There are very few things my kids love more in life than playing in the water, whether that’s swimming in a pool, splashing in waves on the beach, running through the sprinkler or just hanging out in a bubble bath. My kids love water so much they volunteer to wash the dishes so they can play with the water in the sink. They get super excited about rainstorms because they know they can jump in the puddles. That’s why going “creeking” with the kids is one of our favorite family activities – it combines the kids’ love of water with our love of exploring the outdoors. Today, we’re going to show you all the amazing benefits of creeking with kids and how exploring a creek is one of the most fun and educational outdoor activities for kids!
Sensory benefits of exploring a creek with kids
There are so many incredible benefits to taking kids creeking. Not only do they get plenty of fresh air and sunshine while creeking, but they get to wade through the cool water, catch minnows, tadpoles and crawdads, hunt for fossils, climb over/around obstacles, skip rocks, build dams, observe wildlife and connect with nature in a very personal way. When kids go creeking, they’re part of nature – they’re surrounded by it, immersed in it, touching it and exploring it in ways that they can’t by standing on the sidelines.
Psychological benefits of creeking
I don’t have any hard scientific data to back me up here (although I’m sure I could find it if I looked), but I’ve seen amazing things happen when kids that have never experienced creeks get to play in one for the first time. We love taking our friends and their kids to creeks in our area (we’re familiar with a lot because we love them so much).
I’ve noticed that getting kids in the water in a little creek does something for them that’s hard to explain – it gives them a sense of adventure and independence and freedom. When parents give their kids permission to get wet, dirty and explore on their own, it promotes self-confidence and encourages curiosity and exploration. Shy kids become bolder. Clingy kids become more independent. Kids that don’t like bugs or worms suddenly become more interested in them.
Physical benefits of exploring creeks
Creeking also helps kids in a multitude of other areas – walking through a creek helps with balancing and stability (rocky creeks are unstable terrain), encourages problem-solving (how to get from one side to the other), teaches about life stages of nature (from tadpole eggs to live bugs to dead fish) and prompts kids to ask questions about nature and the environment that they might not otherwise think of.
My 4 year-old asks some of the most amazing questions while we’re creeking, like: Is this a dinosaur tooth? Is this the same kind of water that’s in the river? Do fish eat rocks? Why is the water cold? What kind of fossil is this? Where do frogs go at night? Why does that tree look like that? Is that a crocodile? Where can we find a snake? If so, can we take it home with us?
Cool blast from the past
Exploring creeks with kids is a wonderful activity to do in the summer when everything’s lush and green and thriving. Wading through cold creek water is the perfect way for kids to cool off without having to spend the day at a packed public swimming pool or running up your water bill and flooding your lawn with the sprinkler. Creeking seems to be a thing of the past and not a lot of people are out there exploring them with kids – you’re likely to have an entire stretch of any given creek to yourself. It’s also completely free and can be done with very minimal gear.
What to pack when exploring creeks with kids
Here are a few of our favorite things to take with us to the creek:
- Reef-safe sunscreen to protect you from the sun’s rays and keep the water clean
- Bug spray to keep mosquitoes and flies away
- Rashguard and sun hat, so you don’t have to keep applying sunscreen over and over.
- Bait net for catching bugs, minnows, and crawdads. This net has metal around the edges, which prevents the net from ripping when kids drag it through the sand and rocks.
- Water shoes that give kids some stability and grip, but keep the rocks and sand out.
- Polarized sunglasses are helpful for letting kids see underwater, although not necessary.
- Bucket or a small fish tank if you want to catch anything and watch it while you’re at the creek
- A change of clothes for the ride home – that way it’s totally ok for the kids to get as wet and dirty as they want.
