KEEP THEM MOTIVATED.

Walking holidays with your children are amazing experiences. You’ll make memories and stories that you’ll be looking back on fondly for the rest of your life. You get to watch your kids learn new things. You’ll see them seeing views, sights, and places for the first time. They’ll get to try new foods, and play in new places. But, of course, kids can get tired and disengaged sometimes, so here is how to keep them inspired and motivated the whole way along your family walking holiday.

Right from the planning phase of your journey – get your children involved. The more they feel like they helped to make the holiday the more they will buy into the ideas. This will also help you to make sure that you are including things that are of interest to them. Making your trip child-friendly is absolutely essential to keeping them engaged.

Keep your kids involved with as many decisions as you can, and keep them informed of everything else so they know what to expect. Make sure that they come on training walks with you so they understand what distances feel like. This is also important to gauge their level of fitness and endurance. As you are getting ready to leave, pack your kids’ backpack with them, make sure it’s not too heavy and only includes little essentials.  

When you get out on trails, chat about the landmarks that you expect to see that day. See what you can spot around you on your journey. Look for birds, bugs, and other animals along the way. Y When you take breaks, they can take photos of things they see.  The Camino is an excellent walking holiday for sign spotting. Pick out the yellow scallop shells and arrows along the way.

Another great technique to keep young people from focusing on tired legs is to distract them. Tell them a story, make up a story together, try getting them to narrate the journey as though it is a documentary, sing or hum a walking song  or pretend to be pirates on an adventure looking for treasure and speak in pirate voices.

Monitor their food and water intake. Check that they have enough sunblock on. Check their feet if they tell you they are sore. Double-check that they haven’t tried to sneak a big heavy toy into their bags. And remember that your children will have shorter legs than you and will get tired more easily. Even with the perfect number of snacks and breaks, sometimes your kids will just be too tired or uncomfortable to continue happily.

Give them some time to just be kids. This could mean finding a park to kick a ball around in, or going to a fun kids attraction. If there are other young people their age at your accommodation, let them play together and talk about the adventures they are on. You might even find that they come back with excellent ideas for places to see or treats to try!

After your walking holiday talk to your young ones about what they loved and what they would have liked  to do differently, put together a scrapbook or collage with bits and pieces that you collected along the way and hang it in the house or their room as a reminder. 

An article by FollowtheCamino.
And remember, be responsible while enjoying the Camino. That is why  you can always rely on  HOSTAL GAU TXORI: comfortable accommodation, nice and traditional food and a wonderful natural landscapes plastic free as you pass by Zubiri. And, of course,  we take all the security and hygiene measures to face the covid 19.