Hiking Outdoors For the Whole Family
Getting exercise is getting harder and harder for some families. Televisions, video games, smart phones, other hand held devices, and computers are keeping a lot of people indoors.
While technology is a good thing, it has had a bad effect on our health. Find a day once a week when all of these things are put away so that you can go out as a family to get some fresh air and some exercise.
Though not everyone has room to move around, hiking outdoors is one great way to do something together and to learn something along the way too.
Before you decide to go hiking, make sure everyone has the right stuff. You don’t have to have a lot to go hiking, which makes it a great activity for any family, but you do have to have decent shoes.
You can buy shoes made just for hiking outdoors, but you don’t have to. Just make sure you have shoes with good tread and if possible, ones that offer ankle support. Light clothing that covers the legs is a good idea too, though you may have that around the house already.
Bushes and twigs can really do a number on your skin so you want to keep it covered without overheating. Don’t forget to get water bottles for everyone, if you do not already have them.
There is some summer days when doing a lot outside is not a good idea because you can overheat. However, hiking outdoors is usually good on most days, as long as you are under the cover of trees.
Not only is the temperature lower in the woods, there is plenty of shade and a breeze moving through most of the time.
If the temps are high, take plenty of water and make sure you are hiking outdoors in an area where there are a lot of trees and even a stream that you can wade through if you get too hot. Most great hiking trails offer these things naturally.
Older children may not care too much about what they see when they are hiking outdoors, or at least they will pretend they don’t care, but younger children may get really excited about what they can find.
You can have a scavenger hunt along the way, with many of the things you would find in the woods being on the list. Add different types of leaves common to your area to the list, along with things like moss, tree mushrooms, ferns, colored rocks, and anything else you can think of that can be found near your home. Kids will have tons of fun trying to find everything along the way.
Your family may look at you funny when you suggest hiking outdoors, but don’t let that stop you. Everyone today can use more exercise, and the sunlight and fresh air is good for your health.
You can start of slow with hiking trails that do not have steep climbs and that do not take hours to complete. As you progress, you can go for more interesting hikes for longer periods.
Pretty soon hiking outdoors will just be another thing that you do as a family, and everyone will be little healthier because of it.
