Travel Tricks Traveling with children can be fun, even when the family drives for three hours and passes nothing but other cars or cows. Or when everyone is captured on the airplane and the trip seems endless. Two of the best ways to turn this so-called passive time into activity time is to pack a travel goodie bag for the trip and to brush up on some good old classic travel games. |
 |
|
| For starters, allow each child to bring one backpack or other small container that can be easily carried aboard a plane or kept in the car. If your child is too young to carry a bag, be sure the extra goodie bag is compact enough for a parent or someone else to carry.
Kids should have fun packing the goodie bag. Often, the experience generates as much excitement as the trip itself. If packing is done well ahead, try to keep impatient fingers out of the bag before the trip-anticipation can be fun too. Some tried-and-true packing suggestions include small electronic games-preferably ones that don't make weird noises and drive everyone else crazy. Tape cassettes with headphones are now available for nearly every age-for older children, consider books on tape. You might even start a trend that doesn't end when the vacation does. Etch-A-Sketch still reigns as one of the all-time travel winners for every age. Crossword puzzles, coloring books and crayons, and playing cards are good bets-the airlines may provide some type of fun kit that includes these things. A sketch pad and writing tablet can bring out the creative juices too. Sometimes parents purchase goodies and surprise their kids once the trip is under way. Popular items for young kids are kits for weaving, beading, crocheting and making leather goods. These are available for reasonable prices at discount stores. Don't forget to include some special snacks-they will be appreciated more when unexpected. When kids need a break from the goodie bag, it's always fun for the family to play classic "travel" games of counting cows (mailboxes, blue cars, gas stations), identifying license plates, twenty questions and geography-the two latter games also work well on the airplane. No doubt, there's an adult in the group who played these games as a kid and will be happy to give everyone a quick course, either in the old version or an updated version. Remember, bored kids are usually unhappy ones, so be sure to help your children become happy travelers. Please ask us for more suggestions about traveling with children. |
||