We’ve all been there. You are out on a nice family walk….

….You are about to face a proper walking whinge onslaught, you have brought nothing with you (oh, a familiar feeling for me….) the incessant moaning has begun, and you are wracking your brain for ideas on how you can just MAKE IT STOP…..!

Enter our Whinge Waiving Walking Wonder Games! (I’m a fan of alliteration…..)

The games there for you when you simply cannot TAKE another game of I-Spy……

Hide and Seek Photography

Nope, you don’t need a camera for this one, you just need a phone, and lets face it we more or less always have one on us …. So what to do? Well find an excellent spot on your walk, and take a before (hidden) and after (BOO!) photo. Why does this work so well? Well, if your kids are like mine, firstly, it involves something with a screen…… but then you can spent a good chunk of your walk deciding the best hiding spots, and laughing at the photos created! Sorted!

Tag!

Oh the age old school playground game. But who knew it was such an effective way of turning that slower than a very tired and extraordinarily old snail into a pace faster than the speed of light?! Well I didn’t. So there you go, resurrect your old playground classic in-between your hunt for the best hide and seek hiding spots.

Find a Face….

Oh you can find a face anywhere, trust me! I’ve been driven to finding faces in all sorts, trees, cars, brickwork, rocks….. but it’s a great game to have in your ‘bugger, I’ve forgotten to bring anything’ arsenal! If you’re feeling fancy, take it to the next level and give him a name or a character! We’ve found Daleks, Aliens, Ents and all sorts in the things we walk past. That’ll kill 15 minutes or so…….. until you……

Find an Animal!

No really, bear with me (sorry….. pun definitely intended!) Google has a function which will put a 3D version of a crazy animal right in front of you (on the phone screen obviously…. Google are good at many things, but they are yet to master teleportation…… I think….) So have a cuddle with a crocodile or waddle along with an Emperor Penguin!

Animal Sounds

This is my children’s favourite thing to do on a walk. Tell them an animal, they have to do the sound, then the competition as to who can do the best version of said sound is the winner. There are several things you have to know about this game. The sound has to be neither accurate nor even animally sounding. Essentially, it’s the excuse to come up with crazy, crazy noises, which will likely scare off any nearby walkers and make you look like an idiot. Can’t think why they love it so much……… Still, if it stops the whingeing, I’ll take a crazed monkey noise any day! I guess if you are more normal than us, you might want to actually take some time and use this as a mindfulness activity. A chance to listen to all the actual animal sounds…. but if you hear the native call of the angry honey-badger, you’re probably hearing us. Sorry about that!

Poo-Jumping

This is one of our classic ‘speed ‘em up, it’s time to get to the pub’ games! The concept? Jump over piles of poo. Yes, I know. BUT they really think it’s hilarious, and you know what? If you get to the beer garden sooner rather than later, then it’s a winner in our book! Why not make a poo jumper competition? How many piles of poo can you jump over between now and ….. well wherever you’re headed! Winner gets to choose the snacks……

I hope that we have provided you with a little fun packed emergency blanket of walking games to pull out whenever you are desperate for a little bit of whinge relief!