Hiking is a popular activity for people of all ages and from all sorts of backgrounds. Whether you are young or old, hiking can be a fun activity to do, especially if you are doing it with the people you love.

With that said, if you are looking for a fun activity with your family, then consider going on a family hiking trip. It is a healthy and nice way to spend time with family.

In fact, there are several ways that families can enjoy hiking in the sun. Check them out below to find out more.

1. Find easy and feature-friendly hiking spots

If you are traveling with kids that are very young then you should plan out hiking trails that are easy to traverse for young kids. Aside from that, you should check if there are any sights to behold that your kids might enjoy looking at.

According to Gretchen Filart, “Choose a mountain that is easy enough for a child to hike, Brimming with magnificent landscapes…”

Even if you are not traveling with kids, but are traveling with people who are not used to the hike, then an entry-level sort of hiking trail is best. Having beautiful scenery to behold helps make all that walking easier too.

2. Prepare your checklist

Perhaps you are considering hiking with an overnight camping trip. When you are doing a camping/hiking trip, make sure that you prepare a checklist of things to bring beforehand.

Plan out when to buy a luggage and what kind, what types of food to bring, your tent, et cetera.

Sunscreen is important so you should make sure everyone has them. That way, the hike remains a pleasurable experience instead of a burning one.

3. Do nature drawing

One way to make sure that kids remain interested in hiking is by incorporating other activities alongside the hiking.

An activity that your kids love combined with hiking will make them associate hiking with positive things. Thus, you should give them notebooks and drawing tools and encourage them to do nature drawings.

Show them pretty things you encounter on the hike and urge them to start drawing these to help memorialize them.

In addition, you can also do trail history lessons. There are some trails with historical significance or interesting stories, which can add a new dimension of interest for your kids.

4. Hunt for animal footprints

A field guide can help you find other activities to do while you are hiking.

One such activity is hunting for animal footprints and identifying which type of animal makes them. You will also need a hiking tool that you can bring with you to better your hike is hiking sticks. You can take photos of these tracks or even have the kids draw them.

Doing this activity not only helps them get excited about hiking, but it also trains their minds when they are matching animal prints to the animal. That way, when they are hiking, it is not only their physical fitness that improves. 

5. Improvise Geocaching

Hiking can be an attractive prospect for your kids if you look for creative ways to make it feel more like an adventure. By making the activity more like a treasure hunt, then kids will look forward to getting to and walking all over the trail.

Do make sure that you monitor your kids as close as possible so that they do not end up bringing in caches that you did not plant yourself. Also, you would not want to miss any caches around that animals might find.

6. Forage for food

The field guide can not only help you identify all sorts of fauna in your hiking trail, but they can also help you identify all sorts of flora as well.

On that note, you should also teach your kids how to forage and look for plants in the wilderness that could be eaten.

Of course, it does not mean you should eat them straight up because it is better to be safe. You can even look for plants that specific animals eat and show those instead to your kids.

7. Have fun while camping

When you are hiking and camping, there will be moments in between where you are not doing any of those two activities. You are going to need some other activities to fill in these gaps, which is why it is good to think up camping games beforehand.

One shortcut is to bring card or portable board games with you on the trip so that you and your family can enjoy nature while playing some good old competitive games.

8. Stop and savor the moment

Hiking does not mean that you should only be moving and walking the trail all the time. After all, it is not a competition.

So take your time and enjoy the scenery that you have before you. Not to mention that you should also enjoy the time you get to spend with your family.

Breathe in the fresh air and feel the wind blows and the sun’s rays on your skin (but not too much!).