As a parent, you want your kids to experience the best of life. This means introducing them to habits that are good for them from an early age, like hiking. However, kids aren’t the best at navigating tough terrains or being consistent with their energy levels.

Training them to become a serious hiker means taking it slow at the start and starting them on the right comfortable hiking backpack, which is what this guide will help you out with. Let’s begin!

Some Basic Considerations

Let’s start by focusing on what’s most important: aligning your kids’ abilities to the hike you’re making them take. We recommend not taking kids below 6 or 7 onto hikes at all, and if you do, take them with you, be prepared not to expect much from them.

Toddlers and preschool kids are likely to feel tired and cranky very soon, which is why hiking doesn’t work for them. You should also research easy trails with no or very little uphill hiking, and make sure the weather is good too. There’s no excuse for endangering your kids!

Preparation Hikes

Preparing your kids for hikes is the way to go if you want to take them on a proper trail. Start with visiting local parks and getting them to walk through those with you. Bonus points if the park has the same kind of vegetation as the trail you’ve chosen to go to.

Seeing how your kid reacts to this kind of physical exertion can help you decide if this is even a good idea in the first place.

Making It Fun

The best way to make sure your children will deal with hikes in the first place is to make sure it’s fun for them too. Pointing out different things in the environment is a great way to do this. Make a list beforehand of animals, plants, and other things found on the trail you’ll be on, and make a hunting game out of it.

Keeping it fun for your kids also means tempering your pace and taking frequent breaks. No children will have fun huffing and puffing through a forest trail trying to keep up with your long legs and stamina. Pack some snacks and juice boxes and have a picnic while you’re at it to make sure it’s rewarding for them.

The Right Kind of Gear

When hiking with a kid, you may need to carry them through some parts and act as support during the hike. At the same time, you’ll also need extra supplies, like snacks (see above), and you can’t ask your child to carry them!

That’s why ultralight hiking gear is essential here. You’ll need comfortable hiking backpacks to carry all your stuff without feeling like the bag is pulling you back. Our online shop has everything you’ll need on that front.

Our lightweight backpack for hiking is just the thing for you. They’re designed to be ergonomically viable for just about any kind of hike while also affording you the freedom to balance your body as you need to. Check out our online shop today!