The biggest mistake adults make when hiking with kids is treating the trail like a destination to be completed. Kids don't care about completing things. They care about what that weird bug is doing, why that tree is growing sideways, and whether the creek has frogs in it. The moment you start competing with those questions instead of incorporating them, you've already lost.
The best hikes with kids aren't shorter versions of adult hikes. They're a completely different kind of experience — slower, weirder, and usually more memorable for everyone involved. Here's how we structure our Pica Walks to keep young hikers genuinely engaged.
Give Them a Mission
Kids move through terrain differently when they have a purpose. Without something to focus on, the trail is just walking. With a mission, it becomes an expedition. There are a few reliable formats.
The Nature Scavenger Hunt
Before you head out, write a list of things to find along the trail — not difficult or rare things, but specific enough to require attention. Something feathery. A hole in a tree. Evidence that an animal has been here. Something that smells interesting. Three different shapes of leaf. A track in the mud.
The list works best when it's observational rather than collectible — you're looking for things, not taking them. It keeps kids scanning the environment the whole time, which is exactly the attention habit that makes a good naturalist.
The Camouflage Game
This one works well in forested terrain. One person closes their eyes and counts to thirty while everyone else finds a hiding spot somewhere visible from the counting spot — but camouflaged by terrain, vegetation, or stillness. The goal isn't to be invisible; it's to blend in. When the counter opens their eyes, they have sixty seconds to spot everyone they can without moving.
Beyond being good fun, the game builds genuine awareness of how animals conceal themselves and what "stillness" actually feels like in a wild space. We use it regularly on Pica Walks and it never gets old.
Bring Tools That Change What They See
A child with a tool becomes a scientist. A few simple pieces of kit transform what kids notice and remember on a trail.
Binoculars
Even a basic pair of binoculars opens up the trail completely. Birds that would otherwise be invisible in the canopy become identifiable. A raven's eye detail. The texture of a distant cliff face. The far bank of the river. Kids take binoculars seriously — there's something about putting them to your face that signals I am doing real observation now.
Hand Lens / Loupe
A 10x hand lens is one of the best nature tools ever made and costs almost nothing. Lichen, moss, the structure of a feather, the surface of a leaf — they all become completely different objects under magnification. Insects become aliens. The grain of weathered wood becomes a landscape. Kids who've never used one are usually instantly hooked.
Get one per kid if you can. Sharing creates conflict on a trail where every step reveals something new to look at.
Make Something
Combining physical movement with making something produces a particular kind of satisfaction that pure observation doesn't. These activities are also good "anchor" stops — they give kids a reason to stay in one spot for ten minutes, which often means they're sitting still long enough to actually see wildlife moving around them.
Nature Drawing
Bring a small sketchbook and pencils. Ask kids to draw something specific they found — not from imagination, but from observation. A feather. The way a lichen looks on a rock. A track in the mud. The process of drawing something slowly forces a kind of attention that looking rarely does. It doesn't matter if the drawing is accurate. What matters is the sustained looking.
Leaf and Flower Pressing
A simple plant press — or even just folded paper inside a heavy book — lets kids collect specimens to examine and identify later. The Yukon has a rich variety of wildflowers in summer: fireweed, Labrador tea, wild rose, yarrow, and more. Pressing a flower isn't just craft; it starts a conversation about plant identification, habitat, and what pollinates what.
One good rule: only collect what's abundant. Don't press the only specimen of something. Teach this from the start and it becomes second nature.
Involve Them in Navigation
Kids who feel like participants in a journey rather than passengers through one behave completely differently on the trail. Giving a child the map — even if you're secretly navigating around them — creates investment. Ask them to tell you what's coming next on the route. Ask them to decide at the fork.
On our Pica Walks, we often ask younger guests to be the "trail leader" for a section of the hike — they set the pace, they spot the markers, and they call the rest stops. The change in engagement is immediate and usually quite striking.
Let Them Follow Their Curiosity
If a kid wants to stop and look at a beetle for four minutes, let them look at the beetle for four minutes. If they want to throw rocks in the creek for a while, and you have the time, throw rocks in the creek for a while. The trail isn't going anywhere. The schedule is a guide, not a mandate.
The kids who grow up loving wild places are almost always the ones whose early outdoor experiences were unrushed — where curiosity was the pace, not the obstacle.
Practical Notes for Family Hikes in the Yukon
- Snacks are fuel and motivation: Plan for more food than you think you need. Bring things that feel like rewards — trail mix with chocolate, fruit pouches, crackers with cheese — not just nutrition.
- Layer up: Kids stop generating heat the moment they stop moving. Have an extra layer immediately accessible, not buried in the bottom of a pack.
- Bug protection: From late May through August, bug spray is essential. A head net for each kid is not overkill on bush trails — it's just good sense.
- Set realistic distance expectations: A child's comfortable trail distance is roughly 1 km per year of age. A six-year-old doing a comfortable 6 km round trip is having a good day. Factor in the time you'll spend not walking.
- Celebrate everything: The first bird they identify. The track in the mud. Reaching a view. Finishing the trail. Small ceremonies of recognition matter and build the association between effort and reward that brings kids back outdoors.