Guest Blog by Little Travelling Bug
The school holidays might just have finished but the long Summer holidays are right around the corner, so blogger, Little Travelling Bug have given us their top 5 tips for keeping children entertained on long journeys!
Katrin
During the holidays, many of us are jetting off or undertaking longer car journeys than usual. Whether its to tropical climes or visiting family in the UK it is worth planning your journey to ensure little ones are content for the duration of your travel time.
1. Travel scavenger hunt;
One of our favourite and virtually free travel games is to prepare a ‘treasure hunt’ for the journey actually with a little organisation this same list can be used throughout your holiday.
A checklist full of items you may see on the journey can be compiled before you leave, with everything from spot a ‘red car’ to “count four cows”, this activity keeps children of all ages occupied for as long as the list keeps giving! Offer a prize following a completed list and you will further focus young minds.
You could also try a section to allow collection of small items throughout your trip, but be mindful of those little pockets before you do the washing!
2. Are we there yet?
Draw or print a small picture of your own car, attach a loop of string to the top of it and thread through a longer section of string so that it can be moved up and down the string. Tie this from two sections across the back of the car. As you move through your journey, move your car across the string – giving your child(ren) a clear visual representation of how far you have travelled and how far they have to go. We can’t promise it will stop the calls of “are we there yet” but it will certainly help!
3. A travel present “lucky dip”
This is a top tip, that we have used on many a long haul flight to occupy small children, but it does take a bit of prep.
Before you travel, wrap small (and if need be, airport security friendly) items, such as blind bags, small toy figures, confectionery, stickers, card games, a magazine etc and place them in a bag. If you are super organised, these could be purchased from second hand stores to cut down on the cost, Every 1/2 hour or so, dependant on the total length of your journey, allow your child to pick a surprise from the bag. This works best with activity based items, to help prolong interest.
4. Plan your journey in slots
As all parents know, children take a fair amount of occupying. Plan your journey in 30 minutes slots and you will find that it is far less stressful for all involved.
Take more activities than you think you will need (this can tie in to tip 3.), magazines, a preloaded tablet, drawing pad and snacks all work well to keep children busy.
5. Lower your expectations!
Factor in far more stops than you would when travelling as a group of adults. Yes you may have asked 10 times if anyone needs the toilet before you left, but you can guarantee someone will still request a stop 10 minutes into the journey. If you are travelling form the airport allow more time to get through security and to reach your gate.
Travelling with children always takes longer, but you may find that it also allows you the time to see something special, that you would otherwise have missed.
Little Travelling Bug started organically, when we found that following the birth of our first child, we simply were not ready to give up our love of travel. We packed our 1 year old up, into our campervan and drove from our home in sunny Norfolk, to an even sunnier Italy. We didn’t actually see this as an unusual step, it felt natural. Over the years having experienced several near and far destinations since, along with the addition of another little travel bug, we’ve seen that travel with children is, understandably, daunting to many.
We hope to inspire you to make THAT trip, whether that means a visit to the North Norfolk coast or a long haul flight across the world. We give tips and honest accounts of our own experiences, to help you make you next family trip as stress free and special as possible.
