Kids’ Corner
Welcome to the Kids’ Corner!
Hiking is fun for people of all ages. Not only is it a great way to explore all that nature has to offer, but it helps keep you healthy. Get into the hiking spirit with these fun activities that you can use both on and off the trail!
Coloring Contests
American Hiking Society’s Coloring Contest is brought to you by LOWA Kids. Children ages 1 to 12 can enter to win a prize pack featuring great products from LOWA Boots and American Hiking Society. The contests will run year round, with new entry forms being posted every few months. Winning entries will be posted on this page when each contest ends, so be sure to check back regularly! Click on the picture below to download the PDF entry form.
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Winning Entries – Coloring Contest -Winter 2013
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Entry from Christian Miguel age 11 |
Entry from Cindy Tsou age 12 |
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Entry from Baylee Hill age 5 |
Entry from Trinity Hill age 5 |
Hiking Crafts & Activities
| Nature Box – This is a great way to associate nature with colors and to practice the idea of reusing items you would normally throw away. Take an old egg carton and paint each spot a different color. When you go out for a hike, find natural souvenirs that match each color painted in the egg carton. Hold onto the items in your egg carton until the end of your hike so you can see how many you were able to collect. When leaving to go home, scatter the items back onto the forest floor so that you are following Leave No Trace principles. |  |
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Walking sticks – Before a hike, find a walking stick that is appropriate to your height. Bring sticks home and paint them different colors. Get creative with different shapes, patterns, and words. When sticks are dry, take them on hikes with you over and over again! | |
| Mystery Bag – Bring a brown paper bag on your next hike. When you’ve stopped for a rest break, collect items such as acorns, rocks, pine cones, fallen leaves, etc. Once these are all collected, place your hand into the bag and try to guess what item you are touching without looking. Scatter them again before going home so that you are following Leave No Trace principles. |  |
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Hiking Bingo – Set up a standard BINGO board filled with items you may see on a hike, such as a flower, bird, plant, tree, etc. First person to get BINGO gets to be leader on the hike and call out what items they see along the trail until the next person gets BINGO. | |
| ABC’s in Nature – Starting with the letter “A”, name something you see in nature starting with each letter of the alphabet. For example, acorn starts with “A”, bug starts with “B”, and so on. This might get tricky when you come to letters “X” & “Z”…Good Luck! |  |
Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts
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The BSA is saluting 20 years of trail work by issuing a special patch that can be purchased by Scouts and Scouters who will be participating in a National Trails Day event anytime in 2012. The National Trails Day 20th Anniversary Patch will be sold in ScoutStuff stores beginning in May. Schedule a trail cleanup and wear this patch to show the world your commitment to keeping our trails clean! |
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Girl Scouts of the U.S.A. (GSUSA) helps girls of courage, confidence and character who help make the world a better place. There are 3.6 million girl and adult members throughout the United States, including U.S. territories, and in more than 90 countries through USA Girl Scouts Overseas. As part of the Girl Scout Law, girls pledge to do their best “to use resources wisely.” Girl Scout outdoor and environmental programs such as Linking Girls to the Land help girls become leaders of national and local conservation projects focused on environmental education, volunteer service, outdoor skills development, and career exploration. |
Activities from Our Sponsors
| The North Face® Planet Explore is an online community designed to help individuals and families learn about and participate in outdoor activities and events in their area. Check out the calendar of events for some fun things happening in your area. |  |
| REI® has everything you need for outdoor family fun: tips, classes, games, trail maps, and more! |  |
Great Reads for Kids & Parents!
| Looking for some great trails that even your youngest kids can handle? Check out the Families on Foot series published by FalconGuides. Best Easy Day Hikes: Sedona is the first title to be issued in the Families on Foot series, with more to follow soon. These books include family-friendly hikes and easy-to-follow maps that will help guide you through the trail. |  |
The Trail Hound’s Handbook, published by Wilderness Press®, is written specifically for kids. This handbook aims to turn kids on to nature and hiking by introducing them to the highly skilled, naturally enthusiastic trail guide that is the family dog. The book encourages kids who are 8-15 years old to venture out, whatever their level of hiking experience, empowering them with:
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Hiking with Kids, published by FalconGuides, provides parents with practical advice and solutions for sharing the joys of the great outdoors with children – from infants to toddlers to teens. Learn how to prepare for an outdoor trail excursion, be it an hour’s walk or an overnight hike. Inside you’ll find expert guidance on:
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| Oh, Ranger! True Stories from our National Parks – This book contains a collection of exciting stories told directly by the experts – national park rangers. It provides an insider’s view into the most beautiful and culturally significant treasures in America. Published by American Park Network in partnership with The Employees Alumni Association of the National Park Service. Even better, all proceeds of this book support park education programs! |  |
| Need a good scary story to tell to youngsters—or to anyone, young or old, who wants a little fright before going off to sleep in the great outdoors? Nothing goes better with gooey s’mores and a glowing campfire than a good ghost story, and FalconGuide’s Campfire Stories: Things That Go Bump in the Night is a collection of scary classics and frightening folktales that will send shivers up anyone’s spine. |  |
| FalconGuide’s Campfire Tales: Ghoulies, Ghosties, and Long-Leggety Beasties – A crackling fire, the smell of s’mores, an eerie howl in the distance. Refresh your childhood memories with some good old-fashioned horror stories that you can share with your kids. Also included are 10 tips that can make you a great story teller!Backpacker Magazine’s Hiking and Backpacking with Kids – Discover all the information needed to safely and successfully hike and camp with kids, from infants to teenagers. This volume explains what to pack, games to play, kid-favorite food and snacks for the trail, and other tips and tricks to make a family hiking outing the best it can be. |  |