Kids Having Meltdowns While Hiking? Here are 5 Tips to Help Prevent The Meltdowns.

By Jenny Trimble

My husband and I love getting away and going off somewhere to experience mountain views every fall. We’ve done this for the past 9 years. The first time we took our kids was not exactly what we had planned but it was during hurricaine Irma . At that time, we thought they were still too young. Our son was 2 and my daughter was 4. We ended up being pleasantly surprised at how much we all enjoyed our time.

Our children are now 8 and 6 and have a few years of hiking under their belts. Needless to say, we have learned a trick or two on how manage and even prevent meltdowns during our hiking adventures. Hope you find them helpful!

One of the overlooks. I know we were in North Carolina but can not recall what hike this was. 2017

1. Fuel up

Feed them a nice protein packed breakfast so they are nice and full or fueled up as I like to say. Then pack plenty of healthy filling snacks AND maybe even bring a FEW treats to have available for bribing purposes (I only encourage this in desperate situations of course)

Some things we like to pack for a hike:

· Carrots

· Apples

· Trail Mix

· Kid’s protein bars

· Triscuits

· Sandwiches

· Mixed nuts

· Jerky

· pretzels

· Plenty of water

Making sure you AND your child/children are well hydrated and fed can be one of your biggest preventers of meltdowns while hiking.

5 tips to prevent meltdowns Pinterest pin.png

We try to avoid high sugar snacks (like candy) and too many salty snacks. The high sugar can cause a spike in blood sugar subsequently comes the crash and too much salty snack food can make your child extra thirsty. Mixing food groups (apple + nuts or cheese stick + jerky) can help to satisfy their hunger and keep their blood sugars better balanced.

2. Give the kids their own MAP

We always make sure to grab a trail map when we hike along the Blue Ridge parkway. They have pamphlets specifically for kids. It has things like scavenger hunts/ different plants, animals and things that they can search for along the trail. For our 2019 vacation we purchased this fun outdoor guide from our kid’s book fair at school. You can search for it on amazon here if you don’t have a book fair coming up. We try to take advantage of every natural educational opportunity.

You can teach them how to read a Map. Show them where you are starting and highlight some obvious landmarks they can look for along the way. The excitement in their eyes when they find a landmark they located on a map is priceless.

3. Make up a fun chant. (this worked like a charm on our September 2020 trip)

My daughter and I were a “team” and she named us “Wolves” We would howl then do a funny handshake and wiggle our hips. She loved randomly doing this throughout our hikes (even at home she will randomly howl, I know, a little weird LOL). Then my husband and my son called themselves “Thunderbolts” That was a little annoying. Why? Because what they did is yell out “thunderbolts” and then toss something at us (like a small stick or a stone). My husband was always gentle, but my son was another story but of course the kids loved it! We have different team names depending on what partner we have. When my son is my partner we are the “Lovies” we blow lots of kisses and air hugs. It makes for some cute moments along the hike this year while we were hiking Grandfather Mountain my daughter and I yelled Wolves and did our thing. My son and husband yelled out “thunderbolts” and chased us for a while down the trail to throw the sticks at us. It was so fun.

Disclaimer: I take no responsibly for any injuries that occur due to this tip ;)

4. Have some Gadgets on hand

This can include:

· Binoculars

· Compass

· Paracord bracelets

· Journal and pencil

· Flashlight

· Walkie-Talkies

· LifeStraw

· Hat

· Sunglasses

If you’d like a Must have packing list for your kids hiking pack click here.

5. Take breaks often

One mistake we made while hiking on one of our trips, was pushing the kids to keep going and getting frustrated every time they wanted to stop or started to complain.

What we do now, is once we see they are slowing down (or even before we see this) we have them set a timer on their watches for 15 mins and once it goes off we stop for 5 minutes (give or take).

Before they had their own watches we would use the trail blazes as a stopping point or say once we see a log we can sit on. Then they had excitement about being the first to find a sitting spot on the trail ahead.

WARNING: Be cautious of whatever activities you suggest or fun gadgets you pullout. If you as the adult, are tired and trying to get through the trail, the kids can get very distracted and want to stay in one area for a much longer than you could want.

One suggestion can be, setting a time limit. Example “let’s take 5 minutes to explore and see who can find three cool things you don’t normally see at home” giving them a heads up that they will get another opportunity further down the trail.

Tools & ideas for negotiating with your little terrorists, I MEAN your kids ;)

· Take turns playing the line leader

· For every trail the kids do, they earn a badge or pin to place on their hiking backpacks. The gift shops have a plethora of fun things. They sell pins too that they can add to walking sticks. Our kids love earning their badges and definitely helps them with motivation.

· Offering them to get a special treat when they reach a certain milestone

Meet Wolfie and Ottie earned from their hike up Grandfather Mountain.

This past year we went to Linville, NC and our hike to Grandfather Mountain was hands down the most fun and challenging hike we have done to date. It’s not a very long hike about 2 miles (4 miles round trip) from start to the peak. This trail was EXHILIRATING. We crossed exposed cliffs on both sides, had to climb up 9 different ladders, some cables to assist up slick rocks and it many BREATHTAKING overlooks. We all loved it and the kids blew our minds with how well they did. I do not recommend this as your first hike with kids but definitely one to keep on your list as they get more comfortable hiking.