Get Your Kids Hiking: How to Start Them Young and Keep it Fun!

by Jeff Alt

Overview

Hiking is a great way to relax, connect with nature, and enjoy time with your family. Bringing your kids along can be rewarding for you and for them, but it can also add new challenges and concerns to your trip. Get Your Kids Hiking is loaded with everything you need to know to hit the trail with kids; from gear to simple proven techniques that will make your hike safe and fun. Written with both the novice and the seasoned hiker in mind, Jeff Alt provides all the information you need to take your child out on the trail.

This books offers:

• Age-appropriate ways to include your child in all aspects of the hike
• Checklists of what to pack for any type of hike
• Kid-friendly menus
• Advice for hiking with a child who has special needs.

Get Your Kids Hiking is the playbook to inspire an appreciation for the great outdoors in your children and keep your young child or teenager interested in a family hiking trip.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780825306518
Publisher:	Beaufort Books, Incorporated
Publication date:	04/27/2013
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Jeff Alt's adventures have been featured on ESPN, Hallmark Channel, in the AP, and more. Alt is a celebrated author and a talented speaker. He is the author of Four Boots One Journey, Get Your Kids Hiking, and A Walk for Sunshine. A Walk for Sunshine, won the Gold in the 2009 Book of the Year awards sponsored by Fore Word Reviews, it took first place winner in the 2009 National Best Books Awards Sponsored by USA Book News, and won a Bronze in the 2010 Living Now Book Awards sponsored by Jenkins Group. Get Your Kids Hiking won the Bronze in both the 2014 Living Now Book Awards, and the 2013 IndieFab Award in Family and Relationships. Alt is a member of the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA). He has walked the Appalachian Trail, the John Muir Trail with his wife, and he carried his 21-month old daughter across a path of Ireland.

Table of Contents

1 Give Your Kids Those First Steps on the Trail

And You Will Give Them a Skill and a Healthy Habit That Will Last a Lifetime 1

2 Start 'Em Young, Really Young

Hiking Fun with Your Infant: Birth to Six Months 7

3 Precious Pounds on Your Back

Explore the Outdoors with Your Baby and Toddler: Six to Thirty-Six Months 23

4 Child-Directed Hiking

Discovering the Trail with Your Preschooler: Three to Four Years 37

5 Adding Miles

Covering More Ground with Your School-Age Hiker: Five to Twelve Years 47

6 The Capstone Hiking Years

Reaching New Heights with Your Teenager: Thirteen to Eighteen Years 61

7 Everyone Has a Place on the Trail

Including the Hiker with Special Needs 75

8 See You in a Few Days!

Backpacking with Kids 87

9 Think Food! Think Water! Think Fun!

Tips and Menus for Drinking and Dining Out, Literally, on the Trail 97

10 No Bites! No Bum!

Keep Your Kids Safe from Bugs and Sun 109

11 Becoming a Seasoned Hiking Caregiver

Some Skills and a Little Knowledge Can Go a Long Way on the Trail 117

12 Everything but the Kitchen Sink!

Clothing, Packs, Footwear, Sleeping Bags, Stoves, and More 139

13 Hike with a Team

Utilize the Amazing Services and Resources Offered by Our Parks and Trail Associations 157

14 Not Me, but Us

Thoughts for Seasoned Hikers and All Caregivers Hiking with Kids 165

Glossary 173

Appendix 1 Day-Hiking Gear Checklist for the Caregiver 177

Appendix 2 Backpacking Gear Checklist for the Caregiver 181

Appendix 3 Gear Checklist for the Birth to Six-Month-Old Hiker 185

Appendix 4 Gear Checklist for the Six- to Thirty-Six-Month-Old Hiker 188

Appendix 5 Gear Checklist for the Three- to Four-Year-Old Hiker 192

Appendix 6 Day-Hiking Gear Checklist for the Five-to Twelve-Year-Old 195

Appendix 7 Backpacking Gear Checklist for the Five-to Twelve-Year-Old 199

Appendix 8 Day-Hiking Gear Checklist for the Thirteen-to Eighteen-Year-Old 203

Appendix 9 Backpacking Gear Checklist for the Thirteen-to Eighteen-Year-Old 207

Appendix 10 First-Aid Kit 211

Appendix 11 "Take a Hike" Song Lyrics 214

Suggested Reading 216

Resource List 218

Acknowledgments 225

Editorial Reviews

Get Your Kids Hiking provides tips on gear and motivation to help families with kids of all ages get outside to hike. — Terry Gardner, Los Angeles Times

Love the book Get Your Kids Hiking and your kids will love you for reading it... — Jenell Walton, ABC TV The List

This handy guide gives tips on getting the whole family outdoors and on the nature trail... — Amy Phelps , MOV Parent Magazine

Get Your Kids Hiking is written in a casual style... It is chock full of practical advice for parents with kids of all ages and abilities — Brent Coleman, The Cincinnati Enquirer

Get Your Kids Hiking by Jeff Alt is the perfect book if you want to get your kids out on the trail. Alt and his wife are seasoned hikers, having hiked the Appalachian Trail and the John Muir Trail in Yosemite National Park in California. Now their kids come along, so they've thought through what it means to travel with little ones. Different chapters are dedicated to each age group, from little bitties to teens, and they provide ideas for everything from gear to grub. As someone who loves to hike but is more on the novice side, I'll be using this as reference guide. — Jane Schneider, Memphis Parent Magazine

...I loved Jeff Alt's forthcoming book, Get Your Kids Hiking: How to Start Them Young and Keep it Fun! In the book, the Cincinnati based author offers tips and tricks on age-appropriate ways to include your child in all aspects of a hike, checklists of what to pack for any type of hike and advice for hiking with a special needs child. In short, he presents the Appalachian Trail of books about family travel outdoors... — Matt Villano, The Wandering Pod and former travel blog writer for Parents Magazine

...Excellent tips from an experienced hiker on how to...[hike with] even the tiniest babies...Written for the novice and seasoned hiker in mind. — Foreword Reviews

Having kids can inspire a parent. They inspired Jeff Alt to write a book about how to interest and motivate youngsters to try hiking, and how to equip them for it... — John McCoy, The Charleston Gazette

Jeff Alt, hiking expert, has written what may be the most comprehensive, readable and inspiring book ever focused on getting kids hiking. This will be...invaluable for families — and for outdoor programs and environmental educators as well. And Get Your Kids Hikingis the perfect size and weight for your day pack! — Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder and The Nature Principle.

...Get Your Kids Hiking...offers an easy to use guide for any adult wanting to take children into the outdoors. The chapters are easy to read and to reference. There are great tips on how to make the trail fun and safe for all ages. More than ever, it is important to expose our children to the benefits of the wilderness and Jeff Alt's guidance in this book will allow you to confidently take kids into the backcountry. — Jennifer Pharr Davis, author of Becoming Odyssa: Adventures on the Appalachian Trail and Called Again: Love and Triumph on the Appalachian Trail.

From the Publisher