short hike with toddler daughter today

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Foilist

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I'm trying to get my 2 1/2 year old daughter to develop an interest in the outdoors, so I regularly take her for walks in the woods behind my house. This time I added to the fun (for both of us) by making hot cocoa on a small homemade alcohol stove and building a small fire. I taught her th importance of being extra careful around these things.

I also got to put my new Helle Futura to work.:thumbup: I was going to make a little shelter too, but she was ready to go back home by then. On a side note, that Helle is awesome! Easily the sharpest knife I've handled and that scandi grind is so simple to maintain. Too bad the sheath sucks - I need to investigate alternatives.

Sorry there's no pics - my little hiking buddy somehow managed to destroy our digital camera awhile back.:grumpy:

Those of you with toddler-sized kids; what do you do together with them in the woods?
 
I do the exact same thing you did, Foilist, although I didn;t start my daughter until she was almost 5. I started out, too, with hot chocolate and roasted sausages. When I cooked her first egg-in-the-shell, in the fire, and she ate it, she was hooked!
 
The main thing is to get them out hiking and loving it. Go in good weather, once my son discovered grasshoppers in the mountains, he was hooked. Quite the little hunter!

When they get old enough, give them little backpacks they can carry a couple of toys in. That, plus I make them a survival necklace that they have to wear if they want to go hiking. Right now it's just a whistle, but will have more added to it as they get older. I like the necklace, because I can quickly verify they have their whistle.
 
I love walking in the woods with my 2-year old. We look for birds and check the Peterson's Field Guide. We even feed chickadees in one of the town parks where they are super tame. They eat right out of your hand. Different shaped leaves can be lots of fun to collect. Touching the bark of different trees is simple but seems to interest my son a lot. Water is great fun and he loves chucking rocks for long stretches of time. Catching a frog, newt or a creepy-crawlie is amazing. Just turn over a rotten log and see what's under there. We also play "I wonder" about all sorts of things like "I wonder what animal lives down this hole" or "I wonder what bird made that call" or "I wonder what we'll see next." I try to answer lots of his questions and he retains quite a bit, but there's value in saying "I don't know." It makes a kiddo realize that there's a big world out there and that it's ok to not know something. I find that if I make a big deal out of the smallest thing, he picks up on it. Enthusiasm is contageous. We go slow because of his short legs and it gives me a great opportunity to stop and smell the roses and find joy in the things that we don't often take the time to notice. Have fun!
 
That's an excellent idea about a necklace with a whistle for safety. I have also explained to her that she may not go in the woods alone (for now), and that she cannot get lost if she sticks to the trails back there (in case she gets back there alone somehow anyway).

She also has a toy canteen, flashlight, and toy SAK for her amusement. In a few years she can have a real one.
 
I forgot to mention, you can make the neckace out of 550 cord...:D For this purpose, I use the fake (1 strand) paracord in pink or some other obnoxiously visible color.
 
Foilist said:
I'm trying to get my 2 1/2 year old daughter to develop an interest in the outdoors, so I regularly take her for walks in the woods behind my house. .....
Those of you with toddler-sized kids; what do you do together with them in the woods?
Click to expand...

I'm also helping my kids (7, 3, and 18 months) develop a love of the outdoors. It's a little harder when you live in a residential area, and have to go somewhere to find woods.

When we go out, it's not about exercise or covering ground. I really try to help them have fun. We look for any animals/birds/insects we can find, use sticks to poke in holes, throw rocks in water, etc.

I bought a simple slingshot, and help them shoot rocks at water or trees, and they really like that. I cut down cat tails so they can play with the fuzz, cut walking sticks for them (good reason to carry a big knife!) to play with, and have recently started teaching them about fire making. I find I have a bit to learn there, too, so it's a good time for all of us.

I think that just spending time outdoors with your kids will help them learn to appreciate the wilds. They will associate hiking/camping with being with Dad, and that will be special.
 
We spend a lot of time in our .2 acre back yard. We've got a tarp setup, a small wood pile, and a little camp fire spot.

I've been testing out a lot of knives lately, so my son loves to take the remains and organize them in piles. He also likes to "plant" the feather sticks around the yard.

We've also been experimenting with cooking:
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He really enjoyed helping me find the right pieces of wood. He likes to make roads out of sticks, and just pretend. It's our "dude time".

He loves his flashlight, and we are working on making him some wooden tools now. A pretend ax, knife, and he also wants a wooden laser!

We got him some cheap bug vacuum at Wal-Mart, which works ok, but just looking for bugs and creatures he loves:
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I've learned I need to involve him, and not have any big goals, like MountainMan38 said, it's about fun! Which is hard for me when I've just got limited time, and I want to test something out or practice something. Here he is helping me stain our new canoe rack:
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And he loves to fish, but only for so long. My father in law takes him, and the goal is to catch fish, but they both get frustrated quick, because my son just wants to check stuff out:
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Keep up the good work! (My son loves his plastic SAK too!)
 
