If you follow me on Instagram, you know that 2019 has been very bad for us health-wise (including the worst of all most recently), so I’ve not posted a ton. However, I have still posted about our outdoor adventures.
Grown up conversation. The great outdoors. A variety of friends for your kid. Getting to know where you live.
Sounds pretty amazing, right?
It is!
Last fall, after months of lurking, I officially decided to join Hike It Baby. It has literally been one of the best things I’ve done for myself, and my daughter.
Hike It Baby’s mission is to get parents and kids outside together. They offer a variety of of hikes—from ‘serious’ ones where children must be worn, to toddler-led strolls. And your kids don’t have to be babies to attend, they welcome all ages (though up to pre-school age is more common), so that families can spend time together.
What finally made me pull the trigger on a membership was my local group starting a ‘wild school’ for toddlers. I had been looking into wild schools for a while, but where I live, they are hard to come by, so this Hike It Baby wild school was perfect.
We started last September, and it was the best way to really experience autumn. Before we bought our house, the town we were in previously hardly ever got any weather, and we had had a couple of dry years—ergo, no great Falls. This past one, going to wild school twice a week—usually with varied location—we really got to experience the change in the seasons. I have so many fond memories driving up into the mountains, feeling the crisp air…I feel like we experienced it to the fullest.
I cannot even begin to explain how amazing it has been to have a group of other parents to talk to multiple times a week. That regular interaction is something I didn’t have before going Hike It Baby. Plus, my girl gets to meet other children, and they get to play in an environment that welcomes running, and being curious.
As winter rolled in, I found attending our wild school—and other Hike It Baby hikes more important. I believe that kids need the outdoors (adults do, too). But, when the weather is cold, or it’s too snowy for playgrounds, and you’ve got a 2 year old, there’s only so much time you can spend out in the grass by yourselves. That’s where Hike It Baby has totally changed things for us. Barring illness, we were outside 1.5–2.5 hours a days 2—3 times a week. It was glorious. And, yes, you do have to bundle up, but I promise it’s worth it. Going regularly even made us go out more on our own.
Most of my life, I have been a firmly ‘indoorsy’ person. I didn’t need the outdoors. Don’t get me wrong, I could have a good time under the right circumstances, but everything I needed or wanted to do was comfortably inside. Since going out on regular outdoor adventures, I have been very surprised to discover my own need to be outside increase. If I don’t go outside for more than a couple of days—even in winter—I want to get out, even if it’s just for half an hour. I now notice nature as a need.
If you’ve read any recent research, you know how imperative outdoor time is for kids. Personally, I would love if we could get out 2-3 hours a day, am happy with 1-2, and think 30 minutes at least should be penciled in (though we aren’t great at that. Yet!). Nature has such profoundly positive impact on us humans, and I really want to make sure that Gwendolyn develops a deep love for being outside—not just a childlike love that fades with her imagination, but one that is sustained throughout her life. Hike It Baby allows us to have fun, and to explore nature together.
To any parent (mom, dad, or caretaker) out there looking for a way to incorporate more outdoor time for your little ones, or yourself—new parents, come make friends!—then I highly highly suggest you look up a Hike It Baby chapter in your area. Membership is only $10 for an entire year, and it is definitely worth it. It’s fun for kids and adults alike.
Some of my favourite memories with Hike It Baby:
- Enjoying the crisp Fall mountain weather
- Walking out on a frozen lake, and climbing on ice mounds
- Gwendolyn walking around a pond, chasing ducks
- Picking up seashells together on the beach
- Watching my girl grow in confidence and ability, scaling steep grades, and safely coming down
- Sliding down a super steep ice trail on our bums
Check out hikeitbaby.com to find your local chapter, and start making awesome outdoor memories with your kids, while making new friends!
