4 ways to make family walks fun and educational for your children

Taking a walk outdoors is the perfect way to enjoy some quality family time. Here, Rachel Clinkard from Charles Clinkard shares her tips for making your outdoor walks more fun and educational for your children.

Spending time in the great outdoors can be great for your family's health and wellbeing. But, if your little ones are feeling less than enthusiastic about your family walks, there are a few ways you can encourage them to come along.

By being creative and coming up with a fun activity or two, you and your children are bound to enjoy some much-needed time outdoors. I'll be sharing just some of these ideas below.

Create a scavenger hunt

Why not tap into your little ones' sense of adventure and curiosity by making a scavenger hunt? For older children, you can write a list of things they need to find. If you have younger readers you can help them sound out each word before they find it so they can practice their reading skills. For little ones, you can draw or print pictures of the things you'd like them to search for.

Instead of simply listing objects that they need to look out for, you can ask them to find objects of a certain size, colour, or texture. This can get them in among nature to explore rather than observing from a distance.

Alternatively, engage the senses by asking your children to find things they can see, hear, touch, and smell.

Try some crafts

Another great way to get your children interested in the world around them is by trying out some crafts. Doing some nature rubbings can be a very simple but effective way to engage young ones and teach them about the environment.

If you take a pack of crayons and some paper along on your walk, you can take a nature rubbing of almost anything, including tree trunks, leaves, and even wildlife tracks. Just place the paper over them, rub a crayon along the paper, and discover the pattern it creates. Why not see how many different leaf or bark patterns you can find?

Alternatively, you can take some leaves home with you. Make a batch of salt dough and press each leaf into the surface to create leaf impressions. When the dough dries, your little ones can paint them and make charming keepsakes to remember all the fun they had on your family walk.

You could also collect a few sticks to transform into magic wands once you get home or take a couple of pinecones or horse chestnut shells to turn into cute hedgehogs.

Try to spot some wildlife

The best thing about spending time outdoors with your family is that you can all learn about your local wildlife. Encourage your little ones to become mini nature explorers by searching for birds, insects, and local mammals.

To make it more fun, you could start a contest to see who spots the most. Or give your little ones a goal, for example by asking them if they can spot five different species by the end of your walk.

Why not take pictures of the animals you find and look them up on the internet once you get home? You can make a little scrapbook of your discoveries and decorate it with various leaves, seeds, and twigs you find on your walk.

Dress them up right

No matter the season, you'll want to make sure your little ones are dressed appropriately for your walk. Whether it's a woodland walk or a stroll through the countryside, a good pair of wellies is usually the best option, as your children will no doubt want to splash around in any mud, puddles, or streams they come across on their adventures.

You can get all sorts of styles of wellies, including pairs with handy straps to help your little ones pull their boots on themselves. Other great designs include wellingtons that have a toggle fastening that tightens at the top of the boot to ensure no mud or water gets inside.

As for clothing, you'll want to make sure your children are warm and comfortable to be able to enjoy all the fun activities you have planned. A few light layers are best, as you can always take some off if they start to get too warm.

Choose a windproof and waterproof coat for their outer layer to keep them warm and dry when they're splashing around or investigating.

You might also want to take along an extra set of clothing and shoes for them to get changed into on the car ride home.

Spending some time outdoors can be great for you and your family. By following these four tips, you can keep your children engaged and happy on any nature walk.