Please post tips on activities to keep kids occupied safely in BWCA or other wilderness.

- mini kites
- plastic floating boats tied to canoe
- cat's cradle string and instructions
- mini-lanyards with tiny flashlights/compass, etc.
(flashlight only ON when button pressed, so battery cannot wear down)
- mini games like "Pig", waterproof cards, yahtzee
- small paddles so everyone can help
- small backpacks so they have their own
- splash ball
- dip net (tiny fishtank one)
- binoculars
- hammocks (worth the weight, they love them!)

Then there are innumerable activities that don't require props if you're in camp or stopped along shore somewhere as I'm sure you've all experienced. Sticks can be floated or used for digging, etc. My kids make secret hideouts at camp with various rooms as part of their house. Rubber boots let them splash along many shorelines and see what has washed up. They play "crash and thrash" exploring off trail, etc. etc. etc.

my kids love to fish as well, they like to do what ever we are doing really. also swimming is huge if the temps are right. So is plashing in the rain or puddles

My kids like fishing, but need supervision. On solo trips with me, it's too chaotic. I save it for when there are two adults or maybe just one kid with me.

Their favorite activities do not require "stuff" - they make imaginary fires, construct hideouts with various rooms, explore the shoreline or the woods, etc. They are finally old enough where I do not watch them every second. We do have a "Marco Polo" rule that they have to answer when I call and they must be within earshot. In dense campsite areas, I can still usually hear them in the brush. They are thrilled to find beaver evidence, mushrooms, dead things, bugs, etc.

Swimming is usually iffy at best in May/Sept/Oct, but they are all fish because we live on a lake. One child will go in the water no matter the time of year, and I need extra clothing along for her since she'll no doubt get things wet. If we paddle to a portage area and there are rocks in a stream, we are good for hours of fun.

Being AT the campsite is currently their favorite over being ON the water. They are too excited to explore to be much help setting up camp. They do what is asked and then morph back into the woods giggling until I call them to help with something else. Maddening and cute at the same time!

My kid loves to fish, but can't do it all day like I do when I'm with the old guys. So when tripping with my son (9 yo) we take breaks often and explore along the shoreline. He loves to catch crayfish along the shoreline.

mc2 do you keep the crayfish? We found a hole in a river once where we'd insert fishing line with worm and pull a crayfish up 5 seconds later, attached to the worm. Not sure what to do with it after that, but we had lots of fun letting the crayfish eat the worms 1/4 inch at a time.

BWP - last summer we cooked up (boiled) the crayfish and added with some fried smallmouth bass, rice, peppers, onions and herbs for a jambalaya like dish. It was phenomenal!

MMMmmmm, it does sound good.

Great tips; I look forward to adding my own after next summer's trip.

I think we will bring a small pail; you know how little kids love putting things in pails.

Good idea Nojobro... if there's any chance of sand, a small shovel might go with the pail perfectly. Otherwise using a stick will work too.

we always bring a small hard plastic cup and small medal spoon to dig with

Canyon is eight now. We play UNO for M&Ms on rainy or snowy days under the tarp. I got Canyon a GPS and he loves to mess with that. He keeps track of how far we have gone, how fast we are moving (would move much faster if he were to paddle instead of play with GPS) and he has learned how to mark waypoints and he makes his own map of where we have been when we get home. He is really into computers and electronics so the GPS is the only thing I let him take to the woods. When he was little we would build tiny cabins out of sticks and build forts around them. He also liked to make a neckless out of plastic beads. Each color had a meaning and we made a day out of two black beads. Everything that happened that day was strung between the two black beads. Sunny was an orange bead, grey was rain, yellow was a campfire, brown was a moose, white snow, blue was swimming etc. etc. I logged the meanings in my journals and we still make those and hang them on the paddle rack. As he is getting older fire building and some woodcraft stuff will be on the agenda for this years trips.

Whiteh20. That sounds like a lifetime of memories. Can I go with you?

I'm taking my 9 year old this year (1st time) and that sounds like a great idea.

Necklaces sound cool. It will be fun to look back at those and remember. I've been getting kids one souvenir for each trip - think deck of wolf cards, canoe ornaments, tiny painted paddles, etc. but I haven't done a good job of noting which ones were for which trip. I should paint/write on them the mo/year and entry point I guess.

I do make photobooks out of each trip - it was pretty novel years ago, common today. Still, we can pull them out and read my writing and remember the adventure.