8 Ways to Turn Your Next Hike Into a Learning Adventure

After walking for a bit, take a breather and get up close and comfortable with nature. Encourage your kids to put what they see around them into groups, like a stack of sticks, pile of rocks, or arrangement of leaves. Ask them to sort by color or even size, which boosts your child's budding math skills.

Even the littlest hiker can get involved in a game of "I Spy" that helps keeps kids motivated while trekking. Older siblings can shout out what to look for while the rest of the family takes a closer look at details along the hike.

Take a moment to touch fallen trees or mossy rocks to see how the different textures feel. Teach kids about poison oak and ivy so itchy mistakes are avoided. While exploring textures, discuss words that describe how items feel, introducing new, earth-related vocabulary.

Even a few rocks can turn into an opportunity to share — and add and subtract. This also encourages sharing between siblings. See how many rocks you can count, then create a rock formation.

Tuck a few mini magnifying glasses in your backpack and hand them out to your kids halfway through the hike to encourage taking a closer look at nature along the path. Talk about how moss grows on bark, what an ant looks like, or just be silly and make your eyes look bigger.

Along with teaching kids about staying on the path, turn fallen trees into pirate ship planks or balance beams for walking. Working on balance builds physical development, especially when it's dynamic. Have each family member see if they can balance on one foot, skip, or walk with closed eyes.

Sticks turn into magical drawing devices for making maps of hidden kingdoms or writing out secret messages for hikers that might discover the creations. Have your child write his name using a stick in the dirt to mark that he's made it this far on the hike.

Before heading home, take a moment to stop and really look around. How many trees can you count? What type of bird sounds do you hear? Take a final inventory of all the exciting things discovered on your family hike.

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