Anonymous wrote:Interesting comments. So what do others think is easiest for first timers with two four year olds: kayak, canoe, rowboat??? Thinking of renting at Seneca Creek Park

Canoe or Kayak would be fine. I would lean towards the canoe if they let you take both kids so you have two adults and two kids all contained in one boat. It's harder paddling a tandem kayak with a non-paddler in the front, but on a lake with no current you will be fine. Just don't go far from the launch site until you get a feel for how far you want to paddle. Also, don't go on a windy day. It will be much harder and you don't need that in your life.

Anonymous wrote:Depends on how fit the adults are. My husband has no problems kayaking a tandem kayak with 4 year old / non paddler in the front. I’ve done it with an older child (7/8 YO) who does paddle and it was not hard (woman here).
Personally I don’t like canoes— too heavy. Kids are contained in a kayak too- their job is to sit there.

PP here. My DH is probably fine by himself. I have only kayaked once in Hawaii in a tandem kayak with someone else and it was OK; I have no idea how I would be managing the kayak by myself!

Depends on how fit the adults are. My husband has no problems kayaking a tandem kayak with 4 year old / non paddler in the front. I’ve done it with an older child (7/8 YO) who does paddle and it was not hard (woman here).
Personally I don’t like canoes— too heavy. Kids are contained in a kayak too- their job is to sit there.

Interesting comments. So what do others think is easiest for first timers with two four year olds: kayak, canoe, rowboat??? Thinking of renting at Seneca Creek Park

Anonymous wrote:Canoing is easier with small kids. Easier to get them in and out, and more stable. Also, if the kid did fall out (unlikely), I think it would be easier to jump out of a canoe to grab the kid than to extricate yourself from a kayak.

Kayaks for calm water are sit a top. There is no extracating yourself. You're just sitting there.

OP, we did a ton of kayaking with our 4 and 7 yos recently over spring break. A few thoughts:

--Neither a 4 or 7 yo is going to be able to paddle effectively in an adult 2-person kayak because the kayak is too wide and their arms are too short. A kid can only really paddle in a kid kayak.

--Two person kayaks are very heavy. It is very slow for a single adult to paddle a 2-person kayak without a second person paddling. You'll have to work super hard to get anywhere if you are trying to use a 2-person kayak for an adult and non-effectively paddling kid.

--We had good luck having our almost 5 yo sit in the "boot" of the sit a top kayaks behind the paddler and just ride. It worked with either a 1 person adult kayak or a 2 person kayak with two adults. She wasn't really interested in paddling, nor did she have any attention span for it.

--For our 7 yo we had good luck putting her in her own kid sized kayak. She had a good time paddling around and exploring. When she started to get tired, we'd tie a tow rope to the front of her kayak and tow her behind us. She still paddled some, but it helped her keep up. She found it much easier to paddle in a kiddie kayak that is narrow than an adult kayak.

Anonymous wrote:Reviving this thread -- any recommendations on best places to rent a kayak or canoe in DMV area for an afternoon with little kids? I have two 4 yos. We live in Bethesda, so would be willing to do something either in DC or in MoCo per prior suggestions. Neither my husband nor I are experienced kayakers or canoers, so looking for something fairly dummy proof for our family of 4.

Lake Needwood (tons of families) or Little Seneca though that’s a much bigger body of water.