hiking with kids - a few tricks to make it work

When the little ones start walking themselves... they're honestly not always super motivated. But with a few little tricks it is sometimes easier and you can overcome motivational lows during the hike. Everything tried and tested with our kids; -)

Let's start with the right equipment: When it comes to hiking boots, I would make sure that they are light... because a few grams more on children's feet make a big difference for the little ones. But even the right color of hiking shoes helped us :-)

When it comes to outfits, on the other hand, we leave the choice entirely to the little ones, hiking skirts and dresses are not always fully functional, but we have the most important things in our backpack anyway...

We always have enough to have a snack and drink with us on the go, because it's so easy to get them motivated with a little break ...

The choice of route should also correspond to the age in terms of duration and meters to walk up, so don't take the 3-year-old straight up the Imbachhorn (1,700 m ascent) ... in our area there are great child-friendly options, sometimes with more entertainment, such as at the wonderful Schmidolin's baptism of fire on Schmittenhöhe, Maiskogel hut round or with more nature, a simple forest is often the best entertainment.

Here are a few more ideas to make discovering the mountains fun for everyone: 1. Take your favorite toy with you: It's more fun when the little ones show little bear or rabbit the miracles of nature. 2. Even better - take children's friends with you... it's amazing how cool hiking becomes they have someone their age to chat with. 3. Role-playing games while hiking: the more the little ones concentrate on something else, the less they whine. So when Papa Wolf and Mama Wolf are out hunting and running away from the hunters, that's often enough for a few minutes of distraction. 4. Open your eyes and discover things along the way ... nature offers so much to explore. Large leaves as parasols, sticks for defense, stones as footballs, ... creativity knows no limits here. With older children, small tools such as magnifying glasses, a compass or a carving knife often help... make the hike your project!

5. Competitions: Who is faster around the next corner, who is the first to find a rock crystal, who... and you already forget how exhausting everything is....

6. Let the children do tasks that we usually do....like taking pictures, finding the way, reading maps, opening fence gates....

7. Plan enough time, because we want to have fun and are not on the run. With all the discoveries and breaks, it always takes much longer than expected... e.g a decent time buffer never hurts and de-stresses the day....

So .... we hope some of the tips will help you and wish you a lot of fun exploring the beautiful nature here in the mountain paradise of Zell am See Kaprun.

See you soon in the Kaprun village chalets!