Why little? Because I have no experience incentivizing walks for big kids. I’ll revisit that in a few years.
In the meantime, I find myself trying to come up with creative ways to convince our five-year-old that yes, it is a good idea to go for a walk. It’s not that she has any problem with the outdoors, or dislikes walks as a rule. But when she only wants to swing, or draw with chalk, or doesn’t want to go out in the cold, or just needs a little boost to get going, sometimes I’ve got to think outside the box. (And yes, of course we let her swing and draw with chalk and all those other things. But walks are good for grown-ups, too!)
Difficulties with (my) little kids tend to occur very early in the walk (okay, basically just getting out the door) and sometime later during the last third or so. When the two-year-old was in a backpack carrier, the negotiations were limited to only one child, which helped. But now both kids are a bit big for that. So, here are some of the tricks that I have had success with.
- Choose a special sight as a highlight of your destination. This helps establish the point at which you’ll turn around, helping children understand the parameters of the walk. From October through early January, our neighbors’ displays of lights and inflatables have worked well. We even made a list of walk dates to tally how many times one yard’s Halloween horseman was upright as opposed to fallen over. Natural elements, such as large rocks that line the road, might be a place to stop and play for a few minutes before turning around.
- Surprise the child with a scavenger hunt for the second half of the walk. Little legs growing tired? “Hey, we have a special checklist to try to find things on the way home!” This only takes a minute or two to throw together before you head out. List items of interest (birds, a shed, a fence, a dog, etc.) on a small piece of paper, add boxes to check off, and bring a pen or pencil along. I find it’s helpful to add physical structures that I know we’ll pass at specific points on the return trip. This way, I can be assured that the scavenger hunt won’t be over two minutes after it’s begun. After all, that old shed is going to be all the way near the road we have to cross to return home, and it’s against the rules to check something off until you’ve actually seen or passed it.
- Watch the weather. If it’s sunny and you’re walking on a sidewalk or road, look for shadows of tree branches or power lines. Make it a game to walk only along the shadows, pretending to be a squirrel navigating tree limbs. Is this getting silly? Absolutely. Will it work? Most likely. And you might even find it as much fun as your child does.
- Watch the weather. Run-of-the-mill days are, well, run-of-the-mill. Rainy or snowy days are something else altogether. We spent part of New Year’s Day this year walking in the rain, and the kids loved it. Ditto for a snowy day shortly after, when there wasn’t yet enough snow on the ground to play in, but we still wanted to get outside. Snow also provides an opportunity to look for animal tracks, or, for very small toddlers, to discover the thrill of making footprints in the snow.
- Snacks. Bonus points for chocolate. A hodgepodge trail mix from whatever is in the pantry is sufficient, provided it includes some chocolate chips or other small chocolate bits. Parcel it out a little at a time. The key here is to offer the snacks as soon as you notice the child slowing down or beginning to tire, rather than once they’ve begun to complain. It’s not that it won’t work by that point, only that it’s better to pre-empt the whining. The snack might also be the promise of something once you’re home, like hot chocolate. Have I mentioned the importance of chocolate?
Now of course, success with any of this is predicated on the walk actually being an appropriate length and difficulty for the child in question. Ideally, you don’t need to make a game of every outing. But when you do, it’s better to have some fun with it than a debate about the merits of the desired walk.
When she was just past two, our daughter hiked a 600-foot mountain in Maine. I know, I know, 600 feet isn’t monumental, but when you’re barely three feet tall, it’s something. However, her cousins, aunt, and uncle were all there, and this was an Event. Most daily walks aren’t quite that exciting. But with a bit of effort, they can be enjoyable rather than a struggle.