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10 When They're Just Not Interested (Read 10398 times)
Marten
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Re: When They're Just Not Interested
Reply #20 - Mar 3rd, 2011 at 3:16pm
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I have an 8 year old great-niece with a burning desire for outdoor adventure. It started 5 years ago when we would go outside to turn over rocks to find bugs and worms. A month ago we dug out a quin-shee [snow cave] and it was my idea to get the camp stove and fix some hot chocolate, it was her idea to sleep out there. I am not sure what ignited her outdoor desires but do know I need to keep her fires stoked without smothering them. She talks of the day when she will be steering the canoe and taking me out on the river.

We had no children but always had youth around. I canoed in BWCA with two families for a number of years. They brought the girls and boys and the whole trip was catered to the kids. We would drive up at night so the kids never knew how long the drive was. Coolers with food they were used to so no suffering with food they did not like. Three portages to the same campsite each year for a while. The payoff came when the kids reached 10-12 and yearned for what lay beyond. One child did try it for a while and decided to stay home but the others still return.
  
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Arctic
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Re: When They're Just Not Interested
Reply #21 - Mar 6th, 2011 at 12:59am
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It's getting tougher to introduce outdoor activities to kids in general, and national surveys show the trend.  This bodes poorly for future support of preserving wildlands and open spaces in the US.

There are SO MANY distractions for kids these days, and most folks live in urban/suburban areas where access to nature is sporadic, at best.  I see it in with my own relatives.

I have two teenaged boys, and they get to go on two or three canoe trips a year with me, but it's my older boy that has really gotten into the tripping mode.  I took him to Quetico last summer for a quick, 8-day paddle, which covered about 100 miles of water.  He ate it up, and became a portage machine, despite initial complaints about the trails being tougher than those in the BWCA.

Both boys are under the obligation of taking me canoe tripping when I get old.

I hope that everyone who loves wild places and has the opportunity to introduce kids to the joys of nature -- whether it be hunting, fishing, canoe tripping, or whatever--
takes the time to do so.
  
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Puckster
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Re: When They're Just Not Interested
Reply #22 - Mar 6th, 2011 at 11:58pm
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thinblueline wrote on Mar 1st, 2011 at 3:14pm:
Do any of you have sons and/or daughters who have absolutely no interest in wilderness canoe tripping? I've got two teenage sons in this day and age of technology and video games, who have really no interest in fishing and roughing it in the canoe wilderness. It kind of makes me feel guilty about using my limited vacation time on such trips just to go without them. That's why I've only been back to Quetico one time in the last 17 years, having made 7 trips prior to them being born. I've just been kicking this quandry around a little, as I contemplate buying a new canoe in the not too distant future.


I know it's been said before in this thread, but I think the key is to get the kids out there earlier than later, before it becomes "uncool" to be dirty, while they'll still do almost anything you ask, and before they get hooked on all the distractions of our day.

I started taking my daughter when she was six.  (See picture.)   The other key, IMO, is to let them bring friends, especially during the teen years. Friends are EVERYTHING during those crazy years.  So my daughter always brought a pal with her.  Worked out great.  Now she's 22 and still loves to go with me.

But it's still a crap shoot.  My 31 year-old son, who I started taking when he was little, never really caught the fever.  When he was in his teens, he started going to the BWCA with  group of his H.S. buddies.  I was fine with that, figuring he'd come back some day.  Some day hasn't happened yet!  Now that he's married, I guess it might happen when he has little ones...if I stay healthy long enough! 

Most important, IMO, don't force them!  Quickest way to get resentment and backlash.  It's gotta be fun.  Think about letting them bring pals along, and lower your expectations...keep it short and simple. 

FWIW.

prouboy
  
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