How to Make Walking an Adventure for Kids

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During the summer, my daily walks end up being more of a family thing. I don’t have a ton of time to get away on my own, but I’ll take my daughter on my morning walk, and I’ll often talk my husband into an after-dinner stroll.

Getting your kids out for a walk during the summer is a great way to give them a break from screen time while getting them up and moving. And it’s great for you, too! Though my daughter is conditioned to walking—she knows that it’s just a part of life with her mom—yours might not be there yet. It might require a little trickery—or we’ll call it…creativity. So here are a few ways to make walking an adventure.

Plan a Destination

Sometimes walking for the sake of walking seems so…pointless. So set out with a destination in mind. Plan to walk to a favorite playground, the pool, a friend’s house, or an ice cream shop. If they’re actually walking to something (especially if there’s a nice cool treat involved), it’ll give your kids a reason to keep going.

Go on a Treasure Hunt

Whenever we go on a walk at the beach, my daughter collects cool rocks or shells or whatever else she finds along the way. So, a while back, I got her a mesh bag for holding her beach-walk treasures. But her treasure hunting isn’t confined to beach walks; she tends to find treasures wherever she goes—from coins to lost trinkets to interesting leaves.

For kids, “going on a treasure hunt” sounds way more exciting than “going for a walk.” So give them a bag and let them look for cool things to put inside. Keep in mind that they (okay…most likely you) will have to carry this bag through your entire walk, so make it something that’s easy to tote. Any string backpack will do the trick—or you can pick up a mesh messenger bag (like this one). Let the kids pick up leaves, rocks, sticks, and whatever else they find along the way—and they can go through their “treasures” when they get home.

Or…Make It a Photo Treasure Hunt

If you’d rather not end up with a bag full of rocks and leaves after your daily walk, you can let your kids go on a photo treasure hunt instead. You can use your phone—or pick up a super-cheap digital camera of their own (like this one). Let them take pictures of trees or birds or anything else that catches their eye. Or choose a color before you leave home, and instruct them to take pictures of everything they see in that color. And don’t forget to take at least one selfie during your walk!

If you’d like to document your summer adventures, you can upload their pictures, print them out at a place like Walmart or Walgreens, and put them in a cute photo book.

Step Count Challenge

I don’t know about you, but ever since I got my first FitBit years ago, I’ve been just slightly obsessive about the step count tracker on my watch. Sometimes that’s all the motivation I need to get moving just a little bit more (and I’ll admit to getting up and walking around the living room at 11:30 pm, just to get a few more steps).

You can get your kids in on the step counting by challenging them to see how many steps they can get on your daily walks. To help them keep track, you can pick up a cheap pedometer or even a cheap fitness-tracking watch. If they’re motivated by the numbers alone, beating their personal record might be motivation enough. If not, set a step goal for the day, and give them a small prize if they reach their goal every day for the week.

Go on a Story Walk

If your kids love telling stories, have them take turns making up a story as you walk. If you have more than one kid, have one start the story, and change storytellers whenever you turn a corner—or set a timer and switch every few minutes.

You can also choose an item or a place or an animal along your path and have them make up a story about it.

Or give each kid a role to play and have them act out their own story as they go. Maybe they’re explorers in outer space—or detectives trying to solve a mystery. Whatever you choose will spark their imagination and keep them engaged while getting some exercise, too.

Scavenger Hunt

Before you head out, give your kids a list of items to search for during your walk—and pack a pencil, so you can help them cross items off the list as they find them. Or let them take pictures of their items (again, here’s when a cheap camera comes in handy) Again, if you’ve got more than one kid, you can ramp up the competition by seeing who can spot the most items. You can even hand out different lists—or turn them into bingo cards.

Here are a few items that you can include:
Someone walking a dog
A fun mailbox
A yellow flower
A silly welcome mat
A green car
A butterfly
Someone wearing a hat
A kid on a scooter
Something orange
A chipmunk

If you want to involve the kids even more, have them come up with a list of items—and you can choose different items to search for each day.

Bring a Friend

A walk is always more exciting with a walking buddy. Have you kids invite a friend to come along on your walk—and have them join you for one of the activities above.

Sometimes you just need to add a little adventure to make a walk more fun—and, before you know it, you might have your kids looking forward to your daily walk as much as you do!

Do you have any other ideas to add to the list? We’d love to hear about them!