The Outdoor Adventure Giving you tips, tricks & recommendations to help make adventuring in the Outdoors fun, safe & exciting for you and your kids.
We all love getting outdoors with our mini adventurers, but we’d be lying if it wasn’t a challenge. Just getting the kids in the car can be adventure enough and when you start looking at your empty day pack and empty cupboards you may be tempted to opt for an indoor adventure.
To make the decision to go outdoors easier to make, here’s a list of 5 micro-adventure items that we always keep in the house and within reach. Not only do these things get us out the door faster, they help make our outdoor adventures a blast for both us and our kids.
1 – Packable rain jackets
A light, waterproof jacket that stuffs into its own pocket is essential for our trips. Even when it isn’t raining it’ll help fight off the wind and cold weather. Skip insulated rain jackets, opting for a separate fleece for the cold.
2 – A lightweight fleece sweater or jacket
They don’t take up much space, and if the weather gets cool this will keep the junior adventurer happy as he explores the puddles, pools and ponds in search of discovery.
3 – A portable water bottle
Whether it’s a nalgene or some flavour of soft-bottle, be sure to pack each kid (and adult) a full bottle of water. Kids drink as much as adults, so keep them happy and hydrated.
4 – Snacks
Try dedicating a pantry shelf to “adventure food”. Having a variety of sweet, sour and salty treats with a long shelf life makes getting out the door easy. Grab a handful of energy bars, trail mix, candy chocolate (for mum) and/or corn chips (a high energy favourite in our house) and hand them out liberally on the route.
5 – First Aid kit
A small, portable first aid kit is essential for those little owies on the trail. There are many standard 1-3 day kits that will suit your purpose and can even be customized if you need to. We add a couple survival items to the kit as well, like an emergency blanket, mini compass, whistle and lighter.
All of these items will fit easily in your average day pack (even if you’re packing for 4 kids!) and will kelp you get out the door and into a safe, exciting and comfortable micro-adventure with your kids.
We’re interested in finding out what items you keep on hand to make your micro-adventures a success?
