A great family vacation takes lots of planning. You only get 18 summers with kids before they’re off, so you want to plan something everyone will enjoy and remember. But there are so many things you need to do to get ready. I’m here to tell you that your kids can be a part of the process if you encourage them and it makes things easier on you too. Here are a few things your kids can do to help you prepare.
Choosing the Destination
Do your kids have their own bucket list of places they want to go or things they want to do on their next trip? Bring the whole family together to talk about places you want to go and things you want to do. Hear them out on things they don’t want to do too. We always make it clear that we’re making the final decision, but their input is important.
One year the only place our kids wanted to go was Universal Studios. When we asked why it was because they loved Harry Potter. We used that to plan a trip to London and visited the 9 3/4 platform at Kings Cross Station. They were so excited and we had an amazing trip. So somethings their input can be used to do something different, but that will make everyone happy!
If you know your kids love to be outside, check out the National Parks or a state park. If they love history, consider going to a place they’ve learned about. We added a day trip to visit Normandy after our oldest expressed interest in World War II as part of our summer vacation plans that year (unfortunately we had to cancel that trip due to COVID).
Planning the Activities
Once you’ve picked the destination and booked the transportation and lodging it’s time to start thinking about how you’ll fill your time. This is another great opportunity to get the kids involved. It not only lightens your load a little, but it teaches them how to research and plan a trip – a great life skill!
If your child really wanted to go tubing down a river, you could put them in charge of researching the options near your destination. If you’re going somewhere you can stargaze, have your child research and find a great star finder app and learn which constellations you’ll be able to see that month. You could also have them research a landmark you’re going to see so they can tell you all about it during your visit.
When we went to Australia one of our boys researched indigenous animals and the other researched living things in the Great Barrier Reef ahead of our trip. Because of their research they became the experts and loved teaching the rest of us about what they had learned during our trip.
The summer we traveled to London, we also went to San Francisco. That year they had just finished kindergarten and second grade. We made a list of questions for them to research. One boy had questions about famous things we would see in San Francisco and the other had questions about famous things we would see in London. They found the answers to their questions, created a powerpoint and then presented to the family one night. During our trip we all referred back to things they had taught us.
If you have extra time before your trip consider picking up books at the library or finding a travel or nature show about your destination to watch ahead of time. This may give you and your kids other ideas for activities and get you excited. This is especially good if you’re traveling to another country. Consider having your kids learn a few words or phrases in that language to teach the rest of you.
Everyone Can Pack
I use a packing list to make sure we have everything we need for a trip, but the boys do their own packing. I sit in their room and call out what they need – 3 shirts, 1 sweater, etc. – and they pile it up. I have been known to rule out a shirt or pair of shorts (who wants to look back on the pictures and see a shirt they really don’t like over and over!), but I give them a lot of leeway as long as they do it.
The boys are also responsible for packing their backpacks with activities for our time away. I make recommendations, but we always discuss that if they don’t pack it, they won’t have it, so they need to think about that. And… it can’t be too heavy to carry. I will not carry it for them.
Tickets, Backpacks and Suitcases
Depending on the ages of your kids, they can handle much of the travel day the same as you. Our kids are responsible for their own backpack and it’s entire contents. They can also each pull a wheeled suitcase. They’ve gotten very good at working the checkin kiosk the airlines use and are better at tagging the bags than the airline staff. They are pros at reading the departures screen and finding our gate and they easily lead the way through security.
When our oldest started middle school a few years ago he was anxious about all of the congestion in the hallways between classes. I immediately reminded him that he’s pushed his way through a busy airport more than once wearing a backpack and had no trouble. Turns out that was exactly what he needed to hear!
Encourage them to do the things they can do and hopefully you can enjoy some extra help preparing for an amazing family trip!
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