A vacation with Kids can be a joy, but it does come with its challenges. From corralling unruly kids to finding family-friendly restaurants, there are one or two aspects of traveling with kids that are worth thinking about before you go.
Planning your vacations is always a good idea, and when it comes to making sure a family trip goes smoothly, the more you do in advance the better. Knowing exactly what you need to do before the tantrums start can be a lifesaver! So whether you are planning to take a short vacation or a longer trip abroad, check out our top tips for traveling with kids.
When Having a Vacation with kids sure you’ve planned enough to do…
Making sure your kids aren’t bored is one of the best ways to keep everyone happy and calm while traveling, so plan a bunch of fun activities during the day. Your itinerary should have a few kid-friendly activities organised every day to keep your little ones happy and entertained throughout the vacation.
…but don’t forget about downtime
That said, over-planning stuff to do can result in tired, grumpy kids, so make sure there’s enough time in the day for everyone to rest, relax, and take it easy. Vacation itineraries that try to pack every hour of every day with stimulation will result in burnout after a few days, so ensuring proper breaks for meals, naps, and just free time doing whatever they want is just as important as planning fun things for them to do.
Get your kids involved in planning
Planning the trip can be almost as fun as the vacation itself, so get your kids involved in the organisation! Letting them pick activities and destinations, and even giving them some control over itineraries and restaurants will make them feel engaged, excited, and grown-up too. You never know, letting them take some of the organisational responsibility might be a huge help for you as well!
Vacation with Kids? Pack wisely
A tip to make family vacations go smoothly – always bring essentials with you, don’t rely on being able to find things when you are abroad. Things like sunscreen are must-haves, and can be surprisingly hard to find and expensive when on the go. As a parent you will already know how essential wipes are to have on you at all times, but its also important to bring more clothes than you need, as well as personal items like comfort blankets, plush toys and favorite t-shirts. Not having the exact item of clothing when on vacation can quickly escalate from a small annoyance to a full-blown tantrum, so plan ahead and avoid the worst.
Make memories
Sometimes vacations with kids can seem chaotic, and you will often be on-the-go non-stop. However don’t forget that it is meant to be a vacation, so always make time to enjoy the trip yourself, and make memories as you go. Take plenty of photographs, and you’ll look back on even the more stressful times as treasured family moments!
We Love our family holidays and we do hope that you like yours too – if you need any inspiration – do check out these holidays related activity posts out on the site too:
Travel based activities
We have a few ideas and activities based around travel - why not take a look?
Countries of the world printable board game
We've got a great game for you exploring the countries of the world!
5 ways to teach your kids about other countries with This is My World
Why not check out this book from Lonely Planet Kids helping your kids understand how people live in other parts of the world.
Travel coloring pages for kids: What cities mean
A wonderful eBook packed with great colouring pages based on a travel theme.
World Flag Bunting - other ideas for the kids
If you like this - then you might like these other country-related activity ideas too.
Colouring pages for kids: travel
More travel based colouring pages - why not print them out before you go?
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Take care,
Helen
This is a collaborate post.
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!