I've got two kids (a third on the way!), ages 9 and 10, and I started bringing them out discing with me when they were about 4-5 years old, when I knew they could traverse the approximate mile or so to play 18 holes on a typical course. My daughter (the older one) lost interest pretty quickly, but she gets really easily frustrated and turned off when she can't accomplish something immediately. My son, on the other hand, is becoming a pretty avid and accomplished DGer (he'll probably be outdriving and outputting his old man by the time he's 12 or so!) and enjoys our Sunday drives where we'll ususally stop and play a course other than our home course.
My experience, both with my kids and friends' kids, is that younger children don't get bored as quickly with a heavily wooded course. I don't know if it's the excitement of walking through the woods as opposed to walking in relatively open fields where they can get bored easily with less to take in nature-wise...and this specifically applies to the kids walking with you that aren't actively playing, and thus requiring more stimulation to prevent getting bored. It can be frustrating when you're not even halfway through your round and a kid starts whining about how they want to leave or go do something else, but the instances of this seems to drastically reduce with scenic, wooded courses. Even my daughter, who won't even pick up a disc anymore, enjoys walking through the trails, looking at wildlife, checking out the various plants and trees, so when she's with us we try to accommodate her as much as possible and play a course that will be interesting to her as well.
What's your experience with bringing non-disc-golfing kids (or kids too young to really play) out to a course? Do you spend more time keeping them occupied than focusing on your game? Have you noticed a difference in their receptiveness to an open course versus a wooded course?
My experience, both with my kids and friends' kids, is that younger children don't get bored as quickly with a heavily wooded course. I don't know if it's the excitement of walking through the woods as opposed to walking in relatively open fields where they can get bored easily with less to take in nature-wise...and this specifically applies to the kids walking with you that aren't actively playing, and thus requiring more stimulation to prevent getting bored. It can be frustrating when you're not even halfway through your round and a kid starts whining about how they want to leave or go do something else, but the instances of this seems to drastically reduce with scenic, wooded courses. Even my daughter, who won't even pick up a disc anymore, enjoys walking through the trails, looking at wildlife, checking out the various plants and trees, so when she's with us we try to accommodate her as much as possible and play a course that will be interesting to her as well.
What's your experience with bringing non-disc-golfing kids (or kids too young to really play) out to a course? Do you spend more time keeping them occupied than focusing on your game? Have you noticed a difference in their receptiveness to an open course versus a wooded course?