Locating a creek
Creeking is a great activity for kids of nearly any age (my kids started before they were 2) and can be done almost anywhere in the country…so long as you know where to look. Knowing the location of a good creek is probably the hardest part about creeking and is possibly what prevents most parents from taking their kids. However, there are a number of ways to find local creeks in your area. Here are a few:
- Facebook pages for your area – feel free to ask local moms if they know of any good creeks (mom support groups or even buy/sell/trade groups)
- State parks and conservation areas – almost always guaranteed to have a creek or two, just call or ask at the visitor’s center where you can access one
- Google searches – a lot of times you can find a list on a local blog or website of some creeks to try out
- Google maps – scour the maps of your local parks and neighborhoods for creeks and go check them out
- Explore on your own – some of our favorite creeks are ones that we’ve found entirely by accident while out hiking or geocaching in local parks and conservation areas
Tips for parents when exploring a creek with kids
There are also a few things that parents can do to promote and encourage a love for creeking. First, make sure you (at least) act like you’re having fun exploring and discovering new things. If you don’t want to get your feet wet, skip rocks or try to catch minnows, your kids won’t either. They take their cues from you, so get in the water with them and share their experience – touch the crawdad, splash the water, show them cool rocks you find. They’ll pay attention to what you’re interested in, so make it count.
Secondly, keep a close eye on them, but allow them freedom to explore, touch and discover new things on their own. Giving them some independence will encourage them to be brave, explore and push their own boundaries. You’ll still be right there, but allowing them to go a little ahead of you or check areas out first means a lot to a little kid.
Finally, give them permission to get dirty and wet. Bring extra clothes for you kids and yourself and allow them to splash, throw rocks, fall down, stomp in the water, wade through mud, climb embankments, lay in the sand and all the other things that go along with creeking. So long as you’ve got some relatively unmuddy water to rinse them off before stripping them down and thowing them back in the car to head home, it doesn’t matter if they get a little bit dirty or absolutely filthy, so just let it go and let them do what they want…just this once. Believe me, it’ll be something they remember and appreciate.
Let’s go creeking!
I hope I’ve encouraged you (even just a little bit) to try to get out and explore a creek this summer. I promise your kids will love it and you won’t regret it. You might even get a bit addicted to creeking like we are and seek out creeks where ever you go!
We’d love to hear about your creeking adventures…
I’m newer to things like this although I did it as a kid. I loved craw dad fishing. I let my daughter go creeking a few weeks ago and we caught tadpoles it was so fun! I noticed lots of little parasite looking squiggling bugs in the water we caught the tadpoles in though and it kind of grossed me out. Wondering if this is something to be concerned about? I know ponds we’ve been too have parasites that cause “swimmers itch” but is a creek safer cause its moving water?
Awesome photos! I’ve got this on our summer bucket list after an impromptu creek stomp at Beaumont Scout Reservation after a Cub Scout picnic. The nets are a great idea!
I wish we had creeks around us. As a kid I loved going to my friend’s farms – there were always creeks on farms! And we’d do everything you mentioned. We’d get wet. We’d find bugs. We’d have the best time. When we’re back in the Midwest I’m going to have to locate some creeks and let my kids explore.
There is a creek running right through my tiny hometown, we’d always go walk around and cool off on our last day of school. Unfortunately it’s occasionally dry, but I’m hoping it’s running a little when we’re back for a visit soon. It’d be great to get the kids in it to explore (and get dirty)!! 🙂
Love this post! I linked to it on my local mom’s FB page in an effort to find some creeks near we live so hopefully you will get some new visitors to your website.
As a mother of three boys who love the outdoors, we go “swompin” all the time. Great article. Follow our adventures on FB – Swomp Boys
So fun but then we lock them in govt prison for 9 months. Lol. Homeschool your babies!
Creek Stomping is the bestest!
I’d add to this list:
-Bring a towel and baby powder for their change into dry clothes. It makes dry clothes easier to slide onto damp skin if you use powder first and it makes it easy to rub off any residual sand or dirt.
-Binoculars, even just pretend ones made out of toilet paper cardboard rolls, encourage observation and watching.
