UKC

So I took my 5 year old boy up Pen Y Fan this morning and he was great just a bit bored at times so here are my top 5 tips - they are slightly personalised for him. Any more for next time world be appreciated

1. In the car journey there talk about the lego shop that will be open by the time you come down.
2. On the walk up compare any steps/rock like the lego bricks you will build after you come down.
3. On the top talk about if the mountain of lego you have at home is as high as what you're sat on.
4. On the way down praise child for the walk up and compare this last journey like dismantling lego.
5. Go home and build lego.

In reply to Fletcherella:
While walking, talk about the sheep at the top you can play a trick on by pretending to eat while making chomping noises so it comes right up to investigate.

I was actually being genuine when about a sheep at the top of Winhill, having done this to it once before, when we got to the top it wasn't at the top but that didn't seem to matter.

It could happen to be 'on another hill 'that day I suppose looking for nice things to eat, so you have to come back again for another walk near by. ()

In reply to Fletcherella:

I tell stories. Very long and complicated stories.

It's exhausting :-0

In reply to Fletcherella:

Little brother and sister seem to be fascinated by interesting sticks and stones, although this does slow the pace somewhat. When flagging, singing many verses of old macdonald seems to help!

In reply to Fletcherella:

Without wishing to be critical, it seems a little Lego-centric...

In reply to Fletcherella:

It's coming up to Easter soon. What about an Easter egg hunt & looking for mad March hares?

In reply to Fletcherella:

Geocaching have someone go ahead a hide stuff then let the 5 year old navigate to them with GPS (or map)

In reply to Submit to Gravity:


Yep, but by the time they're 7 or 8, you just substitute "Minecraft" for "Lego", and let them do the talking....

Easter egg hunts have been very popular here - we generally managed to recycle the eggs pretty well so there wasn't complete chocolate overload. Not that we made it to the top of the hill on either occasion, both attempts got interrupted by callouts. Fortunately "shall we turn round and run down the hill like lunatics?" Is always a very popular option

In reply to Carolyn:

With my daughter you simply substitute listening)

In reply to Fletcherella:

When taking primary kids out for college I take half a dozen tennis balls and you can play hide and seek with them or let them race the ball down hill etc.

Pocket full of Haribo..

In reply to Fletcherella: Feed them early and often , and break it down to short segments. Take one of their friends as well. You need to make it a game. The best sort of hills for this are ones that have obvious segments, streams, trees and not just a big grassy flog.

Yes, seems a bit legotastic. Nothing wrong with lego, but you might be making your life more difficult

In reply to wbo:

Or easier if the 5 year old is obsessed with Lego?

Not to be argumentative... ()

In reply to Fletcherella:

As children me and my sisters were frequently dragged up fells in the snow , not to mention being death marched across the moors in yorkshire .
Looking back we were remarkably chilled about it , but I think that came down to the fact that mum or dad always had a huge quantity of jam sandwiches to bribe us with - ''you can have some food when you get to that cairn/gate/style/summit ''.
Food is a remarkably good incentive and distraction for walkers of all ages . There is nothing like a creme egg to take the sting out of the spindrift .

In reply to wbo:





He *is* obsessed with Lego yes but I think I set the post out like that just to make people laugh a little? Thanks for advice though, making it a game sounds good.

In reply to SethChili:

He loves jam sandwiches - good call!

In reply to wbo:

I agree about the segments. My daughter loves scrambly bits on walks.

In reply to rusty8850:


That was our tactic, and it worked a treat

In reply to Tim Chappell:



Or even better give them story line and let them imagine the detail for themselves (supplemented with haribo's of course!).

In reply to Fletcherella:

My 2 yr old boy requires mud, puddles, sheep poo and bogs (preferably green) in order to be motivated for any sort of walk.

In reply to Fletcherella:

Wow - not sure if that is a cheap or expensive way. I used to be paid 5p a mile and thought it a good deal. I could earn up to 20p on some walks!

My son is highly motivated to walk up mountains (any form of upward rise) as long as he is the leader. So if he flags, you just overtake him. Happy days!