In collaboration
Travelling can be stressful at the best of the times but if you are taking your whole family along for the ride too, it can get even more stressful. It is so important to keep your children happy when travelling otherwise it can ruin the whole journey!
We haven’t yet travelled abroad with Olivia – the furthest we’ve got is Great Yarmouth! – but we have with Jack – to Italy in 2012. But you can travel both abroad and within the country, can’t you? Holiday Gems have asked me to share my top travel tips when travelling with children.
Pack A Bag Full Of Interesting Things
Books, card games, iPad. Whatever you know will keep your children happy, pack it. Jack was just a baby when we went to Rome so slept most of the travel time but on our long car journeys, it is very easy for him to get bored. We always ensure we have the iPad with us so he can watch movies or play games and we also pack some books, toys and card games so he can keep himself amused in the back with his sister and whoever else happens to be travelling with us (usually my mum).
Bring Some Snacks
Children are always hungry (well, they say they are) so it is important to make sure you have some snacks packed for your journey. Fruit, crisps, cooked meat – these are all perfect to put in your handbag and pull out when the inevitable ‘I’m hungry’ whine permeates your eardrums.
Think Ahead
If travelling abroad, make sure you think ahead – book seats together, check flight check in times and things you can do whilst waiting for your flight. The last thing you want is a bored child complaining before you have even got on the plane.
Consider Them
The final tip I have is to consider them – consider them in ALL aspects of your holiday. Make sure the place where you are going is somewhere they will be happy, consider their thoughts and feelings during the actual travelling process and make sure they are kept occupied and not bored.
These are my top travelling tips – what are yours? Have you checked out the top tips for flying with children on the Holiday Gems website?
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lots of snacks and activities
If you’re heading out on a long journey have a collection of toys to be handed out once an hour. Handheld puzzles, tiny colouring books, stickers, wordsearches and even tiny packs of Plasticine will pass the time on a long flight or car journey.
on a long journey ,i take books,snacks and drinks. i also enjoy playing games with my children such as i-spy and spot the red car ect ect
Be prepared with snacks and activities
Bring snacks and toys that they haven’t played with before.
lots of activities, but nothing complecated, just enough to keep them interested
Snacks and entertainment is the key.
Pens and paper and other activit
Plenty of snacks, drink and activities they can do while sitting
Take lots of things to keep them amused, activity or sticker books are great. And plenty of snacks too
Never rely on one activity -have lots of different things to do -hopefully then you’ll not have …” I’m bored…”
My kids like to draw so I always bring drawing pads and colouring books etc
Take lots of snacks
make sure they are tired before the journey so they sleep for the most of it.
Get a 12v car kettle for warm drinks or a warm bowl wash after a day at the beach.
lots of snacks and activities
Lots of wee stops, snacks and games!
Always have a bag of snacks, a little bag of fun things to do, and a sick bucket!
Plenty of snacks,drinks and activities
Lots of songs to sing with the patience to sing them over and over again!
Lots of activities, healthy snacks and drinks.
travel at night when there asleep
Play games together like, how many yellow cars can you spot
That’s a great competition. I have just entered and I hope to win one.
pens and paper and activities…..oh…and wet wipes lol x
Always take snacks, juice, spare clothes and go to the loo before you set off even if they say they don’t need to go!
i always pack a rucksack for each kid, has colours and a coluring pad, a reading boook some snacks and little toys or a activity booklet like dot to dot
Have enough entertainment prepared for the entire journey and don’t get it all out at once – let them pick one game/book/toy at a time
Age appropriate activities & always pack extra Muslims, bibs, dummies etc incase any get misplaced!
plenty of snacks some treats some healthy
Stay relaxed , remember your family are excited and enjoy the experience its the start of your holiday xx
I try to exhaust my little fella out before we set off…that way he sleeps most of the journey no problem 😉
Prepare for everything!! Have a bag permanently packed in the boot with wipes, changes of clothes, box drinks etc.
We pop to the charity shop and spend a couple of pounds on toys which are new to us, always keep them entertained 🙂
plenty of things to do, drinks and snacks
Have a bag of never seem before toys and activities
Bring plenty of games, healthy snacks and toys/books to keep them occupied or a long journey will feel extremely longer!
Lots of snack n drinks
Pens and paper, sorted.
Keep them distracted!!!
Take their comfort toy, something to eat and drink and Eye spy books
Give them your attention.
Be prepared with snacks and activities and always take their favourite toy
when i travel to my mums wich is a 3 hour drive i leave in the evening they fall asleep very quickly then we carry them to bed so they get to dream all the way
Plenty of activities, snacks and music.
