Ten hikes and five zoos: our summer of counted goals

Since we decided to spend more time outside and away from screens as a family, it was time to properly introduce the kids to one of my favorite activities – hiking. I have always loved hiking. I love the sense of adventure that comes with exploring a new trail, not knowing what the next turn will bring. I love the physical challenge of a long, hard hike, and the mental reset that it brings me. We have gone on some “hikes” with our kids in the past, but they have generally been short, quick walks to accommodate the limited patience and stamina of our young kids. I decided that this summer is the summer I am going to try to get my kids to fall in love with hiking. They are naturally active, adventurous kids, so I know that if they give it a chance, they will probably enjoy hiking too.

I know my kids well enough to know that if I want to get their buy-in, there needs to be something worth hiking to. Whether it is rocky slopes that they need to scramble up, or a stream that they can play in, there needs to be something the kids see as “play”. So I did my research and focused on trails with water features that the kids could play in, and we started small. First, we hiked to a waterfall, less than a mile round trip. Next, we hiked a 1.5-mile trail that follows a stream most of the way. Each time we went hiking, we made sure to spend plenty of time playing and exploring in the water. Soon, instead of “Do we have to go?” when I suggested going on a hike, I started hearing “Is there going to be a stream? Can we go in the water?” Within two months, we were happily going on three- to four-mile hikes and finding all sorts of creatures along the way.

One day, my kids asked me how many hikes we had gone on this summer. I told them the answer (which was seven), and they exclaimed, “Let’s try to make it to ten!” They wanted to make it to ten so badly that they started planning the next hike right away. I suggested that our oldest write down the hikes on a piece of paper so that we could keep track of our progress, and they were excited to make a list. When the next weekend came around, they were ready to go on a hike to get one step closer to their goal of ten.

We very quickly hit our goal of ten hikes. My kids immediately wanted to set a new adventure goal. After some brainstorming, my animal lovers decided that we were going to try to visit five different zoos this summer. Right now, we are plotting how to meet that goal without having to travel too far from home. Fortunately, we live within a few hours’ drive of many zoos (perfect for a long weekend).

This got me thinking about why having a goal you can count is so motivating for kids (and parents) and makes adventure-filled weekends more achievable. I think there are two main reasons for this. First, it reduces decision fatigue. We have all probably experienced the futile attempt to get kids (or adults for that matter) to answer the question “What do you want for lunch?” I think we frequently default to entertaining kids with screens because it is hard to decide what to do otherwise. Having a counted goal that we are trying to meet removes that decision barrier: we know what we will be doing this weekend, schedule and weather permitting. Second, the process of checking off each step towards the goal, whether it is a physical or a mental checklist, provides the extra internal motivation that encourages us to keep working towards it. In fact, based on something called the goal-gradient effect, the closer we get to a goal, the more motivated we are to achieve it. For our family at least, we have definitely found that having a counted goal makes it easier to have adventure-filled weekends.