Keep Your Kid Entertained While Walking to School

One question will make every parent roll their eyes: “Are we there yet?!” Unfortunately, this age-old inquiry isn’t just limited to car commutes. Any time you are trying to get from point A to point B, kids are going to ask how long the trip will take. The best way to avoid the dreaded question is by keeping them engaged during your commute. 

When walking to school, consider creating a scavenger hunt! It only takes a few minutes to come up with items to find, but it can provide 30+ minutes of entertainment and engagement. 

Here are a few reasons we love a walking scavenger hunt: 

It’s Fun!

First and foremost, scavenger hunts are fun! They help kids take notice of their surroundings and create a feeling of satisfaction when they find what they are looking for. Looking for leaves, trees, flowers, squirrels, fire hydrants, and more will give kids a fun activity to help pass the time.

Learn Street Safety.

One of our favorite “tricks” is to add street safety features to the scavenger hunt. Have your kid point out things like crosswalks, walk signals, bike lanes, street signs, and intersections. Each time they identify one, talk about the purpose of that feature. Teaching kids to be aware of their surroundings is also beneficial for almost every activity!

Incorporate What Kids Learn in School.

Are your kids working on colors or counting? Ask them to identify different color leaves, or collect a certain amount! Simple tasks like this can also be adjusted for kids learning things such as addition (You’ve found five green leaves and four yellow, so how many have you found in total?) or multiplication (If you counted two trees, and both trees drop five leaves, how many total leaves will you have?). Work on reading by asking them to tell you what street signs say once they find them. 

For far too long, we’ve been taught that commuting is a boring means to an end. Thus, the rise of single occupancy cars moving quickly (often too quickly!) to get where they are going. When considering alternate means of transportation, such as walking, people often bring up that it is a waste of their time. Let’s change the narrative by raising kids who see commuting as a fun and integral part of their day! Change doesn’t happen overnight, but a great first step is to create an entertaining walk to school for your kids.