We’ve all forgotten what it’s like to travel with kids after the past two years of travel restrictions. All parents have at least one memory of travel days long-past with toddler tantrums and grumpy teenagers. It makes the idea of going on any form of long distance travel with your kids seem like an awful idea. But, travel doesn’t have to be this way! There are definitely ways to keep your kids happy on long journeys. Whether you’re going abroad or planning a staycation, we’ve compiled this ultimate guide to keeping your kids happy on long journeys.
Keeping Your Kids Happy
Children can get bored on long journeys. As adults, we’ve lived for years, while for many young kids, even a few hours can seem like a lifetime. Here’s some advice for keeping kids engaged on your travels.
Creative Writing
Free writing exercises for kindergarten students are a great way to build up your child’s creative writing skills and also keep them engaged while travelling. There are many free resources available to help your child imagine and discover a new love of writing. This activity is both deeply engaging, and can help them develop their writing skills for later life.
Bring Snacks, Many Snacks
You have to travel with snacks. It’s an unwritten rule of long journeys that you need snacks to make your journey more exciting. Both adults and kids will benefit from car treats. It also might reduce the amount of stops you need to take and reduce your long journey by a few hours. If you’re unlucky enough to be caught in traffic or experience travel delays, snacks are also a great substitute for a delayed meal. Bring snack bars, crackers and muffins (healthy or for a treat) to fill your kids stomach’s on long journeys.
Give Your Kids Some Planning
If you want to get your kids happy about the holiday, give them some planning to do along the way. For younger kids, give them a choice of three or four activities they can do, and let them choose one you can all do together. For older kids give them a budget and a full day or afternoon of planning. It even gives your teenagers something to do on a long car journey.
Be Organised
For kids of all ages, it’s a great idea to be organised with their travel packs. Create an activity bag for your younger kids, with crayons, books, and activities to keep them occupied. Remember to put it in easy reach of their car seat. The same goes for snacks: put these in easy reach of them, or you, depending on who you trust to hand them out.
Take Breaks
It’s no fun being cooped up on a long journey. If you’re flying it’s more difficult, but for on the ground trips, take regular breaks and let your kids and you stretch your legs. For flights, try to let your kids take a walk up and down the aisle every so often to stop them from getting bored.
Managing Travel Sickness
If your kids get travel sick, there are options out there for making their travel easier. Before you go, ask your doctor if they’d recommend any antihistamines for the journey. It’s also important to reduce the amount of reading and games they focus on in the car. Rather, encourage them to play car counting games or look outside of the vehicle. Avoid giving your kids a big meal before travelling, and feed them small or bland snacks during the journey so they don’t feel sick.
Travelling With Anxious Children
If your child is anxious, they may feel scared or worried about long journeys. Giving them a plan of your trip in advance can help to reduce anxiety by ensuring they know what to expect. Being extremely prepared in advance of your trip can also help anxious children feel secure. Bring wipes and extra clothes with you, and let your child know what you have prepared for the journey.
Keeping Babies And Toddlers Happy
Is it your first time travelling with a pandemic baby? There are a number of ways to keep your littlest ones happy for a relatively stress-free journey.
Drive While They’re Asleep
Ideally, the best time to travel is when your baby is asleep. It means they’ll be less fussy, and hopefully will give you some peace while driving. The maximum time guidelines recommend you keep a baby in a car seat is two hours, so make sure that you take regular breaks. When possible, stop at a rest location and give your toddlers time to walk around outside of the car. In general though, starting or having a large portion of the journey during nap time is an ideal way to make a car journey more peaceful.
Clip Toys To Car Seats And Overhead Bars
If you have a very young child, clipping toys to car seats and overhead bars is a great way to engage their minds while travelling. Things like a travel mobile above their car seat can help keep them occupied if they wake up. At the same time it’s important to make sure that toys aren’t at risk of distracting the driver, so only include mobile toys if it is safe to do so.
Sit In The Back Seat
If you can divide the driving and child distracting between two adults, you should definitely do so. For young babies, sitting in the back seat with them will help them to feel secure, as they can see you face to face. It can also help with toddlers if you want to read to them or play games with them during long journeys.
Keep To Their Basic Routine
Young babies and toddlers are creatures of habit, and will feel more secure when they keep to their usual routine. Keep mealtimes, bedtimes and nap times to a similar time if possible. It also helps you manage your own routine, as you hopefully won’t have wide awake kids when you need to do something yourself.
Electronics Are Not The Worst Thing
When you travel, it’s okay to use electronics for toddlers. If you have a toddler-friendly tablet, set them up with a few episodes of their favourite kids TV shows. It helps keep them distracted for part of the journey, which is great for you, and also provides them with some varied entertainment when travelling.
Bring Books
Although they’re not able to read yet, toddlers still enjoy holding and seeing images in books. Bring their favourite stories with them so they already know the tale. Or, bring sticker books so they have both a game and some colourful images to look at while you are travelling. If you are able to sit in the back seat, you can read to them directly during long journeys.
Can Teenagers Manage Their Own Journey?
You might think your teens can manage their own journey, but there are still some simple tips that can make your trip more bearable:
- Consider renting a car if you need to travel with more space
- Tell your teen when and we’re you’re taking breaks
- Listen to audio books as a family
- Bring fun snacks for hungry teens
- Let them choose the music
- Give them screen time so they can watch movies
Managing You And The Adults
Travelling with kids can take it out of you, and cause some stress. Here’s some advice for managing yourself and the adults in your family.
Do Something Nice Before You Go
Even though you’ll have a fantastic time when you go on holiday or reach your destination, it’s still nice to do something before you travel. It might be ordering a pizza before you go, or a spa day ahead of the trip so you feel relaxed and refreshed. Either way, do something nice for yourself before a long day so you can feel ready to tackle anything.
Get A Good Night’s Sleep The Night Before
A good night’s sleep is the key to managing travel with kids. Get everything prepped the day before so you can get a decent night’s sleep ahead of your journey. A solid eight hours will help you tackle even the most dramatic tantrum. This is especially important if you’re driving or travelling as a solo adult.
Let It Go
Your long journey isn’t going to be perfect. Someone will moan, need to go to the bathroom, or be travel sick. Let it go before you get in the car, and you’ll be surprised at how much better you feel for not being so hard on yourself.
Long Journeys Can Be Fun
We hope this advice on managing kids, teens, toddlers, and adults will make your long journey more fun. Remember, even if your journey is boring or tantrum-ridden, when you arrive on holiday is when the fun really starts. Who knows, you might make some memories on your long journey that you never expected. Take breaks, bring games and snacks, and we’re sure it will be over before you know it.