Plenty of planning, and a good sleep the night before !
Plenty of snacks, travel games and the kindle
I think the best thing to do in my case(anxiety about flying) is prepare them starting as early as possible! Reading them books regarding flying, be truthful with them but allow them to share their fears. Another thing is to allow them to pack their own hand luggage(under your assistance) this way they have what they want to occupy them, ask them if they want some little new things, maybe from Poundland etc and then they will be occupied and kept calm with their own little things.
Travel games are a must. Stock up by visiting the local charity shop. There is often travel versions of your childrens favourite games plus you save on the cost giving you more ice cream money while abroad
A notebook and pencil because there are so many games that can be played!
keep them occupied with lots of fun games
lots of snacks, lots of things to do and fun songs.
Lots of activities and snacks, and lots of energy for constant eye spy games!
Ipad and a few puzzles/sticker books
If you have a long journey (We’re going to Florida in December) buy a range of cheap small toys and activities, one for each hour of the trip. Wrap them up in old paper and give them a new one each hour if they have tired of the last one! 🙂 I’ll let you know if it works when we get back….
Take lots of activities to keep children entertained
My children are great travellers. I let them take there ipads on long journeys and they are good at making up games in the car to keep themselves amused
Have a bag packed full of activities, water and snacks
Snacks and books (reading, colouring and puzzles)
Try and travel around nap times.
Fully charged pads and snacks. They watch cbeebies and complete puzzles they love it!
lots of snacks and drinks
Keep lots of ‘surprises’ for them…tuck away comics,games,snacks and drinks-never give them everything at once ;-))
Take plenty of activities to keep them entertained
Stock up on snacks, drinks and lots to keep them occupied.
A wide range of entertainment -toys, pencils and paper, games/films on a tablet/phone – will stop them getting bored. One new toy half way through a journey can really help
Colouring books, crayons and notepads to jot down what they see along their travels. Take packed lunches and if possible plan your trip to make regular toilet trips if a long journey and to keep the kiddies comfy if they want to nap travel pillows and lightweight blankets for them to snuggle up 🙂 x
always carry wetwipes and ziplock bags with you – the wetwipes because kids are messy buggers, but these are also great for wiping over seats, toilets etc when out and about,the ziplock bags as they are perfect for putting in half eaten pieces fo fruit/sweets etc for later, putting rubbish in (i’ll never forget the time D decided to put his half eaten icelolly in my bag 🙁 ) they are also great if you go somewhere to eat and the kids leave half their food – you can just pack it up for them to have later and also for sharing out a big bag of snaks – you can give each a small amount in their own bag
Bring snacks and a few different activities
I swear by the Usborne wipe clean travel cards. They are amazing. Lots of activities and games for the children both in the car and on other journeys. Keeps my child amused for hours.
For younger children pack an etch-a-sketch rather than crayons that way they won’t be forever dropping them on the floor for you to pick up.
Lots of snacks and frequent stops. xx
plan short stops. I google the journey we are taking to see if there’s anything fun to explore along the way helps break the trip up a little and keep everyone excited
I think keeping journeys short for very young children.
Travel games, snacks, I-Spy type games, a pillow and blanket in case it gets chilly, and frequent stops (depending on ages) to break the boredom.
My advice is plenty of snacks and travel games work wonders
Have enough snacks and activities to keep them occupied,
Snacks and portable dvd player xx
Toys, snacks and drinks are the things to make travelling easier
I fill a back pack for each child on long trips with a bag of sweets, crayons, colouring books and a couple of their toys
Plan plan and plan abit more
Lots of activities e.g. sticker books, colouring books & pencils
Books to read or to be read to
Snacks
Water to drink
We take lots of snacks and activities to keep them occupied
Find things to keep them occupied!
Pen and paper, lots of games like nought and crosses, hangman and then spelling and math activities
give them our phones
Keeping them entertained so lots of games and distractions and snacks too
Pack toys and play seeking games or find the ? Games
Wrap up little toys/books and hand them out whenever boredom strikes in the journey!
Take lots of snack and travel sickness medication x
Take lots of things for them to do and play with.
My children are at an age where they can be occupied by an ipad / smartphone for hours and hours. Make sure everything is fully charged and that you also have car chargers or power banks etc.
Bring headphones and snacks!
Lots of travel games and books to read x x x
If we’ve got a long journey leave in the evening. That way the kids will fall asleep on the way. This really helps if your kids are terrible travellers.