Five tips for successful outdoor adventures with children

Text: Viktor Lidin    Photo: Viktor Lidin

I: You do remember the first rule of fishing, right? When you’re fishing, you get to eat cookies.
Lo: But do you know what the second rule is?
I: No.
Noa: Yes! When you’re fishing, you drink chocolate milk in the boat!
Lo: No, that’s the third rule. The second one is that when you’re fishing, you have to be cozy!

This conversation took place in the car on our way to Olden for a camping trip. The kids were four years old at the time, and even though they were young, it wasn’t their first night in a tent.

My name is Viktor, and I’m the one jotting down some of our experiences—also the person behind the Instagram account @enkasakaffe. Out in the mountains with me are usually my wife Jenny, our dog Dimma, and in recent years, our two children, Lo and Noa.

Plan according to your conditions

Today, the kids are almost six years old and used to being outdoors. We still do shorter trips—but also longer ones—almost every weekend. Not long ago, we were out fishing with a friend and his children, and he asked how we manage to get the whole family outside so often. At first, I was surprised by the question, since I see him as someone who is also outdoors a lot with his kids. I glanced at Jenny while thinking and replied: “Well, we probably don’t give them much of a choice.”

I’ve thought about that answer since, and of course it’s not about forcing them to do something they don’t want to do. It’s more that we’ve never really presented the alternative of staying inside or at home. Being outdoors has simply become so natural that other options don’t really exist. So in a way, yes—we don’t give them a choice, but now that they’re six, it’s just part of who we are as a family.

Today, I can proudly say that we’ve given our children a solid foundation. That allows our trips to become longer and more challenging—something we all enjoy. We started small, gradually pushed the limits of what’s possible, and continue to challenge both ourselves and the kids. I believe that’s a key factor when it comes to outdoor life with children.

So here’s my second tip: plan according to your conditions.

Maybe you’re facing a vacation where you’ll head into the mountains for the first time with your kids and wondering how it will work. Don’t worry—bringing children outdoors is just as simple as it is rewarding.

The foundation, as I mentioned earlier, is to adapt your plans. When the kids were three, we hiked about 1.5 kilometers before setting up camp and spending the night. They walked as far as they could, and then we carried them. The trip was planned so that we could carry both the kids and the gear the entire way if needed. If we had planned it around them walking the whole distance on their own, we wouldn’t have made it.

Of course, we encouraged them to walk as much as they could—but when their energy or motivation ran out, we simply picked them up, no fuss. Doing it this way makes it more enjoyable for everyone. The kids don’t have to struggle through something that’s too demanding, and we don’t end up sighing and carrying them the last stretch. Win-win!

Good footwear and extra layers

The fourth tip for a successful outing with kids is all about clothing—or sometimes the lack of appropriate clothing. If you have kids, you’ll know exactly what I mean. How many times have you tried to get a child to wear a jacket in spring? You know, when the sun comes out and they think it’s summer—even though there are still piles of snow everywhere. Or those outfit choices that seem straight out of a Disney movie.

It can be a bit of a challenge—but there’s a way around it. Of course, we want the kids to be properly dressed, but if they refuse, it’s actually perfectly fine to go hiking in a princess dress. Really! I mean, who wouldn’t want to wander across mountains and marshes dressed as Elsa, humming “Do you want to build a snowman?”? The trick is to pack wool base layers and shell clothing in your backpack. Then, when the weather turns or the temperature drops, you can simply change.

What we never compromise on, however, is what they wear on their feet. Wool socks are worth their weight in gold—and for heaven’s sake, swap out those plastic insoles in rubber boots for proper wool ones. A fun, playful day can quickly be ruined by cold, wet feet. That’s something we stay ahead of rather than trying to fix afterward. It’s all about give and take—an Elsa dress with rubber boots is, after all, quite the fashion statement!

And then there’s wool. You could probably write an entire essay about kids who start complaining that wool itches the moment you open the drawer. Our kids are no exception. Here too, it’s about compromise. We’ve learned that once the clothes are on, it usually works just fine. So sometimes we bring them in the backpack and change when needed instead of forcing them to wear it from the start.

What they do love, though, are their Woolpower sweaters—the ones with a zipper, the Full Zip Jacket. In our family, that’s simply “the Woolpower sweater,” and probably one of the best clothing purchases we’ve made for the kids. In spring, if the weather allows, they often wear it instead of a jacket. In winter, it’s almost always on—or at least packed as a backup.

And this is something I really want to emphasize: let kids use the good stuff. We buy quality clothing so they can stay warm and play freely—so let them wear it. Let that good wool sweater be used at daycare, let it get worn. It means it’ll be used more often and might even become a favorite. And honestly, it only gets better with a bit of wear and tear.