Bio: I'm an avid hiker, long-time editor, and former infantry grunt who’s been taking his son on day hikes for nearly five years. Together we’ve scaled summits almost two miles high, crossed America’s driest deserts, and walked beneath trees soaring 15 stories over their heads.

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Rob Bignell's Blog

Activity for drive to trailhead: Your New Chief Navigator

Even if you’ve got your children excited about going on a day hike, you have to get them to the trailhead, probably in a motor vehicle. Sometimes those drives to a national forest, nature preserve, or state park can be long. You can keep kids’ spirits up by playing games or doing activities on the drive there. One such activity is having kids learn how to read maps by navigating for you.

They can provide instructions about when and which way to turn, for example, by reading a road…

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Posted on May 30, 2012 at 9:47am

Hiking games and activities for kids: Whichever Way the Wind Blows

Generally, exploring and discovery is enough for kids, but sometimes even they can grow bored with that and become restless. Remember that they naturally have shorter attention spans than adults.

Fortunately, there are lots of tried and true activities you can do on the trail that’ll keep kids from getting bored. Among them is Whichever Way the Wind Blows.

If there is a slight breeze, have your children identify which way the wind is blowing. Then have them identify…

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Posted on May 28, 2012 at 6:32pm

Hiking games and activities for kids: Hungry, Hungry Ants

Generally, exploring and discovery is enough for kids, but sometimes even they can grow bored with that and become restless. Remember that they naturally have shorter attention spans than adults.  

Fortunately, there are lots of tried and true activities you can do on the trail that’ll keep kids from getting bored. Among them is Hungry, Hungry Ants.  

Once you spot an ant hill, see if its inhabitants have a trail of workers leading away from their…

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Posted on May 22, 2012 at 8:02am

Getting reluctant kids excited about hike: Coloring pages

Most children will find fun the idea of a hike and explore. Still, kids can be fickle creatures. Their lack of knowledge and experience in the world often makes them cautious about suggested activities. And in today’s video game-oriented, 300-cable channel, Internet-connected world, some kids may be reluctant – or even afraid – to get outside.  

You want to sway kids to at least entertain the notion that a hike might be fun. If they hit the trail thinking a long stretch of…

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Posted on May 21, 2012 at 8:44am

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At 11:14am on December 7, 2011, Harmony said…: Hi Rob,

I would love it if you could do a guest blog on my website Taiga Trekkers. I run a free year round family hiking group in Anchorage, AK. Your insight would be great.

Thanks!

Harmony

At 8:44pm on November 20, 2011, Suz Lipman said…: Hi Rob! Warm welcome to C&NN Connect. I'm the forum host. I love the descriptions of your hikes. I'm glad you found us and hope you make yourself at home in discussions and groups. Our Natural Families Network will probably interest you, among others. We have a lot of folks there and elsewhere around the forum from Southern CA. I hope you'll share your activities, ideas and photos with us and find this a rich source of resources. For any questions about the network, see our FAQ page. Hope to see you here again soon. Cheers!

At 10:37am on November 14, 2011, Pablo Ramiro Peralta said…: Hi Rob!...Greetings and welcome to our network page...I hope that we can share and enjoy what we do for the love of nature......