Anne-Charlotte Passera3 TIPS FOR TRAVELING WITH KIDS & HOW TO PREPARE THEM
When you prepare a trip with kids, it’s with the intent to make traveling fun and exciting and not the other way around.
Although you can’t control everything when you travel abroad or even just go away for the week-end, there are things that you can.
When traveling with kids, if you prepare your trip right, or at least to the best of your capabilities, things like food, interest, comfort should at least be under control. Yes, there will be tantrums, plane delays, or missed connecting flights, uncomfortable beds, possibly a case of the stomach bug or kids throwing up, but that is out of your control. That comes with the territory of being a traveling parent.
Here, I’m going to talk about ways to prepare YOUR kids for a trip by suggesting ideas in terms of activities you can do and what to pack.
Now let’s cover the more boring aspect of how to prepare for your trip when you’re traveling with kids.
WHAT TO PACK – TRAVELING WITH KIDS
I will get into a detailed packing list of what to pack when you are traveling with kids soon, but in the meantime, here is what you should think of.
Backpack
If it’s your kid’s first time traveling, buy them their own backpack. You can start as early as 2 years old. The size of the backpack will depend on your kid’s size and age.
Have them practice walking with it beforehand.
Let your kids pack their own backpack by giving them a list or by telling them. This will teach them to be responsible, organized and also on how to be focused. It’s always funny to see what they decide is a necessity or not.
Of course, it’s always good to tell kids beforehand what the weather will be like. You don’t want them to put only a pair of shorts and bathing suits if you are going to Iceland for example.
We got Blondie Bear’s backpack from MEC and even two years later, he can still use it. It fits perfectly in the overhead compartment on the plane as well. This is perfect as you won’t have to pay to check the bag. It’s a money saver.
Footwear
Depending on where you’ll be traveling with your kids, it will be essential that they have appropriate footwear. Usually, a good pair of walking shoes and sandals that they can also use as slippers if need be is all that they’ll need.
Once again, it will also depend on your kids’ age. MEC has some great shoes for kids if they are of age for hiking. We got Blondie Bear hiking shoes for our trip to The Rockies and they were fantastic. Sadly, he then left them at school, never to be seen again. He was 10 years old when we took that trip.
LEARN SOME CULTURE
Every time I went traveling abroad with my kids I always taught them some essential words.
Learning keywords in the language of the country you are traveling to with kids will go a long way.
First of all, parents nowadays tend to forget to teach their kids the 4 most important words in our vocabulary: hello, goodbye, please and thank you.
Not only they (we) should know them in their native tongue but learning how to say them in a different language will be a sign of respect to whomever we are trying to communicate with. Don’t just assume that everyone speaks English. It was not the case when I went to Colombia for my honeymoon. Luckily, I knew enough Spanish to get by.
Besides, having your kids learn these four words will be one less thing for you to remember as their tiny brains are able to absorb so much more information than when we are adults. Hello, Alzheimer’s!
If you are going to a country that requires a certain dress code, you’ll have to plan accordingly. It is important to explain to our kids the customs and have them respect them, even if we don’t agree with them.
ACTIVITIES TO DO WITH KIDS BEFORE TRAVELING
I have a whole article on cultural activities to do with kids which is perfect if you are traveling with them in the upcoming months.
First of all, if your kids are old enough, have them do some research on the places you’ll be visiting on your trip. You can have them do a little exposé. It can be as detailed as they want it to be. Get all the traveling participants involved and make it a family night event. Also, if you are the one who tends to plan all of your family trips, this will free up some of your research time. Yeah!
FOOD
If you can, try preparing a meal based on a popular dish of the country you’ll be visiting.
When traveling with kids, eating can become a nightmare if your kids are picky eaters. This way, you’ll know what they like or not and can plan accordingly.
Learn with your kids how to say some of the names of the ingredients. It will not only make ordering easier but at least you’ll know what you’ll be eating.
Ordering in the country’s language makes for a laughable moment and is usually always appreciated by the waiters or waitresses. It also helps ease the mood.
MUSEUMS
Museums are always great to visit whether you have a trip coming up or not. However, if you are traveling with kids and there is an expo that relates to the place you are traveling to, you should absolutely go and see it.
This will help in getting them excited about the trip. We were lucky here in Montreal as we got to see an exhibition on Mayans before we went to Peru and one on Pompei. Although we didn’t go to Italy, the expo on Pompei talked a lot about Volcanoes. This was perfect because we were heading to Hawaii a few weeks later. See how I could tie these seemingly unrelated topics together?
Going to museums with kids, even when you are traveling, is so beneficial to them. It encourages critical thinking and opens up a new world of intent.
For a more detailed approach on how to visit museums with kids, read HERE.
MOVIES
Not all activities have to be ‘intellectual’ ones. Watching a movie can be as relatable as anything else if you are planning on traveling with kids. However, pick one that makes sense.
For instance, if you are traveling to Paris with kids and France, you could watch Ratatouille, the Hunch Back of Notre Dame, the Three Musketeers. Do you get the idea?
In case you are thinking it, yes, we did watch the movie Pearl Harbour before going to Hawaii. It made sense since we were going to actually visit Pearl Harbour.
Watching movies before traveling abroad can help put things in context depending on what you’ll be doing while there.
READING
Libraries, museum bookstores, or just bookstores, can help you in preparing your trip abroad with kids.
Find books of their age group to read with them or have them read, relating to your travel destination. This will allow them to understand better whatever they come across during their travels.
For instance, you can pick a book about animals that can be found in that particular country. Then, when they see it in their natural habitat, they’ll be able to put it into context, based on what they read. ‘Look, mom, a toucan’, said Blondie Bear when we traveled to Costa Rica. He didn’t know what it was until we read about it before our trip.
FESTIVALS
Festivals can come in useful in planning a trip abroad. We are lucky to live in Montreal as there are around 100 festivals held each year covering all fronts.
Some that could be worth checking out are: Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, Ukrainian Festival, and Yatai Mtl, a Japanese festival, just to name a few.
This is a good way to immerse yourself in cultural activities, usually for FREE, to discover music, food, traditional costumes, and dances.
When you prepare a trip with kids, the goal is to implicate them as much as possible.
Through activities, you encourage family bonding, creativity and allow your kids to become life-long learners.
Traveling with kids is not hard, just as long as you plan ahead.
[…] are fun and easy ways to prepare kids to travel before heading out which I tell you all about HERE. However, how do you deal with your children’s short attention span upon arriving at […]