We do "family" hiking (3 kids, 9 to 15) with up to 110km through the mountains with maximum 20 km and about 1000m up and 1000m down on a "hard" day.
I fully agree with you:
- start slow to get the body to find itself (and keep 2 days at the end of the hike to book a nice hotel with a pool for the kids).
- hiking poles are a must. It also saves the hike if you have ankle/knee pain as you can put the weight on your arms to release the pressure from the bad leg. Our kids prefer walking without.
For sore knees and ankles, do a backwards walking, then a sled pulled backwards with weight for a few weeks, 10 minutes a day 3x/week. Doesn't need to be expensive, can drag anything to get the effect. See kneesovertoesguy for more.
I fully agree with you:
- start slow to get the body to find itself (and keep 2 days at the end of the hike to book a nice hotel with a pool for the kids).
- hiking poles are a must. It also saves the hike if you have ankle/knee pain as you can put the weight on your arms to release the pressure from the bad leg. Our kids prefer walking without.