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Recently I had a family meeting with my children and asked them where we should travel to on our next family getaway. I mentioned Disney and several other theme parks but my children wanted to experience another cruise. They loved visiting a foreign country and learning more about the world we live in. I was SO proud! My goal is to raise curious minds and traveling is one way to show my children there is an entire world around us, we need to live it.
Planning a family trip can require patience and motivation. Getting all the details lined out and in order before time to travel is a big job. It takes some extra planning and patience to include your child in the travel preparations, but it’s worth the effort. Your child will enjoy being part of the process and will learn from the experience. Get Dad involved but make sure he has the perfect men’s travel items before you focus on the kids. You can help him plan by getting his preparation and men’s essential’s done first.
Here are a few ideas to help you include your child.
Give Them a Calendar
Help your child use a calendar to create a personalized countdown for your trip. You can find some personalized items Uncommon Goods for some great examples. Make a list of preparations that will need to be done and when they need to be completed. Mark the calendar with significant dates and tasks to complete.
Let Them Help With a To Do List
Sure, it’s easier to figure it all out yourself, but bring your kiddo in on the list making. Let him help you come up with your to do list. He may have a few ideas that you didn’t consider or he may wish to make his own to do list. Either way, let him have a voice in what needs to be done before the big travel day comes.
Use a Map to Create a Route
Whether you are driving or traveling via some other means, you probably know the preparations and route you need. Your child, though, will love taking part in working out a travel route. If they are old enough, give them a map and show them your current location and where you are traveling to. Help them figure out all the different routes to get to your destination. Get Dad involved!
Help Your Child Research Your Destination
Whether your trip is to Grandma’s house on the other end of the state or to a vacation destination in another country, it will be fun learning more about the destination. Help your child do research on the place where you are going. Learn about the population, the history, the sites and attractions, even where the local Wal-Mart is located! The Internet is a great resource for this research, but don’t forget to make a visit to your local library to see if there are books about the place you are going.
Create a Travel Goodie Bag With Your Child
Kids get bored on long trips, so you need to make sure to pack plenty of items to keep that boredom at bay. Let your young one help with the boredom bag. The goodie bag can include books, small games, coloring books, snacks, and anything else that would help make the trip fly by and be more fun. Supervise your child as they put together the goodie bag. You may wish to purchase a few special items to put into the bag, but you can have the kiddo help you pick those out. Add some fun women’s gifts for you as well. Check out some suggestions here.
Travel can be fun and grueling, but putting your child in charge of some of the preparations can help make it more memorable for him or her.
You can find some of the products featured above can be found at UncommonGoods. UncommonGoods is an privately-owned retailer that features unique designs and handcrafted gifts. These gifts are without harm to animals or people. UncommonGoods makes it their mission to support and provide a platform for artists and designers in which half of what they sell is made by hand and incorporates recycled and/or upcycled materials. If you enjoy travel, UncommonGoods partners with American Forests which protects and restores forests worldwide while helping to preserve the health of our planet for the benefit of its inhabitants..
How do you keep your child intrigue and excited to travel?
These tips are handy because we are planning a trip that involves two full days of driving. I hope that we survive!
Involving your children in the planning stages of a trip is a very good idea. It will get them excited but also keep them focused. Learning about where you are going is certainly important and can be fun as well.
What a great learning experience for kids to get excited about their up-coming trip. These are great ideas-thanks for sharing. I just sent this to my sister-in-law as they are getting ready for a trip and she’ll love it
Those are great ideas! Getting ready for a trip can be overwhelming for me at times. Including the whole family in the process will help keep perspective. It’s supposed to be fun!
I wish I knew about this travel log for when we did a road trip over the summer. Travel planning definitely is a lot and you have to be creative too!
My kids would love to be involved like this for planning trips.
Great tips! We have found that one of our daughters tends to get anxiety of the unknown so involving her in our travel planning is key. We lay out the schedule and have her give input/requests so she’s involved in each stage.
This is an awesome post. I think it is important to include the kids in the preparation of family adventures. I love the idea of having the do research on the destinations. Thanks for sharing.