*Or How to Make a Walk Interesting For Kids. Because while you may think Little People can’t help you hit the big target, you're about to be surprised.
Unless you’re extremely lucky, very few things will make the heart of the average six-to-twelve-year-old sink faster than the words, “Let’s go for a walk”.
A walk is boring. A walk is not swimming, or football or bouncing, or quality time with a PlayStation. It is a very hard sell. But it doesn’t have to be. The simplest thing is to call it something else. Like this…
A Gruffalo hunt
Find a walk with woods, rocks or caves and instantly there’s the imagined possibility of
a fearsome beast lurking in the halfworld. The Forestry Commission has Gruffalo Trails at key sites around the country, inspired by the books by Julia Donaldson (www.forestry.gov.uk/gruffalo). But often, imagination alone will do the trick. All it takes is a growly “Hrrrrrggghhhh” noise at the right moment.
A close encounter
Genuine wildlife can be even more exciting than mythical. From beetles to butterflies, almost every country park and nature reserve in the country has a unique natural history story to tell. Both the National Trust and Forestry Commission run lists of places to spot red squirrels, while most formal parkland can be trusted to contain a herd of camera-friendly deer. Owl trails,
bat-box checking, spring lamb feeding, seal-spotting: it’s very probably all on your doorstep. Or look up your nearest RSPB reserve; they are brilliantly set up for kids: www.rspb.org.uk
An adventure
Books and films can be a great way to unlock a landscape. VisitBritain has a complete map of Harry Potter film locations (including Hogwarts School and the route of the Hogwarts Express), while the Antrim Coast inspired a lot of Narnia. Ashdown Forest in Sussex became the 100 Aker Wood in Winnie the Pooh, Coniston in the Lake District was the setting for Swallows and Amazons, the River Thames near Pangbourne was the home of Ratty and Mole in The Wind in the Willows, while most of Michael Morpurgo’s work (including War Horse) is set in the Devon countryside. Read, follow, discover – and become part of the story.
An expedition
Got one that’s hooked on devices? Then show him/her that a phone can do more than they think. Show them how to plan a route on an app, plot the highlights, the viewpoints and the picnic stops, and then put them in charge of following it; you’ll be amazed how quickly they take ownership of the gig and become map-savvy. And a little bit bossy.
A treasure hunt
Geocaching: treasure-hunting with GPS. No special equipment needed, you can
do it off the free Geocaching phone app (or get access to hundreds more with the premium version). Tens of thousands of little Tupperware containers, film canisters and ammo boxes are hiding in the UK countryside (there’s probably at least one within a mile of your house). Kids can track them down, open them up and swap the trinkets inside with something of their own. The joy of finding something weird and wonderful hidden in a tree stump or under a boulder is genuine – for kids of any age. Find out more at www.geocaching.com
A sweet treat
Get far enough ahead of a gullible Small Person and sneakily leave a Starburst or a packet of raisins on a gatepost. “Oh look, the Stile Fairies have been!” Then step back and witness the joy. And take Haribo for strategic deployment: that stuff’s like rocket-fuel, and you don’t need to worry about what happens to the energy like you do at home. And if all else fails, offer ice cream at the end. Even if it’s January, they still go for it.
An excavation
Go. To. Dorset. The Jurassic Coast is one of the world’s greatest locations for dinosaur fossils. Visit the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre (www.charmouth.org/chcc) and you can go walking with experts who regularly find the vertebrae of ichthyosaurs among the stones on the immense beaches that make up this spectacular coastline. Over 10 years, one patient chap found this entire scelidosaurus!
A star trek
A night-walk is epic. Pick a good night, take a couple of head-torches, and then turn them off when you reach a hilltop or forest clearing. That moment when you see a night sky carpeted with stars, and the Milky Way arcing through it all – just OMG, really. And you’ll see (or at least hear)
a lot more shy wildlife than you do in the daytime. For best results, try it in one of the UK’s designated Dark Sky Reserves; find the list at www.darkskydiscovery.org.uk
A Pokémon catch
There are Pokéstops in the countryside, you know. And there’s probably a Squirtle on top of Scafell Pike.
A friendship
Take a friend, a dog, or a friend’s dog. Take something or someone who isn’t usually there. A friendship forged or bolstered in the outdoors is like no other friendship in the world. And equally, on a walk – on any walk – parent and child lose all the barriers of humdrum daily interaction, and become actual proper friends. Promise!
