Motivating Little Feet to Move

We all know that it’s good for our children (and us) to get out into the fresh air and move, but sometimes it can be a little hard to convince them of that, especially if there are hills involved. Through our years of tramping we have come across a few handy things that can help you get everyone moving, and having a great time doing it.

In my last post I mentioned Pack Buddies. These are special little toys that the kids can take with them on their adventures. They can be anything, but for ease they are best if they are small and easy to carry or stow in a pocket. Our kids have each made their own ‘Survival Tins’ that carry emergency survival bits, so we have either attached their Pack Buddy’s to the tin, or popped them inside.

Why are these little guys so great, well our kids love finding cool places for them to play in or take a ‘selfie’ with? If you have an old camera even better as the kids can take the photos themselves and may be even write a story about their adventures later.

We all know that it’s good for our children (and us) to get out into the fresh air and move, but sometimes it can be a little hard to convince them of that.

Another great (and free) option is the new craze of Rock finding (and hiding). Check out the Facebook page for your area, for example, ‘Nelson Rocks’ and you will see what I am talking about. The children try to find painted rocks around parks and reserves, or they can paint their own rocks and hide them for others to find. The only rule is that the rocks need to be sealed or ‘rain resistant’ so you can either use something like nail varnish or external paint (little test pots are great for this) or use a sealer which you can get from any hardware store. My kids have hidden some around Faulkners Bush Reserve here in Nelson and there are many more all over New Zealand.

Probably the most well-known fun thing to do is Geocaching. This used to be the reserve of GPS owners; however with the arrival of Smart Phones you can now download Geocache Apps which help you locate them. A Geocache is basically a wee box (or like) that you find using a GPS location. Although quite a few Geocache sites are now Paid Members Only, there are still a few free ones. The best ones to find are the Treasure Box ones, as usually inside there are trinkets that the children can swap for something else. Again these are just low cost things (great place to ditch the Happy Meal Toy!). So before going for a walk with the kid’s google Geocache and see what is in your area. Take a few wee trinkets to swap and get walking.

If you want more information on any of these things, feel free to pop in a see us at PackGearGo, check out the website & Facebook page or give us an email or call. We would love to hear any of your tips and trick for walking or camping with the kids so feel free to get in touch.