 The key to traveling with kids is planning ahead. With
just a little preparation and the following tips, you'll
have a fun and memorable family vacation. |
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Try to relax and make the travel a fun part of your trip. Take
the long ride as an opportunity to spend quality time with your
little ones. Give them lots of attention, play games, tell them
stories and by the time you're ready to come home they'll be
talking about the "best trip ever!"
Prepare individual bags filled goodies, but don't let your kids
look inside until you're on the road. They'll enjoy having their
own personal items and will gladly spend hours with their snacks,
games and crafts. Here's a quick list of items you can include
in the bag, but get creative and consider each child's personality
and hobbies.
- Favorite snacks
- Books
- Pad of paper
- Coloring supplies
- Pipe cleaners
- Stickers
- Games
- Deck of cards
- Puzzles
- Brochures about your destination
Take the time to plan fun and creative games that can be played
while you are traveling. Your children will have a blast and
the time will fly by. To get ideas for fun travel games, just
visit our Fun on the Road section.
Buy each child an inexpensive disposable camera so they can
take pictures. Your kids will really feel special when they
can snap their own photos. They'll also love the resulting photos
they can later use in a memory book of the trip.
Buy an inexpensive journal or notebook and encourage the kids
to create a vacation scrapbook. Show them how to attach photos,
tickets stubs, brochures, etc. from the places they visit. By
the time the trip is over they'll have a great book of memories
to go with the ones they'll always remember.
Snacks are a good way to get children through times when they
need to sit still or just aren't behaving (boarding a plane,
for example). Snacks also help break up the monotony of a long
road trip. The trick here is to be sure you don't give them
out too fast. Pack snacks that are convenient and interesting
to your children. Gummi Bears or fruit snacks top the list of
quick and handy snacks for small children. For road trips, pack
pretzels, potato chips or fruit. For younger children bring
along sippy cups and don't forget wipes, napkins and small trash
bags.
It may sound obvious, but make sure you always have your children
go to the bathroom before you leave--even if they tell you they
don't have to. Also, when taking long road trips with younger
children, have them wear pull-ups while riding in the car. Depending
upon the age of your children it may be a good idea to keep
a few pull-ups handy (even if they don't want to wear them).
Make sure you visit the dollar store before your trip. You'll
be able to find a bunch of cheap toys, supplies and many things
that are fun for your kids. You can even make a grab bag and
reward your children for their good behavior. Let them draw
for a prize every 50 miles or so on long road trips. This will
add variety to the trip and give them something new to do in
the meantime.
One of the most common things to pass the time on trips is listening
to music. Be sure to bring selections your children will enjoy.
You can also bring along CDs with children's stories or other
educational material that your child may be interested in, just
to mix it up a bit.
If you plan properly, you can add a number of games and crafts
that will be interesting to your children. Bring a small serving
tray or box with low sides. Your child can use this as his or
her own personal workspace to make simple crafts such as pictures,
puzzles or even Play-Doh. An excellent game for young children
is MagnaDoodle. Its simple magnet drawings can be easily erased
and small children have no problem scrawling pictures on it.
You can even take turns drawing interesting little pictures
with your child and each trying to guess what the other one
is drawing. |
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