Girl Scouts of Western Rivers Council * Summer Lovin' Fun Patch Program

Hiking is a great way to explore the area around you and summer time brings an explosion of exciting places and things to see. Try hiking through your neighborhood, a local park or even around town. For the more adventurous, take some of the trail in our State and National Forests. Be sure to read Safety-wise before going on your outing.

Treasure Hike - A well-laid trail with a treasure of lunch or snack at the end.

Evening Hike - Especially good for star gazing and noting what plants and animals do at night.

Onion Hike - Rub a cut onion on trees to mark the trail. Followers smell trees to find the trail.

Penny Hike - Have leader flip a penny at start of hike to decide direction - heads, right; tails, left. Flip again at each corner until you have hiked as far as time permits. Return home by most direct route. Variation: decide whether on flip of coin at corner you sing a song or eat a treat OR flip to decide whether to go forward or reverse. With a good pace kept up, this can turn into a hilarious jaunt!

Bubble Gum Hike - Give each girl a paper plate and a piece of bubble gum (the big soft pieces work best!) As girls go on hike, have them find things along the way that are interesting, pretty, unique, etc. (but don't let them pick anything.) Each item they find is then stuck to their paper plate with a small piece of bubble gum pinched off the piece they are chewing. Have them make a collage with all the different items they find. (This sounds awful, but the girls love it!)

Initial Hike - Give each girl a pencil and paper. On the hike, have them list everything they see that begins with the initial of their first name. Compare lists at the end of the hike.

Blind Walk - Half the group wears blindfolds and the other half leads them around...carefully! Blindfolded girls should be helped to touch, smell, feel, hear. Switch roles.

Color Hike - Find things all the same color. If you divide into teams, one half could look for one color and the other half look for another color.

Inch Hike - Find things that are only an inch long - no more - and still complete.

Scent Hike - See how many scents you can identify. Find scented plants, like wild garlic, dandelion, etc.

Sealed Order Hike - Several sets of "orders" (instructions) are placed over an area. Different colored envelopes indicate different teams. Teams then set out to follow their orders. All groups go different directions to reach all points along the way. All teams end up at a "treasure". Often a skill must be practiced at the end of the trail.

Spider Web Hike - This is a good early morning hike. Sometimes a camera can record interesting patterns in the dew drops.

Play the City Safari game.

Make a Bandana Bag to take on your hike.