Play various forms of tag if you are traveling with older kids. This game can also be a lot of fun for adults. Although you can play this game with a ball, it is not required. You can simply play it with your paddles.
If you want to play with a ball, Trails.com suggests you use the ball to tag the other players. The objective would be to throw the ball and hit one of the people in a different canoe. If you hit the person, than it is their turn to throw the ball. If you miss, than you will need to retrieve the ball and try again.
To play tag without a ball, players will need to actually chase another canoe, and touch the back of the canoe with a paddle. This version of the game is particularly useful for older children or adults who are learning to maneuver a canoe.
Play a game of follow the leader. This game can be played with children of any age, and it will entertain without taking away from travel time. However, similarly to tag, this game does require multiple canoes.
To play follow the leader in a canoe, the canoes simply take turns being the leader. The leader can move fast or slow. The leader can paddle in a zig-zag formation, turn around, paddle down the middle of the river, or close to the edge. Where ever the leader paddles, the rest have to follow.
Prepare for this game before leaving for the canoe trip. Before leaving on your trip, make up Bingo cards with pictures of things you may see while traveling. For example, you may include a pine tree, geese, a deer, a fallen tree, or a large rock sticking out of the water. Then have the cards laminated, so they won't be ruined if they get wet. Give the child(ren) the Bingo cards and a dry erase marker at the start of the trip, and then help them spot things on the cards as you travel.
Some of the benefits of this game are that it can be played by young children who are simply sitting in the canoe and not paddling, and it can be played from just one canoe. It will keep the children attentive and watching the area around them. It is also a game that can involve the entire family or group.
Another way to make this game even more involving is to bring binoculars and/or a camera. The binoculars will add another dimension of participation for the children, and being able to take pictures will allow them to share with others everything they saw.
