How To Make Traveling Fun For Kids

For many families, taking the children on a vacation can be a fun, worthwhile bonding experience that changes how your children feel about the world. However, this can also be a troublesome time full of headaches for you, particularly if your children are bored as you travel.

Bring a cookie sheet in the car to serve as a desk that your children can play at. Use magnets to hold papers and a pack of crayons to the sheet, and encourage your children to draw, color or play license-plate bingo on a sheet of paper.

Give each child a disposable camera, and encourage them to take pictures of whatever they want. At the end of the trip, develop the pictures and hang them in the child's room.

Do road trip scavenger hunts, bingo games or other mental games that can keep your child's mind constantly working on something, instead of watching the boring scenery roll by and getting cranky.

Stop off at parks and rest stops briefly to let your children run around, burn off excess energy and entertain themselves with something outside of the car.

If they are of appropriate ages, let them occasionally ride in the passenger seat. This can be particularly engaging and exciting for younger children, especially if they have never ridden in the passenger seat before.

Bring games like magnetic checkers or chess that don't require electricity. Toys, particularly dolls and stuffed toys, are also great for taking on adventures. Encourage your young children to write stories about their toy's adventure in places you visit, and have them photograph their toys on the way.

Have children help with navigation if they are old enough. Encourage them to look for the exit as you drive down the road or tell you what the speed limit is. Play along with them to an extent, but be sure to pay attention and not get lost.

If you have children who dislike car rides, and you have time and money to spare, consider taking a train to maximize the newness of the travel experience. Encourage your child to explore train stations along the way, and chart where you travel.

Print out a map or get a free road map for your child to mark the car's progress on. When you pass a big city or other location of significance that would be on a map, have your child draw a star over it, and then connect the stars to show how far across your state you have traveled. Make a big green or yellow star the final destination, so your child can see how much longer you have to drive or travel before they arrive at the final place. You can also hang this map up in your house later, and place the photographs your child took on the map where they took the photos.

Prevent some headaches incurred from traveling with your children by following these simple tips. By making travel fun and creative for children, you ensure that they will get the most out of the trip without bothering or annoying you or their siblings.