Introducing your Child to Wonder of Nature

Introducing your Child to Wonder of Nature

Introducing your child to the wonders of nature is one thing­–helping them enjoy themselves while preserving your own sanity on a backpacking trip is quite another.
Most parents view backpacking with a child as an arduous, masochistic experience by which Mom carries her screaming infant or drags her whining toddler (or both of them!) up a dusty trail, while Dad shoulders a hundred-pound pack containing gear for the entire family. While this style of family hiking may not lead directly to divorce, it’s certainly going to be unpleasant.

So, let’s do it a different way: we’d like to offer some ideas and insights for parents that have not yet made the plunge into backpacking / camping with their kids and are still blessed with naiveté. At the same time, maybe we can help those that have already experienced the pain and rage of doing it the hard way. And hopefully, even you moms and dads capable of planning and executing flawless adventures with your kids can extract some tidbits to help you on your next hike. (Note: if you fall into this last category, don’t tell anybody – they won’t believe you).