{"id":316,"date":"2017-04-28T21:38:03","date_gmt":"2017-04-28T21:38:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gowild.ie\/?p=316"},"modified":"2017-04-28T22:00:33","modified_gmt":"2017-04-28T22:00:33","slug":"easy-orienteering-for-young-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gowild.ie\/index.php\/2017\/04\/28\/easy-orienteering-for-young-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Orienteering For Young Children"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>Before you launch headlong into official orienteering events<\/a>, it can be great fun to try it out yourself in the comfort of your own garden or a local park.\n

You can even do this type of orienteering indoors on a wet day when you\u2019re at a loss as to what to do about the \u201cThere\u2019s nothing to do\u2026\u201d and \u201cI\u2019m boooooorred\u2026\u201d moans.<\/p>\n

Introductory Orienteering Game for Children aged 3+<\/h3>\n

There are multiple variations of this type of orienteering, known as Star Orienteering. I\u2019ll give you some ideas to start off with and you\u2019ll probably come up with your own variations as you go along.<\/p>\n

For the youngest explorers, I find it best to leave out the map altogether so that they can first become familiar with finding controls in a small search area, what to do when they get there and what to do then! A \u2018control\u2019 is the orienteering name for the flag you are hunting.<\/p>\n

I created this version initially to use with junior infants (aged 4+), but children of all ages enjoy variations of it. Children younger than 4 will need an older sibling or adult to help them for the first few games, but should manage easier games quite readily from about 2\u00bd.<\/p>\n

The beauty of it is that it\u2019s so easy to adapt to suit ability levels! In school, I often use it with older children as a fun way to have a quiz or a test, simply using quiz questions instead of pictures and a blank scorecard for their answers.<\/p>\n

I have provided free downloadable samples of a simple matching game you can use with very young children, along with instructions to make your own version of this.<\/p>\n

What you will need:<\/h4>\n