Traveling with children can be an exciting experience if you take the time to prepare for every potential child-sized emergency beforehand. Kids are excited as well as nervous about travel. These tips can make the trip go smoothly and not affect your stress levels at all.
Bring along age appropriate activities for the kids, including several games and novel activities that can keep them occupied. Do not forget to pack their very favorite pillow, blanket, or stuffed animal. This will make them feel comfortable, no matter how far away from home you travel. Include easy-to-open snacks and juice boxes as well. The child or children can then be in charge of that bag, which will give them some sense of responsibility so they can feel a little bit in control.
Comic books, coloring books, and easy-to-read, lighthearted fiction are great to pack along. If your children are a little older, bring along their favorite pop culture magazines or the latest book of their favorite series. You can enjoy the family activity of reading together or pass along the books when other activities lose their interest.
Don’t let children pack themselves. If they do, make sure that you check their luggage so they aren’t bringing their entire collection of rocks with them or other items they think they can’t live without. Although it may be fun for them to pack their own bags, you need to make sure they pack their essentials, which they may not even consider.
STS of Redwood City recommends bringing small first-aid kit as it can make all the difference in the world when your child is experiencing nausea, a headache, a fever, or other common childhood ailments during your journey. Adhesive bandages are also an essential for those minor scrapes or cuts. Putting together a kit that will cover most of the unexpected mishaps will make any slight emergency tolerable and taken care of quickly.
Another essential to pack is a camera for your child only. Invest in an inexpensive digital camera or buy several disposable cameras. This way they don’t fill your memory card with pictures of the airport floor, the plane’s window, random shots of their feet, pictures that are missing the subject’s heads, or out-of-focus pictures. If you have more than one child you are traveling with, buy more than one camera to avoid the bickering.
While looking for learning opportunities and ways to keep your child occupied have him or her learn new words or languages. If you are traveling abroad, encourage them to say please and thank you in the language of the country you are visiting. While traveling within the United States there are many local opportunities to discuss languages as most states have particular accents and ways of pronouncing words.
One other thing that you will want to do as a parent or caretaker is to pack and wear clothing with several pockets in which you can slip random surprise toys, snacks, and other creative distractions for children. By wearing clothing with pockets you can avoid dragging around a large pack for their benefit.
Use these tips from Safety Training Seminars of Redwood City to make travel a great experience for those of all ages. By bringing along a few choice items your little travel companions won’t be a bother at all; and you can happily view the world from their perspective with child-like eyes and wonder.