How To Build An Epic Explorers Backpack For Kids

Nature walks and day hikes have been part of my family’s life since my oldest was a newborn. Over the past 10 years, we have learned that you can never be too prepared when out in the wilderness. And now that my son is 10 and can carry quite a bit in his backpack, it takes the load off of my shoulders to carry it all. We have collected outdoor adventure gear over the years and have tried a lot of different nifty gadgets and tools. I thought it may be helpful to other families to see what my son keeps in his adventure bag that we keep by the back door. Read on to see how to build an epic explorers backpack for kids !

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First lets talk about the bag– My son has collected some pretty cool backpacks over the years, but we keep coming back to this lightweight bright orange pack from Think Outside because it makes it so much easier to see my son in the forest. There are a ton of pockets and zippers and it is the perfect size for him. I highly recommend a brightly colored bag for children, especially if they’re like my son who likes to hike way ahead of us. If you’d like to learn more about the monthly Think Outside Outdoor Adventure Subscription box, head to these posts… here here and here. If you have a child that is interested in the outdoors, or perhaps you want your child to get outside more, you should definitely look into Think Outside boxes. We did a subscription for a whole year and learned a lot and gained a lot of really cool adventure gear. I’ll be featuring several pieces of gear that we got from these boxes.

The Necessities

There are only a few things we absolutely need when headed out to the forest. Even if we are just exploring the woods on our own property, we will at least bring these items.

1. Water – this water bottle is getting a little small for my growing boy, but it does keep the water cold and isn’t too heavy for his pack.
2. A snack– we always grab at least a granola bar or apple when headed out the door.
3. Bug spray– Nothing spoils a good time like annoying gnats, mosquitoes or ticks! (Scroll down to see my DIY natural tick spray recipe!)
4. A hat- since moving to the southeast from Montana, we have been introduced to ticks far more often than we’d like. And they seem to LOVE my son. We have learned to never head into the woods without a hat, as this helps protect your head from ticks in your hair.
5. A first aid kit– because things happen! We usually just need a bandaid or maybe a sting relief ointment, but you really never know what you may end up needing. Out first aid kit is from Think Outside and we added some more things to it. We got a big first aid kit from Costco a couple years ago that has single-use creams, pads, and ointments that are perfect for a small pack. We also keep the First Aid reference cards from Think Outside in the kit. These are pretty handy because they teach you how to care for certain injuries. I know in an emergency, these cards could really come in handy.

DIY Natural Tick Repellent Spray

I did some research about the best essential oils to use before creating this tick repellent spray and have tried it out over the past few days with positive feedback! If you live in an area with lots of ticks, do yourself a favor and order these essential oils ASAP. You will have enough oils to make bottles of tick repellent for years. I highly recommend Plant Therapy essential oils. I have been buying them for a few years now and I am always impressed with the quality and the price. Their KidSafe line is my favorite and we have almost every oil from that line. I share how we use their oils in our homeschool days in this post here. I also have a few other Plant Therapy products from their skincare line, and really can’t recommend them enough.

Ingredients/supplies needed:

Eucalyptus eo

Geranium eo

Rosemary eo

Cedarwood eo

Lemongrass eo

A dark glass spray bottle

Witch hazel

Distilled water

A label for the bottle – I use this embossing label maker for everything and it’s so affordable

To make:

I used 6 drops each of the eucalyptus, germanium, rosemary, and cedarwood essential oils

Then 10 drops of lemongrass eo

Fill half the bottle with witch hazel and the other half with distilled water

Gently shake and apply liberally around your ankles, socks, shoes and leg. I have been spraying my son’s hat before he puts it on too, but be careful because if those oils get in the eyes, the eucalyptus is going to burn. You will need to reapply this spray more often than you would a more “traditional” bug spray. I sprayed us down every hour and it kept bugs away.

The “extras”

Now comes all the cool outdoor gear that makes any nature walk an adventure. My son loves when he has an excuse to pull out some tool or gear that is useful in a situation. And I have peace of mind that my son has some supplies to make him comfortable and safe when we are outdoors.

