Teaching Kids Outdoor Skills: Starting Simple and Building Confidence
Getting kids comfortable outside doesn’t require them to learn survival skills or head out on gear destroying adventures. Most kids are naturally inclined to enjoy being outside, but they’ve been deprived of a chance to engage in what can be relatively simple outdoors activities. It’s not about turning them into the next Bear Grylls. It’s about getting them to do things that feel adventurous to them instead of chores just because an adult said so.
Building the Important Basics
Some skills can develop naturally by spending time outdoors, while others need to be explicitly taught. Fire safety is number one on that list. Even tiny kids can learn boundaries for how close to get to a fire and what makes a fire safe. Teaching them to clear dry leaves and what could be considered a fire hazard gives them confidence, not fear. This will stick with them for life and lead to having a respect for fire.
Navigation is next although it doesn’t need to be as sophisticated as reading a map. Basics of navigating trails – staying on trail, turns, loops, markers etc can all be made into a real skill later. The goal is for everyone to pay attention and know where they are (and how to get back) before moving on to middle school aged skills like using a map and compass.
Gear Without Breaking the Bank
Gear doesn’t need to be miniaturized versions of all the gear adults use. What really matters is properly fitting gear that doesn’t demolish the family budget. A properly fitting daypack wins over any brand pack any day. So does a properly fitting pair of shoes with good tread on them over a super expensive pair of hiking boots they’ll be out of in six months.
Some gear can definitely enhance the experience for everyone. Solid Fenix Flashlights give kids their own light source for evening activities around camp or early morning starts on the trail. Water bottles with tops that are easy for kids to open, basic first aid kits they can operate on themselves, and lots of weather appropriate layers rounds out the list without going overboard.
Where most parents go wrong is over packing “just in case” items that no one needs to lighten their pack down. Kids actually learn way more valuable lessons when they experience minor discomfort than when adults solve all their problems for them before they occur. Kids need to be cold before getting their sweater and thirsty before getting their next drink of water.
Age-Appropriate Challenges
5–7-year-olds can engage pretty well with minor challenges with immediate payoffs. Setting up a tent in the back yard, gathering wood (supervised of course) and identifying three different kinds of leaves all feel like big accomplishments at this age. They are starting to feel like they can do things outside rather than standing around why adults do everything.
8–10-year-olds can engage more meaningfully and seem to care more about the purpose of being outside than younger kids. They can carry a kid sized pack and are ready for more responsibility. This age group also seems to understand the purpose of being outside more than younger kids. They can help prepare meals at camp and learn basic knot tying. They also seem to enjoy having “jobs” assigned to them like making sure the water is purified or helping with organizing gear or navigating one section of the trail (with help).
Teenagers respond well to challenges recognizing their growing independence. Planning their own section of a trip, navigating groups on familiar trails and being entrusted with gear for the group all fit the bill. Most outdoor skills will stick at this age without being forced as they’re voluntarily engaging in outdoor activities rather than being made to spend time with their families.
Teaching Safety Without Scaring Them
Kids need to understand that hydration needs while hiking, poison ivy on trails and ticks after we eat in nature are very real concerns, but this does not need to be overly dramatic. Frame learning about outdoor safety and dangers as an opportunity to gain competence in nature rather than avoidance helps set this up nicely.
Weather awareness gives kids a skill set they can use well beyond their outdoor adventures. Teaching them signs like changing clouds, temperature changes, wind shifts, etc should absolutely require you to adjust plans due to inclement weather but they should also be able to point these things out during their outings so as not to miss crucial lessons along the way. It’s about being observant rather than learning factual information about weather.
Making It Stick Long-Term
To get kids comfortable being outdoors and learning outdoor skills, it’s all about frequency not intensity. Frequent short outings will teach kids more than one expensive outing every year. Get kids comfortable being outside anywhere. Parks, climbing trees, building stick forts or just hanging out without devices!
Giving them choices between two trail options, choosing campsite locations within parameters you set, meal choosing (nobody says S’mores every night) gives them buy in. When this becomes their adventure rather than something done to them, enthusiasm comes naturally!
The real gift of teaching outdoor skills has nothing to do with teaching specific skills for camping and everything to do with what kids are learning by solving problems in an unpredictable environment. They learn minor discomfort is survivable. They learn how to teach themselves skills, even basic ones (like how to build a proper campfire!)
Above all this, though, are lessons that transfer everywhere but nowhere near as valuable as specific tasks/skills that could and should be learned on these outings. Lessons like overcoming adversity, self-reliance, adaptability—and thinking outside-the-box are all value-added lessons that make this effort worth every muddy boot along the way.