IS YOUR CHILD READY FOR WHITE WATER RAFTING?

By: Luisa

My nine-year-old son Ethan and I had never been white water rafting – not even for a day trip – prior to our Grand Canyon Expeditions eight-day Colorado River rafting trip last summer. That said, we had NO idea what to expect. Prior to that family adventure, I was especially concerned about how my son would handle the rapids. By mid-trip, I realized that my concerns were unfounded. Actually, I was the one who had more anxiety throughout our family vacation than he did!

“Most parents tend to worry about the safety of a rafting trip only because of their own fears they have developed throughout life. I grew up outside and starting running river when I was seven. I feel it has been key to my development throughout my life,” said GCEX’s Art Thevenin manager.

Although the first 24 hours took a lot of getting used to, Ethan and I both became big fans of white water rafting by mid-trip.  Although white water rafting is not for total “wusses” nor for little ones who are not ready to experience the periodic rush of water all around them, there was NEVER a time I felt my son and I were unsafe during our GCEX family vacation. This was hugely due to how extremely experienced our river guides (Art and Beav) were and that safety ALWAYS came first.

“I think it’s important for parents to realize that it is a very safe environment for kids and families to connect in,” said Thevenin. Although GCEX recommends that children be eight years of age to participate in their Grand Canyon river rafting adventures, “that is mostly so kids have the ability to interact with other guests,” he continued.

Since parents know their children better than anyone, below are some guidelines to help you ascertain if your child is ready for river runnin’.

Does Your Child Follow Directions Easily?

This is the most important factor in deciding if your child is ready for white water rafting. Your raft guide is like the captain of a ship – you and your child must listen to his directions in order to stay safe and enjoy the ride.

The direction we heard many times daily on our Colorado River rafting adventure was “buckle up your life vests please.” We could not leave shore unless everyone had their life vest on and it was buckled. Since life vests are not the most comfortable thing to wear daily for a week, make sure your child knows that it is a requirement.

We also had to keep track of our life vest when we were not wearing it, since we were given a vest with a specific number that was ours for the trip. This meant that Ethan had to remember to attach and buckle his vest to the raft whenever we’d get off for a hike or lunch. He then needed to take responsibility for locating and putting on his vest upon boarding the raft.

Also important is that your child must follow your river guides’ directions when approaching a rapid. Our river guides, Art and Beav, would give us a few minutes warning to put on any waterproof jackets, pants or hats and then would tell us how best to sit to ride the rapid. This meant that no one could sit with their limbs over the side of the raft, but instead sit in toboggan style in the front of the raft or hold onto a rope in the middle of the raft.

Does Your Child Enjoy Amusement Park Rides?

Luckily for me, Ethan enjoys amusement park action rides. That said, he got used to the exhilaration of water spraying and our raft bumping up and down over the waves much faster than I did.

While white water rafting is a bit like a water flume ride, it’s much more exciting because Mother Nature cannot be totally predicted. This unpredictability though might prove frightening to a child who is not ready for white water rafting. While admittedly, I found the biggest rapids a bit scary, as an adult I knew enough that we’d be safe. So I just held on, made sure Ethan was safe, closed my eyes and let out a big, enthusiastic “woohoo!”

Ethan was a bit tentative the first day or two in regards to the rapids. He preferred to sit in the center of the raft’s middle section which was the most protected part since he was wedged in by adults or teenagers on either side. However, by mid-trip, he was begging me to sit up front toboggan style. Ironically, I was more of the chicken throughout the trip! I allowed him to sit up front during rapids as long as an adult was sitting in front of him to make sure he was safely secured. However, I did not get up the courage until the last two days of our journey to sit up front. I wasn’t going to let a nine-year-old be more courageous, was I?!

Does Your Child Need Non-Stop Entertainment?

A week-long river rafting is NOT comprised of one exciting river rapid after another. There are plenty of times that you will encounter quiet stretches of calm water. This is when you and your child – and perhaps your raft mates – have to be creative in keeping yourself entertained.

As an adult, I was very content to sit back and revel in the inspirational scenery around me during these quiet times. However, children and teens may not be as content to do so. Our GCEX trip mates consisted of many teenagers and so Ethan loved chatting, singing and playing word games with them during calm stretches on the rafts.

If your child needs to be constantly entertained or hooked up to electronics, then perhaps river rafting if NOT for him/her. Then again, if your youngster IS very dependent on electronics, a river rafting trip might just be the antidote that he/she needs in order to realize there are also natural ways of having fun! These include: human interaction; connecting with the awesome scenery on your rafting adventure; or just learning to interact more with you.

After you ask yourself if your child is overly dependent on electronics, then you might want to do some soul searching to ascertain if YOU are way too hooked up electronically. If the answer is yes, then a river rafting adventure is just what you and your children need.

Happy rafting and don’t forget to bring your waterproof gear!