Keeping It Simple: The Essentials You Need When Hiking With Children

Keeping It Simple: The Essentials You Need When Hiking With Children | AD

Hiking always requires some preparation. When hiking with children, it’s even more important to be prepared with suitable gear for the occasion. It will make the hiking trip easier, more comfortable, and more fun for everyone involved. We’ve been hiking with our kids for many years now – everything from woodland hikes to reaching the summits of some of the tallest mountains in England. We learn new things every time, trying to perfect our packing. We like to keep it simple, while also having everything we need. Read on for our take on the essentials that you need when hiking with children.

A Backpack for Every Person

Everyone should have their own hiking bag with their own gear, food and water. As soon as children are old enough, they should carry their own backpacks. Even a toddler can carry a small back to get used to the process. This adds independence and means the load is shared. It also means that your children don’t need to ask you every time they want a sip of water etc. as they’ll be in charge of their own stuff.

Having their own bag can also really help when hiking with neurodivergent children as it helps create familiarity and a sense of feeling in control.

Suitable Clothing & Footwear

Always check the weather forecast before any outdoorsy adventure and choose clothes accordingly. For warm weather, the kids usually wear thin cotton joggers and a thin long-sleeved t-shirt. We prefer thin clothes that cover more of the skin for sun and tick protection. A waterproof and wind-proof hooded hiking jacket is a must even if it looks like the weather is going to stay dry and warm. When you’re in the mountains the weather can change incredibly quickly and it pretty much always rains at some point. It’s also much windier and colder when you get to the top of a mountain.

For the same reason, we also pack a warm layer (such as a fleece), gloves, and sometimes a warm hat depending on the time of the year. A cap or sun hat for each child is also a must. Caps are great in rainy conditions too as they help keep the rain off your face.

Our children all wear kids’ hiking boots and thick hiking socks just like us. I always tell them to pop a spare pair of socks in their backpacks in case their feet get wet during the walk. Sometimes a puddle is deeper than it looks… If they don’t get used on the walk, they’ll be lovely to put on once you’re back at the car and ready to go home. We usually also have some trainers in the car so that all the muddy hiking boots can go in the boot of the car.

Food, Water, and Snacks

For any length hike, it’s a good idea to carry water to drink and some snacks. If you’re out over lunch time, take a simple packed lunch too. Food always seems to taste better enjoyed in nature! We usually take a bottle of water each (in insulated water bottles). For lunch, we usually do sandwiches, small bags of crisps, and something sweet like mini chocolate bars. Hiking makes you hungry and hungry kids (and grown-ups!) get cranky quickly so we usually pack some snacks too. These can be things like cereal bars, cashews, crackers, homemade energy balls, individually wrapped pancakes, and so on.

Something to Sit On

To be able to have a proper break and to rest our legs a bit when we have our lunch, we always take something to sit on too. Until recently, we packed a seat pad in everyone’s individual backpack but now we use our new PACMAT XL picnic mat from rubbastuff.

This brilliant picnic mat is more than big enough to fit us all but takes up less space than ONE of our seat pads which is amazing! It rolls up super-compactly and is lightweight too. It’s also waterproof, machine-washable, and can be pegged down (or hung up as a tarp). Additionally, PACMATs come in a wide range of sizes and fun designs, are made here in the U.K. from 100% recycled fabrics.

Sweets!

I know sweets are unhealthy and bad for your teeth but they are excellent for hiking. They are great for a quick energy burst when needed and also an excellent way to encourage children when tackling a more difficult trail such as up a really steep incline. It’s a bit of fun and a few sweets won’t do any harm. We usually opt for a bag of Haribo or Drumstick Squashies or similar as they’re easy and mess-free to eat on the go. They work a treat for motivation when everyone is starting to get tired!

Hygiene Items

Last on my list, are some hygiene essentials. What you’ll need will depend on your children’s ages and toilet-training stages (some might need nappies, or spare pants, for example). As a general rule, the below items are good to take with you when hiking with children:

• A small first aid kit (plasters, anti-septic wipes, painkillers, tweezers/tick removal tool, allergy medicine, bandage, etc.)
• Tissues (for wild wees and more)
• Wet wipes/hand wipes (for sticky hands and faces, and so on)
• Hand sanitiser

The following are nice to have too:

• Some biodegradable dog poo bags (in case nature calls or for taking home rubbish)
• Kiddiwhizz Whizzer which is excellent for kids who struggle to do wild wees
• Lint roller for quick tick control when hiking in areas where ticks are common

Collaboration.