There is something about a brook that holds a small child’s attention longer than any playground. It moves, it makes a noise, it hides tiny creatures, and — best of all — it is usually shallow enough to paddle in. Rivers can be wide, fast and intimidating, but a stream that you can step across is a different prospect entirely: friendly, curious and endlessly poking-at-able with a stick.

The five walks below are the sort of routes that work beautifully for three- to seven-year-olds. They are short (most are under two miles), they follow water rather than climbing hills, and they offer plenty of stopping points for snacks, stone-throwing and insect-hunting. Take wellies, spare socks and a change of trousers, and you will have a very good afternoon indeed.

How to Choose a Stream Walk for Tiny Legs

Look for a few key things before you set out. A path that runs alongside the water rather than above it means you can stop whenever interest strikes. Flat, firm surfaces suit pushchairs and tired legs; duckboards and boardwalks are a bonus in wet months. Shallow water — ankle-deep on an adult — is ideal. Anything with a weir, a deep pool or a fast channel below a sluice is a no for little ones, however tempting it looks.

Pack the following and you will be ready for almost anything:

• Wellies or old trainers, plus a spare pair of socks each
• Waterproof trousers, even on a bright day
• A small net, a magnifying pot and a stick per child
• Snacks and a drink — stream walks always take longer than planned
• Hand wipes and a dry towel in the car boot

Check the weather first. Streams rise quickly after heavy rain, and a gentle brook can become a noisy, bank-busting torrent within hours. Give it a day to settle, then go.

1. The Chalk Stream Meander

Chalk streams in the southern counties are the gentlest introduction of all. The water is glass-clear, the bed is pale gravel, and the current moves at a stately plod. Paths along old water meadows are wide, level and pushchair-friendly, often following the stream for a mile or more with benches at intervals.

Look for water crowfoot waving in the flow, mayflies lifting off the surface and, if you are lucky and quiet, a kingfisher flashing low upstream. Minnows shoal in the shallows beside the bank — a net dipped gently and lifted straight away will usually catch one, and it can be studied in a pot of stream water before going back. Depth rarely exceeds wellie height, which makes this the perfect first paddle. Allow an hour and a half, including a long stop for dam-building.

2. The Moorland Beck

Head north and the character changes. A beck tumbling off the moors is tea-coloured from peat, cold on the fingers and noisy in the best way. Paths here are rougher — stone flags, boulder steps — so a carrier is better than a pushchair, and the route is usually short: a mile out, a mile back is plenty.

The reward is wildlife you simply do not get on lowland streams. Dippers bob on mid-stream stones and walk underwater; grey wagtails flit ahead of you with their tails wagging. Small cascades make natural play spots, provided you keep children on the flat rocks and away from any drop. This is a good walk for a warm, dry day and a picnic eaten on a boulder.

3. The Woodland Ghyll

A ghyll — the word is used across the north and the Midlands — is a stream cutting through a wooded valley, and it is marvellous for children. Tree roots make handy handholds, stepping stones cross the water every few hundred yards, and there is always a fallen branch that needs turning into a dam.

The surface is muddy, so wellies are essential and so is a sense of humour about it. In spring the banks are thick with bluebells and wild garlic; in autumn the water carries leaves downstream in satisfying flotillas. Let children lead the way and set the pace — the whole point of a ghyll is that you potter, not march.

4. The Old Mill Ford

Village streams that once powered a mill often have a shallow ford, a little stone bridge and a flat path looping around a pond. These are brilliant half-day outings because everything is close together: ducks and ducklings to count, a bridge to play Poohsticks from, and usually a bench within sight of the water.

Fords are shallow but slippery with algae, so walk across holding hands rather than letting anyone run. Moorhens, coots and mallards are used to people and easy to watch. A slow loop of half a mile or so is ample, and the village shop is generally within reach if morale needs topping up with an ice cream.

5. The Burn to the Beach

Where a stream meets the sea, you get two adventures for the price of one. A burn crossing flat sand or shingle, with a little footbridge and a path along its bank, gives you paddling, stone-skimming and rock pools in one outing. The ground is level, the horizon is wide, and there is always something to spot — oystercatchers piping, a heron standing like a statue, gulls dropping shells on the stones.

Go at low tide and keep well back from the water’s edge. Build a channel from the burn down to the sea and watch it carve its way through the sand — an hour will vanish. Take a flask; coastal breezes are colder than inland ones, even in July.

Whichever route you choose, the rules are the same: keep children within arm’s reach near water, avoid weirs and deep pools entirely, and let the stream set the agenda. A slow walk with wet boots and a jam jar of minnows beats a long one every time.