Top Tips for Kids

Older children might want to start walking on their own or with a group of friends. In the majority of cases this is very safe, and is a great way for them to get active without even realising it.

Safety

It’s not always easy to judge things like the speed of traffic and how far away cars are. So it’s important that we all understand road safety and give our kids the confidence to walk on their own when they get older.

Check out the 5-step Green Cross Code on page 4 of the 'Tips to get walking every day' guide for information on how to stay safe when you’re out walking.

Walking to school

This is great for our kids but you might not know that there are some benefits for you too!

If you walk with your kids to school, you’ll be keeping active with them. And because it’s much easier to know how long a journey on foot will take you, you’ll probably be much less stressed then if you were sitting in a traffic jam. It might even save you time!

Getting to school by foot helps your kids with concentration. Walking burns off some of their excess energy and means they are better at settling down and focusing in lessons.

You could even try a walking bus! Walking buses are a great way of helping kids stay active and get to school safely.

For more information on walking to school, see page 7 of the 'Tips to get walking every day' guide.

Making walking fun for kids

Here are some top tips on making walking lots of fun:

• don’t go out for a walk, go out for an adventure! Try the park, a playground, woods, a pond or a friend’s house
• make it a treat – take things to eat and drink, or even a picnic
• let them take a friend – they’ll have someone their own age to share their adventure with

And don’t forget about all the fun games kids can do while they’re out and about!

Walk4Life Games

All the Walk4Life games can be played as a family or in a larger group walking together.

Some are fun things to make everyday walks more interesting and others are games families can play when they go out for walks as part of their leisure time.

We’ve split them into everyday walks and walks in parks and woodland, so families can choose the games that best suit the walk they’re doing.

And all the games are easy to play as they need little or no equipment. Everyone just needs to bring themselves!