Here at Dinosaur River Expeditions, we believe that spending quality time with your kids in the great outdoors is one of the best things you can do. Since there is nothing more important than their safety, we’ve asked our outdoor-loving readers to share some tips to ensure your children’s safety while adventuring outdoors.
Mike Nicosia
Mike Nicosia is the founder of Conquerwild.com, a blog site that focuses on creating informative content for campers and hikers around the globe.
Follow The 5-Second Rule, Dress Appropriately, and Stay Hydrated
Outdoor activities can be a fun way to bring the whole family together, but there’s also a risk of danger. To ensure the safety of your children, you need to obey the 5-second rule. This means that you don’t allow a child under eight years old to escape your line of sight for more than five seconds. When you’re around water, this becomes the 2-second rule.
You also need to be aware of the weather for the day. Dress your children appropriately based on the conditions you’re expecting. If the temperature is expected to drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit or zero degrees Celsius, you should stay indoors.
Regardless of the temperature, make sure your children are well hydrated before you embark on your adventure. Bring lots of water with you as well.
Discuss Rules, Provide Adequate Shoes, and Bring a First Aid Kit
I take my two young daughters hiking and camping in remote wilderness areas. There are many potential dangers, like snakes, cliffs, and sharp rocks, [with] absolutely no one nearby to call for help.
The key to making sure they stay safe in these environments is making sure they understand the “rules.” For example, they are never allowed to leave the trail or hike out of sight of me. They also know never to pick up large rocks because there may be snakes hiding underneath.
There are also many measures I take to prevent accidents, like making sure my kids have adequate footwear for the terrain. I also always have a first aid kit with us, even on “easy” hikes.
But, by far, the best thing I did to keep my kids safe outdoors was take a first aid course. It gives me peace of mind knowing that I could treat a snake bite, knife wound, or even a fractured bone in the field.
Explain and Teach
The best way to ensure that the kids are safe during a nature-related activity is to prepare them for the trip. It’s best to give them a mental picture of where they will be, what they can expect, and the things that they are allowed to do there.
You can also explain to them the possible dangers that can happen but make it an interesting learning activity and try not to scare them off. An example is to not touch all mushrooms, as they can irritate your skin.
Teach them that it’s not fun to get lost in the forest as there is no electricity at night. Teach them that bears are cute, but we should be careful of them. Help them understand that being safe does not need to spoil the fun and excitement.
Prepare and Enjoy
Don’t let fear of your child getting hurt prevent you from helping them explore nature. Kids are born to want to explore, and learning about nature is so important for them to thrive and grow. There are plenty of ways to make sure you’re prepared when getting outdoors with your kids!
Here are a few of my top tips:
1. Make sure to pack a first aid kit in your backpack. If your child has known allergies and requires an EpiPen or similar treatment, be sure to have that on hand. Sunscreen, bug spray, and water to help clean any cuts that may occur are great essentials as well.
2. Dress weather appropriate – Layers are great for weather changes that may occur while out for the day. Long sleeves, pants, and closed-toed shoes with socks are preferable.
3. With kids, it’s always great to have drinking water and snacks with you to help prevent cranky moods after a lot of fresh air. Good moods mean kids are more likely to pay attention to directions and safety precautions.
4. Encourage your children to observe everything with their eyes but ask before touching plants in case of poison ivy/oak. Knowing what poison ivy and oak look like ahead of your outdoor adventure is always a good idea.
Keeping these tips in mind and being prepared can help you have fun along with your kiddos and enjoy being in the moment with them!
Discuss Safety Rules
Talk about the activity with them ahead of time. Explain how to do it, how to do it safely, and what not to do. They need to know what actions might result in injury and what they should be doing to prevent that.
Then, before you start doing the activity, quiz them on the things you just told [them]. It will also make it easier for you to spot them acting in a way that might get them hurt, which will allow you to quickly call them out or make them stop before anything bad happens.
Provide Constant Communication
The best way to ensure the safety of your children when you have a nature-related outdoor activity with them is to keep constant communication. Make sure you all have a walkie-talkie or some other form of radio. Make sure you and your children have your cell phones for secondary communication.
Keep all children in eyesight, do not let them wander off out of your sight. Set up special code words for children to yell in case of things like animals or other dangerous situations, so it acts as a signal to everyone else on the walkie-talkie.
Teach and Prepare for Animal Encounters
When bringing kids outdoors in a nature-related activity, it is best to clothe them appropriately with gear that protects their hands, arms, legs, and feet. This is because these parts of the body are most vulnerable to possible attacks by snakes or other venomous animals that you might encounter.
It’s also a good idea to educate them on basic animal encounter etiquette, like what to do when they spot or come face-to-face with certain wildlife.
Another thing that might help is to give each of them an alarm whistle that they can use in case they get lost or hurt.
When hiking or camping for more than one night, it’s not a bad idea to inform the local authorities about your itinerary so they can respond promptly in case of any untoward incidents.
Keep Your Children Within Eyesight At All Times
Make sure that you have your eyes on [your children] at all times. In the perfect scenario, there would be one adult per child so that each child can be equally looked out for, but that’s not always going to be the case. If you are outnumbered by kids, make sure that the activity you are doing allows them to be within your line of sight at all times.
They should also remain close to you so that you can easily get to them in case of an emergency. If you need to go to the bathroom or briefly leave for even just a couple of minutes, make sure to bring them with you.
Plan and Prepare
One thing to ensure kids’ safety during a nature-related outdoor activity is to plan. Before embarking on the trip, make sure to check the weather if there are chances of rain, strong winds, or if it is sunny.
Next, prepare the gear. Make sure to have all items and outdoor gear ready such as walking sticks, hats, sunblock, water bottle, trail food, raincoat, radio, GPS, and map, among others. Also, it would be good to have a first aid kit ready in case accidents happen.
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