What Happens on a Day Hike for Schools with InSOUL

Day hikes are a perfect introduction to the outdoors. They are short and sweet with just the right amount of challenge, learning and adventure to get children pumped for what nature, trekking and the outdoors have to offer.

The best part? A day hike is simple to organise. Just within a short drive from the city, students can immerse themselves in nature, all without disrupting their school routine.

At InSOUL, we often get questions from schools wanting to experiment with an outdoor experiential learning programme: “What happens on a day hike? What can we expect?”

So let’s walk you through it!

Pre-Trek Preparation: Behind the Scenes at InSOUL

Schools often see day treks as simple hikes, but there’s much more behind the scenes!

• InSOUL treks are carefully planned to align with school learning objectives.
• Our Programme Coordinator guides schools from start to finish, ensuring a smooth experience.
• We begin by understanding the school’s goals: teamwork, resilience, or nature connection and customise the trek accordingly.
• The Coordinator meets with students and teachers via Zoom or in person to share key details: trek expectations, packing lists, weather updates, and fitness tips.
• Schools receive a detailed checklist well in advance, helping students prepare for an enriching outdoor adventure.

How Our Team Prepares

• Program facilitators work with the InSOUL team to match the learning objectives with the design of the programme.
• They review learning objectives, school expectations, create a risk assessment and mitigation plan and plan for student-specific needs (e.g., allergies or medical conditions).

The Day of the Trek

How the Day Starts

Briefing, context setting and setting ground rules:

The day usually begins at 6:30 AM with a briefing by the trek leaders with both the teachers and the students.

Expectation setting with teachers and students:

Teachers are involved in a discussion on what to expect on the trek, our safety practices, what we expect from them and how we look at risk and how immersive our programs are. 

This is important, so that students are not confused by different messaging from the trek leaders and their own teachers who join the trek.

We then hand out our famous ecobags to all participants for the trek. Students are welcomed and learn a bit about who they are trekking with, where they will be trekking and how to follow a few basic safety protocols.

Students usually begin with a fun energiser where they are eased into what lies ahead, fun challenge and adventure. 

Through this, they start the day on a high note and become comfortable with the idea of trekking with students other than their own friend group, as we form teams for the energisers themselves.

We then begin the trek and plan it in such a way that they have enough time to not just trek from the start to different points on the trek, but they have the time to engage and immerse themselves in what the trek has to offer.

We usually include one or two rest points along the way, where students can rest and where we engage them in different learning activities. We include some delicious snacks along the way to refresh and re-energise.

Activities during the trek correlate with the objectives:

For different age groups we conduct different activities depending on the objectives and interests. 

Example of Activities During the Trek

Green Trails Skit:

For us at Indiahikes, sustainability is at the core of how we work. There are different ways we introduce it to different age groups. When we engage with our youngest trekkers, we aim to inspire a love for trekking and an understanding of how our actions affect the environment. 

We recognize that it is extremely important how we communicate the principles of sustainability to young students, to ensure that the message is both engaging and impactful.

For these students, our team has a lot of fun using interactive storytelling to highlight the dangers of irresponsible trekking and the environmental footprint it can leave behind.

Gamifying the trek experience:

We  introduce various activities as challenges to students, giving them a clear understanding of what lies ahead. This is one such example of what an entire day of activities on trek could look like.

Depending on the age group, we sometimes choose to conduct a Do It Yourself (DIY) style trek, wherein our team does not lead the group. We divide the students into different groups and give them instructions on how they can lead the trek and navigate the trail by themselves. This is done under careful supervision of our team and we jump in, in case of any safety concern.

This challenges students to take on responsibilities and make decisions under real-world conditions. It also encourages them to take ownership of the trek and its outcomes. They get first-hand experience of what it would take to lead a team and what it requires, whether it is communication skills or the ability to collaborate to reach a common goal.

Post card at the summit: 

Summit Experience: At InSOUL we do not look at reaching the summit as part of a competition. For the team sport that trekking is, we see the summit climb as an achievement of the entire team. A feat of collaboration between everyone involved.  

At the summit we usually have a homebaked sweet treat to celebrate the accomplishment and allow students the time to reflect by writing down their thoughts on a post card.

If you are curious about what profound thoughts a student can share after just a day in the outdoors, take a look at some of the post cards written by students below:

Reflections, debriefing and closure:

The loop of experiential learning on a day trek closes with a circle of reflections where students share what they observed in themselves, in others and the trail. This is an important part of helping students remember and take back what they learn from the experience.

In Conclusion:

A day trek is the perfect way to get a different perspective, away from the classroom. Students get the opportunity to see themselves and their peers in a new light. The setting naturally allows for qualities such as leadership, care and empathy to shine. 

As Amita Mani Ma’am, Principal of Roopantara Centre for Learning says “On the trek I saw the stronger children helping the weaker ones. I saw kindness and I saw gratitude. This effect seemed to remain even after the trek where a new strong bond seemed to be formed between those who were mere acquaintances before the trek. The children felt more eager to come to school and were more attentive in class”.

In terms of safety, we take all possible precautions and have contingency plans for any  situation that may arise. 

As for risks, they exist  even on the gentlest treks, but we believe it is an important aspect of engaging with the outdoors, and of childhood, where young students learn how to assess and manage risks themselves with minimal adult support and guidance.