-Wear wading pants and being spare clothes yourself. You should wade in yourself to get a good grasp of the current, temp, and stability or sharpness of the creek bottom. But sometimes they’ll splash you or you’ll fall in, and you don’t want to ride home wet either.
-Don’t forget to make a potty plan. Does the park have bathrooms? If not do your kids know how to potty outside, or will this be part of their learning today?
-water bottles. It can be easy to forget since you’ll be surrounded by water, but it’s not water for drinking!
-Throw a box of granola bars or something in the car for the way home, they’ll work up an appetite!
-Don’t forget to tick-check afterward. It is nature after all folks.
Our youngest loves creek adventures and bush walking. Find a shady creek and don’t use sunscreen and bug spray. You are polluting the water with those products. Wear a hat & long sleeve shirt instead. Take a local species identification book. Kids love to know about what they find and parent’s might learn something too. Protect that environment for the next family. My son has a YouTube channel about the animals he finds in his local area ‘Will’s Wildlife Kingdom’. He has learnt so much from creeks.
Our youngest loves creek adventures and bush walking. Find a shady creek and don’t use sunscreen and bug spray. You are polluting the water with those products. Wear a hat & long sleeve shirt instead. Take a local species identification book. Kids love to know about what they find and parent’s might learn something too. Protect that environment for the next family. My son has a YouTube channel about the animals he finds in his local area ‘Will’s Wildlife Kingdom’. He has learnt so much from creeks.
I took my class of first graders creeking for science class frequently. They collected rocks, found insect larvae, build dams, threw plant parts in to watch the flow, touched crayfish, observed snakes until the teacher relocated them, and were creative and enthusiastic. One girl brought over a tiny rock with markings on it and asked, “What’s this?” It was a Liriodendron fossil. Years later, she still has it.
We brought our house 32 years ago when our kids were 3 and 6. We bought the lot because it had a small creek and a medium size hill. Both the kids used the creek extensively when growing up and now when the grandkids come back tio our state, the playing in the creek is the first tugging they mention. Did I mention, we Are in the middle of the suburbs and wouldn’t trade our backyard for anything. In fact, it’s the reason we haven’t downsized yet. I’m a retired teacher and I knew the benefits of outdoor exploration
I am concerned about My grandchildren wading & playing in the creeks. Are there water snakes in the creeks at State Parks. Are there any in the small streams?
That really depends on where you are… We live in Maryland and we have true Watersnakes, which are not venomous but some areas (particularly the southeast US) have Water Moccasin (aka Cottonmouth) snakes which are venomous and dangerous. I wouldn’t let it stop you though, you can usually see them and just walk away – they won’t chase you. If are really concerns, bring a net along to repel it if it gets close to you.
These pictures are beautiful! What creek are you guys at in these pictures?
Love this article and helpful tips in comments. Thinking about creeking reminds me of my childhood army grandparents farm….as mentioned in the comments there are always creeks on farms. But then I think about all we’ve learned about farm chemical runoff and worry about the safety of the water. Makes me sad as well as hesitant to get in. I appreciate the tip about contacting state/national parks to locate a good creek.
My son and daughter in law moved to a house with a creek running through the yard. This article really helped me ( and them) to think about what to do when they are young to rnjoy it to the max!
Hi I’m Ben and I was wondering if you could try to convince mom that I’m old enough to play in my backyard creek and explore by my self? I’m 12 years old. The reason for this is because I really want to go to this spot I found were it is deep enough to swim in but I am afraid of her saying and getting mad because I went to far. I was wondering if you could tell her the benefits of it but leave out me going to far please 🙏. If you would be willing to do this comment back saying yes or no also how should I introduce you guys so it doesn’t sound weird. But if you feel uncomfortable with this then I totally understand.
That looks absolutely fun. The heat is just pretty intense lately, and a light spot of fishing and creeking with the kids sounds perfect