12+ Children’s Books Inspired Walks That Will Have You Heading Outside with Your Kids Today
Lace up those shoes, put on some sunscreen, or zip up your coat. We are heading outside on a walk today.
My kids love being outside. It is their happy place. Mine too.
When I first started staying at home with them when they were just crawling and I wasn’t really sure how to fill our days I started with walks. First this was me pushing them in a stroller.
But soon they weren’t happy being suck in the stroller and we begging to get out.
That’s when we started really taking walks.
But there are only so many times I could follow them up and down the block as they toddled and stopped and started. The teacher in me…maybe the organized OCD tending person in me, needed a plan. A focus.
That’s where our themed walks were born. It gave us a focus. An objective. Soon we were walking outside to look more closely at everything from puddles and bugs to fire hydrants and bridges.
That’s when our little walks started feeling more like big adventures.
Often these walks were inspired by children’s books. The only thing we do as much as explore outside is read books and they are often the best inspiration for all kinds of other things.
Below are 12 fun children’s book inspired adventures. Simple. Quick (often). Toddler friendly (and up). Easy ideas to inspire learning and break up your day. Happy walking!
affiliate links are included before.
13 Children’s Book Inspired Walks
Each walk below was inspired by a children’s book (or in some cases several or a whole stack). Find one that sounds fun to you or that follows a current interest in your house, click and off you go!
- Toad Weather and Rainy Day Walks
TOAD WEATHER by Sandra Markle is all about seeing the adventure in a rainy day. The book is about a specific adventure in a particular city in Pennsylvania, but it embraces heading out to enjoy a rainy day and looking for the beauty and adventure in the wet weather. Read the story together (you can get a copy here) and then head outside for your own Rainy Day Walk.
2. Spinning Spider Webs and a Spider Web Hunt
This book will get your kids excited about spiders and is the perfect launch for a spider web hunt. You can go on a quick hunt in the backyard or go further to a park or garden. READ MORE
3. Pond Walk by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace Inspired Pond Walk
This was a favorite of ours when we lived in Mississippi. This darling book is practically a road map for talking your own pond walk. Grab a net and magnifying glass and head outside. READ MORE
4. The Tiptoe Guide to Tracking Fairies and a Fairy Hunt
Oh how I loved the fairy phase. You know how your kids’ hobbies and interest change and how sometimes you adore these phases and sometimes you’re a little less thrilled – this was one of my favorites. Our house felt so full of magic and imagination and this was a walk we did again and again. READ MORE
5. I’m Brave by Kate & Jim McMullan and Fire Station Walk
Fire trucks are endlessly fascinating to kids at this age and there are a whole bunch of firefighter and firetruck books that you could use as a launching point for this walk (and unit if you’re extra inspired!) READ MORE
6. Gruffalo Hunting
We adore this book. It’s a truly fantastic read aloud – but it’s also inspiration for a daring adventure outside. I love how Rainy Day Mum brought this book to life with her kids. READ MORE
7. Counting Books and a Counting Walk
This is probably the most simple and educational and most pinned walk idea that I did with my toddlers. It takes almost nothing to set up and yet my kids got so much early math skill building from our counting walks. READ MORE
8. Soup Day + Grocery Story Field Trip
This is another example of a book that pretty much lays out a field trip for you. In the story a little girl and her mom go to the store, buy ingredients, and then make soup. The recipe is included in the back of the book. I did this with my twins when they were about 3 years old and highly recommend it for a chilly day when getting out of the house and warm soup is exactly what’s called for. GET THE BOOK
9. I Read Signs by Tana Hoban Inspired Walk
When kids are just beginning to show an interesting in reading the things they often “read” first are signs like STOP that they see everywhere they go. This book by Tana Hoban encourages that early reading and can inspire you to search for your own environmental print. READ MORE
10. Four Senses Walk
Don’t want to just listen on a walk – let’s walk and explore more senses. I love this book by Aliki but any Five Senses book works as inspiration for this walk. Read about your senses and then head outside with one of these Scavenger Hunts that encourages kids to touch, smell, listen, and look all around their world. GET THE SCAVENGER HUNTS
11. Welcome to the Neighborwood Book Walk
If you have a little woods (or big one) nearby then this is the book for you. The textured and pop-up illustrations build excitement about the outdoors that makes you want to go see it for yourself. This post has a free printable and encourages kids to think about who lives in their woods. READ MORE
12. Flashlight Walk
I love doing flashlight walks right after daylight savings time makes our evenings darker. It’s my way of putting a positive spin on something I otherwise despise. It’s fun regardless, but I recommend this gorgeous Flashlight book so highly. Then grab some flashlights and head outside. READ MORE
13. The Listening Walk
Read Listen by Gabi Snyder and The Listening Walk by Paul Showers ad illustrated by Aliki. Both are beautiful and are a natural starting point for your own Listening Walk. READ MORE
Get 52 More
Little Walk Ideas Here
PS. Here’s one more. Finding Round in Nature – a book inspired walk idea for toddlers and preschoolers.