Partner Hiking Questions

How long it’ll take:

15-20 minutes

What the goal is:

Encourage campers to get to know more about each other while being active.

What the objectives are:

Through guided questions, campers will share their thoughts and experiences with others.

What you’ll need:

No materials are needed.

What you’ll do:

1. Come up with a few get-to-know-you questions that have potential for extended conversations. Start with questions that are simple and fun to answer. Slowly progress into questions that require campers to share with more vulnerability. Examples include:

Fun/Simple Questions (start with these):

• What is your favorite place that you've been to and what why was it your favorite?

• What are your favorite activities to do outside and what do you like the most about them?

• If you were a superhero, what would your name be and what would be your power?

• What is one of your favorite food memories?

Questions that require more thought/deeper sharing (slowly progress to these):

• What is something in the world that feels unfair to you, and how would you make it right?

• What are you most afraid of?

• What is something you love about yourself?

• What are you grateful for?

• What is something positive you have noticed about your hiking partner?

• What do you wish the world knew about you?

2. Ask campers to pair up and walk with each other on the hike.

3. Tell them one of the icebreaker questions and give 5 minutes for sharing.

4. Switch partners and give next question. Continue to rotate through a few easy questions, and at least 1-2 questions that involve sharing more deeply.

Debrief Ideas:

1. Incorporate memories from this activity into the daily debrief:

   • Did anyone learn something new about a fellow camper during our icebreaker hike?

   • What made you laugh during our icebreaker hike?

   • During our icebreaker hike, were there any questions that were hard for you to answer? Why? Do you want to share your answer?

2. Ask campers to share a positive affirmation (either something positive about themselves, or something positive about their hiking partner) at later times throughout the day or week.