Headwatermike
FNG
I've seen some really good advice on here but I didn't read every post, out of time. I have 3 from 17-13 who are avid outdoors kids. Most birthday and Christmas gift requests are hunting or dirt bike related, a decent measure of interest I think.
I would regurgitate most of the aforementioned tips. I didn't treat my girls differently than the boy and that worked. I tried to make it fun and always set some goals that we could achieve. I tried making it as comfortable as possible and mine are spoiled in gear, the suffering and misery comes naturally as little legs get stretched into bigger and bigger missions. Kids need to eat often, so plenty of treats. We've burned gallons of hot cocoa--there is nothing to warm a kid's spirit like a hot cup of cocoa on an ice shelf next to the canoe.
I have a couple of other notes for those wanting to get kids into the outdoors that I did not see above, factors I think helped my kids be successful in the outdoors (and they are quite successful, if I do say so myself). No cell phones until 13 or 14, depending on the kid. Maybe longer. I gave one a phone at 13 who is exceptionally mature. My other at 14, the third is tbd. If you are competing with a cell phone it is much harder to get them out of the house and I have seen many friends and family struggle to get the kids off the very phones they gave the children. We also are completely video game free. Getting them out of the hole without a phone makes them more independent of the phone in general and has so many other benefits that we could break the internet talking about it. My 16 year old boy forgets his phone all the time and I love him for it.
Another thing that helped with my girls was having the wife come along, she happens to be an enthusiast. The girls didn't have their Mom staying back and saying "if you don't want to go suffer all weekend with your Dad you can stay and go shopping with me." They didn't really have a choice, it was like going to school or church. It's just what we do.
Finally, don't wait. I have friends who meet my kids and say "you got lucky your kids are so interested in this stuff, I tried taking my 13 yo girl last year and she just wasn't interested." Well, mine probably wouldn't have been either if she had spent the last 10 years shopping with her mom and texting friends on the weekends, mine spent them in the woods. This doesn't happen at once. A kid's interest is like a fire, you start with a spark or a match and tinder and you carefully blow on it and coax it into existence, adding larger and larger fuel as it grows. You can't just throw a match on logs. But you can create a raging inferno with a little care and planning. Of course this means you put your wants aside, something that doesn't work for many.
I would regurgitate most of the aforementioned tips. I didn't treat my girls differently than the boy and that worked. I tried to make it fun and always set some goals that we could achieve. I tried making it as comfortable as possible and mine are spoiled in gear, the suffering and misery comes naturally as little legs get stretched into bigger and bigger missions. Kids need to eat often, so plenty of treats. We've burned gallons of hot cocoa--there is nothing to warm a kid's spirit like a hot cup of cocoa on an ice shelf next to the canoe.
I have a couple of other notes for those wanting to get kids into the outdoors that I did not see above, factors I think helped my kids be successful in the outdoors (and they are quite successful, if I do say so myself). No cell phones until 13 or 14, depending on the kid. Maybe longer. I gave one a phone at 13 who is exceptionally mature. My other at 14, the third is tbd. If you are competing with a cell phone it is much harder to get them out of the house and I have seen many friends and family struggle to get the kids off the very phones they gave the children. We also are completely video game free. Getting them out of the hole without a phone makes them more independent of the phone in general and has so many other benefits that we could break the internet talking about it. My 16 year old boy forgets his phone all the time and I love him for it.
Another thing that helped with my girls was having the wife come along, she happens to be an enthusiast. The girls didn't have their Mom staying back and saying "if you don't want to go suffer all weekend with your Dad you can stay and go shopping with me." They didn't really have a choice, it was like going to school or church. It's just what we do.
Finally, don't wait. I have friends who meet my kids and say "you got lucky your kids are so interested in this stuff, I tried taking my 13 yo girl last year and she just wasn't interested." Well, mine probably wouldn't have been either if she had spent the last 10 years shopping with her mom and texting friends on the weekends, mine spent them in the woods. This doesn't happen at once. A kid's interest is like a fire, you start with a spark or a match and tinder and you carefully blow on it and coax it into existence, adding larger and larger fuel as it grows. You can't just throw a match on logs. But you can create a raging inferno with a little care and planning. Of course this means you put your wants aside, something that doesn't work for many.
