 and nearly 5. I actually find parenting easier outside, the kids have freedom, an ability to make their own choices, an independence that is just not possible within 4 walls. One of the main things I love about being outside is the space, the way it somehow frees my ability to think openly and I think this is the same for my two children too. They love being wild, they radiate happieness, they explore, learn and expose themselves to different feelings and experiences. Although my outside of choice is the countryside, this isn’t always feasible, local parks and town or city streets can provide just as much to explore too.

 Kids want to know everything, especially once they find out about the word why! I love taking toys and resources out on walks with us to enhance curiosity, provide answers, and give a walk direction. There are loads of activities you can do while out on a walk, that can be tailored to your children’s interests, ages, and area of learning. I’m going to chat about 4 different walks I have taken my two on, what we took with us, and what we did. Sometimes before a walk I like to set up a little activity that will inspire them while we are out, or do something when we get back to go over what we saw or did.

Woodland

One of our favourite places to explore is woodland, especially in the autumn. I keep a basket by the front door of things we can grab on our way out, our go to things for a woodland walk are Little Robin Education ID cards, Guide Craft Treasure Tubes and a bug kit including a magnifying glass. On one of our most recent walks we filled our treasure tubes with leaves to bring home for crafting. My two loved leaf rubbing, and we made leaf hedgehogs, but my son (who is 4) loved cutting them up with his scissors! Perfect fine motor practice!

   

The collection of ID cards we have are perfect for little ones to engage with, and the simple layout of one species per card makes it really easy to connect with too. They are great for creating on the go scavenger hunts too.

A woodland is such a lovely place to explore with children, mine often spot things I would have just walked on past, and they can employ all their senses to enjoy the environment fully.

  

Town

The town, or local streets can provide so much to see. One of my favourite things to give to my two before we head out is a Yellow Door shape viewer, either to look for that specific shape, or to pinpoint things to look at along the way.

I don’t know about you, but I find my two want to talk all the time! A walk is a great place to start a conversation, take a few little wooden friends with you, the Lanka Kade bugs are a great size, look for little homes for them along the way, or find places for them to camouflage. They spark conversation and learning.

Countryside

Again, a staple for our countryside walks are our ID cards, this time we would take mushrooms,  birds and bugs, a pair of binoculars and maybe our Yellow Door animal track footprint stones. The stones are perfect in mud, or to use to try and spot some real animal footprints – a great conversation can be had about animal homes. The new in Alexia Claire postcards are perfect to take with you too.

  

The countryside is a great place to look for seasonal changes, autumn is one of the best times to look for mushrooms, fruits and nuts and wildlife. One of our most popular additions to a walk is our Den Kit Bug spotting kit. Its full of lots of things for little ones to use to help spot and ID bugs, without having squashed or injured bugs along the way. My son, absolutely adores bugs, and the small worlds they create, and this bug kit has been worth its weight in gold for us, it includes a pooter, which you use to suck a small insect into an observation pot – its wonderful!

Beach/Seaside

Rock pooling is a great activity to do with kids. Treasure tubes are perfect for scooping up and observing finds, collecting shells and stones and general beach play. There are lots of things to find on the beach that can be taken home to craft with, but shells and stones are great for little challenges along the way:

Line them up from biggest to smallest

Little math challenges, using your finds as loose parts

Fine one bigger/smaller

Creating patterns, or letters or shape outlines.

The wooden sorting trays are great to use with loose parts such as beach finds when you get home with them too.

  

One of our favourite toys to take to the beach is our Periscope – perfect for adding extra fun to a game of hide and seek, and so much joy to be had spotting your little one peek over rocks!

Walking anywhere is so good for you, and so good for your kids. It opens conversation, enhances small world play, and allows for real life observational and hands on learning. When you get home, no doubt your little one has collected some treasures along the way, lay them out with a pot of play-dough and explore them together. Grabbing a few toys and resources adds different elements to your walks, but most importantly get outside together and have fun exploring.

 

I hope this has given you some ideas for activities to do. I would love to see some photos along the way.