1. A bandana is usually around my son’s neck anyways. It’s part of his unique style, but also is quite useful for several different situations. In an emergency, it can be used as a bandage, sling or tourniquet. Tie it to the end of a long stick and wave high up in the air if you need help. You can use it as a make-shift knapsack to carry things in. It keeps the sun off your neck, can be used as an oven mitt, a towel or wash cloth, and as a trail marker- rip your bandana into strips to mark your trail so you don’t get lost. There are probably dozens more uses for a bandana in the wilderness.
2. Foraging Bags or jars for collecting interesting nature treasures- This bag rolls up to take up less space and is made of thick durable canvas and leather. We have used this countless times to bring home all sorts of cool treasures. We have also packed small glass jars for things that we don’t want crushed, such as feathers. We just don’t currently have any jars that are not in use at the moment. Amazon has some cheap small ones we have bought here.
3. Binoculars are always a fun piece of gear. We like to look high up in the trees for bird nests.
4. A compass could be seen as a necessity and not an extra. But we honestly haven’t HAD to use ours before. My son just uses it for fun. The one I linked is high quality and glows in the dark.
5. A compact packable ground cover is SO nice to have! We have two and I keep one in my nature bag at all times, too. They don’t take up a lot of space and are very lightweight. We spread them out to sit on almost every nature walk we go on. I have a toddler and a baby due next month, so stopping for snack is pretty much a requirement now. We also use it when my son is inspired to sketch something in his nature journal.

6. A sharp pocket knife can have a million uses. My son usually just enjoys using it to sharpen sticks into spears or carve notches in a walking stick he found. He has this 4-in-1 tool that is a good first pocket knife and his Papa gifted him an Opinel No.08 Stainless Steel Folding Knife which he had engraved. This knife is a classic and modestly priced.

7. A good nature journal + travel watercolors + colored pencils are usually with us as part of our homeschool days. Sometimes my son is inspired to sketch something he has seen, and other times I help guide him on what to draw. I encourage him to date each entry and write location and sometimes weather. We have nature journals from a few years ago that are really fun to look back through. You can also use them to press flowers or interesting leaves and plants. I keep a piece of wax paper in his journal in case he does want to press something. As a local Wild+ Free group leader, I also always try to keep clear tape in my pack so kids can tape down their special plants in their nature journals. The nature journal is a blank journal with thick watercolor paper. These are our favorite (and currently on sale!) I also created a printable nature journal for kids that you can print out as many copies as you’d like. You can see that blog post HERE.

8. Extra socks are always nice to have. My son is drawn to the water and mud and ends up a mess. I keep an extra outfit for my toddler in my bag because he also ends up a muddy mess most hikes.

9. Sunscreen is sometimes in my son’s bag, but I usually keep one in my bag just to apply to cheeks, ears and noses. We use Badger Baby Mineral Sunscreen because my boys have super sensitive skin and seem to get rashes from most big brand “natural” sunscreens.

10. Carabineers are another useful but fun thing to have.

11. My son likes to keep a flashlight in his pack, though we rarely are out in the wilderness past dusk. It is a good thing to have in case of emergency or the hike is taking longer than anticipated and the sun is setting. This hand crank solar flashlight is from Think Outside but it looks like the exact same one can be found here.

12. A duck call or a bird call are fun to have, too! My son loves playing with these. We also usually have a whistle attached to his bag that he only uses when he needs help.

13. A pocket-size fishing kit isn’t really very practical, but my son always keeps it in his bag “just in case”. It is a pretty handy little survival kit, though.

14. A magnifying glass to observe nature a little closer.

15. Reference cards or pocket nature guides are useful and educational items to bring along. We have several different kinds that we rotate out. From local birds to animal tracks, which plants are best to avoid, bird identification, and local wildflowers. These reference cards here are from Think Outside and are full of really useful information. Things like how to identify a snake bite and how to clean your drinking water.

A few more ideas

My son has gone through phases of what he deems necessary for his adventure pack. A few more things that he use to pack are…

1. A rope for lassoing unsuspecting trees, swinging from trees, and to climb up trees.
2. Thick leather work gloves for all that lassoing and climbing
3. A portable water filtration system like this water filter bottle
4. Waterproof matches or a ferro rod starter kit
5. A butterfly net with an extendable handle

What other kind of adventure/outdoor gear should I add to this list? Anything you or your child packs that I missed?

I hope this post gave you some ideas and inspiration to build your own adventure backpack for your kids this Summer! Thank you for reading and supporting My Simple Wild.

Blessings,

Natalie