I have two post-toddlers.

Today, they LOVE the woods. My 6 year old was severely grumpy after I cancelled Sunday's hike: they both *just* got over bronchitis, and we had freezing rain all morning. I can't risk them missing more school, so I called off our outing and heard about it for an hour.

Back then, we would go for walks of varying lengths in the forest. Here's what we would do:

1. Select a "good" walking stick. Definition of good: whatever the toddler thought was good. They develop pretty finnicky criteria fast! It's gotta be the right length, the right weight, the right straightness... until they find a better one ten feet away.

2. Animal tracks. God, they loved this. Find a track--even from a hiking dog--and ask them to imagine what kind of animal it was, what direction he was walking, and (be ready for creative answers here) what he was "doing" when he made the track. My older boy used to come up with these wildly inventive stories about the animal looking for his friends because he was late for a party, etc.

3. Spot wildlife. You might not see otter, eagles, or fishers... but remember they get just as excited about frogs, squirrels, and robins! Maybe I should be, too!

4. Look at trees. Point out trees and have them describe to you the differences between them. Pretty soon they're not trees, but pines, and firs, and maples, and elms... they don't remember the names, but see each tree as unique in its place.

5. "Bam" rocks. My younger son enjoyed this activity. Walk along a trail, see a small rock in the path, and whap it with your walking stick. Drives dad nuts, but when you're a toddler, that's just an awesome activity. Bugs, flowers, brother, and mom are off limits from bamming. Just small stones, and only those already on the trail.

6. Stare at water. Creeks, rivers, falls, gullies, ponds, and lakes. These can mesmerize a tyke for minutes! Have them describe what they see.

In other words, just develop their sense of appreciation.

You will never regret what you're introducing your daughter to. Never.
 
Hey Folist. Great job man. I take my daughter out every chance I get. The hot cocoa is a great move. Also make her a lil walking stick, my daughter loves that as well. She helps me gather firewood also. She runs around yelling; "if it doesn't snap throw it back"
 
My daughter is seven, but we get out a lot. She has her own backpack with food and some basic supplies that she takes with her.
My wife's best friend has a two-and-a-half-year-old, and she loves to go outdoors with me. I gave her a necklace with a whistle (hmm, common thing I guess) and a mirror attached so she doesn't get lost, and we run around their 8-acre wooded property. Playing hide-and-seek in a contained environment that big is really fun for the both of us, and of course we spot animals and bugs and such. She wanted to guess what animals made what kind of poop on the ground, so we played that. We see who can find the first ant hill or the tallest tree, and occasionally we cook over a fire. This kind of stuff makes me want more kids :)
 
Wonderful man. We have taken our daughters into the wilderness since they were babies:), they are now 13 and 18 and they often Lead The Way :)

Bring flashlights, bug-eez,blankets and their favorite soups,( ours are cream of mushroom, tomato and grilled cheese sandwiches and cream of chicken :) )

Books about trees, butterflys, flowers and stars are always cool.

Have fun and be safe
Mark and my girls
 
When my kids were small[teenagers now], We would go on walks in the woods and I would make duct tape bracelets for them with the sticky side out and let them stick whatever leaves,flowers, sticks, rocks, bugs etc that attracted their attention to their "nature bracelets". Which were then taken home to show mom and to stick on the fridge until such time they could be discreetly thrown away. My kids still remember doing it---KV
 
My only son is just under 2 yo. He likes to play in the yard, but if I want to go on a walk with him, it is usually like this...

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Next spring I plan on getting him out MUCH more.
 
I used to take a youngster for hikes it was great .A wonderfull opportunity to teach. I found out that he wasn't interested when his mother took him for a hike - she just stuck to the logging roads while I went through the woods !!!
 
Very good all, God bless you and your children. I have naught. :rolleyes: My twin brother took my nephew "camping" years ago (He is in Law school now) ;must have been five years old then, with the obligatory whistle on a neck lanyard. They had the serious talk about getting lost and blowing the whistle and waiting for Daddy,etc. Brother had no more than turned around to fiddle with ther tent than TWEET TWEET! . There was the tadpole 20 feet away behind a bush just tweeting away for dear life!:) They do listen. My wife tells me to be careful what I say, they really hear you!
 
Since I'm stuck in a chair for a while, I've been working with my son on putting together a little hiking/survival bag for him to take with us.

I just remember that we also have a fishing vest w/ about 10-15 pockets that we take on hikes too. My son LOVES to keep little rocks, sticks, and things. All the pockets make for lots of different options. We bring them home and have some piles outside. Helps to get him involved.
 
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