Ready to take your kids exploring but not sure what to bring?? Check out my list for easy items to keep in your adventure kit!
Taking kids on any sort of adventure can be intimidating! It’s a lot of stuff to remember to make sure the day goes smoothly, especially when there are younger kids in tow. This is why having an adventure kit already assembled and ready to grab and go is essential.
Having an adventure kit that stays loaded with all the goods takes a lot of things off of your list to remember to grab as you head out the door. In our case, our adventure kit necessities are divided equally between several backpacks for the kids to wear. We split ours up between all of the kids because I am typically wearing the 2-year-old in a carrier on my back and don’t have space to wear a backpack.
Especially as a homeschool mom, I know personally that many outings involve just mom and kids. I have to remember changes of clothes, towels, plenty of snacks, water bottles, and sometimes lunches, plus other items to make exploring nature fun and educational. It takes a huge load off of my mind knowing that our adventure kit is packed and ready to go. I can tell the kids to run and grab their backpacks out of the pantry. Now I just have to pack snacks, lunches, and kids in the car.
So, what do we have in our adventure kit??
Adventure Kit Tools
The first few items we keep in our adventure kit are tools that are helpful to have when exploring nature. A pocketknife is always good to have around. You never know when you might need to cut something or pull something out with tweezers. Because our kids are younger, we keep a simple Swiss army knife in our adventure kit currently. Nothing too large, too sharp, or with too many attachments. Someday down the road, we might add a larger knife or multi-tool.
Another tool we like to have is binoculars. For most of the items in the adventure kit, I only keep one. Binoculars are not one of those items. Each of my kids have their own pair. It is super helpful to make sure they have a strap so your kids can wear them around their neck. They come in handy for seeing animals and birds far away, plus what kid doesn’t love walking around with binoculars around their neck!? It adds joy to the adventure and increases their sense of wonder.
Finally, we recently added a compass. I think it is important as the kids get older that they understand how to use a compass. It isn’t something I grew up using, but I also didn’t grow up hiking and exploring nature a lot. It is a great tool to keep and learn how to use for those that want to hike and explore in more secluded places. Our compass has a small magnifying glass attached to it, but I still would suggest adding a larger magnifying glass in the adventure kit. Multiples if you have more than one kid. If your kids are obsessed with bugs, mushrooms, seeds, etc., a magnifying glass is another great tool to keep.
Adventure Kit Field Guides
Field guides are another great addition to your adventure kit! We constantly find things we are curious about while exploring, and it is an important skill for kids to learn how to use an index to look things up in a book. Technology doesn’t always work great while out in nature. Plus, it’s more fun to look something up right away instead of trying to remember to look it up later.
Currently, the only field guide we keep in our adventure kit is for birds. Specifically, birds of Tennessee. You can buy one specific to the state in which you live. Other field guides that are great to keep close are medicinal plants/herbs, mushrooms, snakes, trees, wildflowers, etc.
My kids also love having an animal track guide in the adventure kit. When we go out exploring and it has recently rained or snowed, it is exciting to find animal tracks everywhere. Now they are even more excited to pull out their animal track guide and discover the animal that the tracks belong to.
You can grab your own animal track guide and easily prep it for use. I suggest laminating the pages first to make them sturdier, so they hold up well being used a lot and stuffed in a backpack. Then, cut the individual cards out, punch a hole in the corner, and attach them together using a binder ring. Quick and simple. We only keep one set in our adventure kit, but feel free to print off multiples if you want each kid to have their own.
Adventure Kit Support
There are two really important items to have in your adventure kit to support the body. The first is insect repellent. I cannot tell you how many times I have been so thankful to keep a small spray bottle of insect repellent in our adventure kit! This homemade recipe is very easy to make, and it is great for repelling mosquitoes AND ticks.
We also keep a first aid kit in the adventure kit at all times. With four kids running around and exploring, we pull the first aid kit out almost every single time. I put ours together myself because I wanted one with non-toxic ointments and bug bite relief. It is easy to refill and doesn’t take up a lot of space in the backpack.
What is an item you keep in your adventure kit? Let me know in the COMMENTS. I’m always looking for new ideas!
Check Out More Posts Like This:
Shop this Post:
- Binoculars
- Backpack
- Compass
- Magnifying glass
- Pocket knife
- Tennessee Birds Field Guide (or search for one specific to your state)
- Animal tracks guide
Supplies for putting your animal track guide together:
***Check out my Homemade Insect Repellent and How to Build a Refillable First Aid Kit posts for links to these items!
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