When it comes to travel research, we usually think about booking flights and hotels and planning out itineraries. But we often overlook the aspect of preparing our children for travel and finding ways to get them excited about the upcoming adventure. Our contributors shared some great ideas you can incorporate into the preparation of your next family trip!
Have Them Research and Plan:
- Read Books – Find fiction and non-fiction books set in the country you will be visiting to get them excited for the trip. Our contributors recommend the Who Was/What Is book series, Lonely Planet kids travel books, Mission city books, and Magic Treehouse books.
- Watch Videos – Find travel shows related to your destination to watch together as a family. YouTube is also a great resource for travel videos.
- Research Online – Have older kids research the destination online and find places of interest to add to your itinerary. They can even use Google Maps to zoom in on landmarks you will be visiting. Have them share their research with the family as you plan.
- Create a private family blog that older children can add their thoughts and pictures to during the trip.
- Use your trip as an excuse to teach your kids a new language by creating a handout of the most common words or phrases in the country you will be visiting. Encourage your children to use them throughout the trip.
During the Trip:
- Buy an inexpensive camera for each child to take pictures throughout the trip. You never know what they’ll find the most fascinating!
- Give each child a map to help them get a sense of the location and take control with navigating through your itinerary.
- Buy a travel journal for each child and ask them to write down their thoughts and experiences at the end of each day.
- Create fun challenges for the kids to complete during the trip. They can take notes and compare to decide on the best ice cream, pasta or even castle that they saw.
- Find out if any parks or museums you will be visiting have special programs for the kids like scavenger hunts or a Junior Rangers program. You can also participate in walking tours or hire local tour guides to give your family the VIP experience.
After The Trip:
- Scrapbook or create a shadow box with the photos and mementos you gathered from the trip.
- Create a photo book of the photos your children took with their camera. You can even include snapshots of their journal entries.
There are so many options you can choose from to have your children be more involved in the planning process that guarantee they will be more invested and involved during the trip. Don’t forget, though, that they may be more fascinated by simple things you would not even notice than the famous landmark right in front of them! We hope these tips get your kids excited for your next family adventure.
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