Lesson 3: Traveling with Children
Once your little one is completely potty trained, he or she is considered a child. Children of this age are less dependent upon their parents. They can go to the washroom and feed themselves without much parental help. Children are able to entertain themselves somewhat. However, children still require constant supervision. Children of this age are also beginning to have unique likes and dislikes. Still, they can sometimes be cajoled into trying new activities or experiences.
Traveling with children can be quite challenging. This is the age of "Are we there yet?" and "He's looking at me!". Plan plenty of activities to keep your child occupied. Keep your child's interests, personality, and preferences in mind. Traveling with children is about compromise.
Nonetheless, you can make any activity interesting if you use the child's natural curiosity about the world around him or her and relate the subjects to your child's experiences. For instance, museum trips can be quite enjoyable if subjects are explained in the context of a child: when grandma was young, when there were knights, that's how people made butter, like the furnace at home, etc. Encourage questions. Try to make your explanations fairly short. Generalizations are okay at this point. If your child is really interested he or she won't hesitate to ask for more information. Ask your own questions. Ask your child's opinion. Play imagination games. You might be amazed at how much your child can teach you.
You won't get your child into a stroller so don't even try. Still, he or she might get tired easily. Watch for boredom and fatigue and take lots of breaks. Don't forget bathroom breaks. Give your child his or her own backpack to carry. In this way, he or she can carry his or her own snacks, drinks, favorite toy, or items collected.
Transportation
No matter how you travel with your children remember to have plenty of travel activities for your child. Electronic gadgets such as hand-held computer games and individual CD players are wonderful travel activities. In fact, these activities alone might keep your older child busy for the entire trip. Just don't forget the earphones and be sure to have rules about controlling the volume on these toys.
A few important things to keep in mind. Each child will need his or her own machine. This reduces fighting dramatically. Have a variety of games and CDs for each child. Then, if one game or CD starts to get boring or difficult, your child can switch to another game or CD. Also, have plenty of batteries. I find that giving each child his or her own rechargeable batteries seems to work well enough.
Another good entertainer for children is a book. Have your child carry a few or his or her favorite books in a backpack. Make sure each child has access to this backpack while traveling. Then, he or she has the ability to entertain him or herself somewhat.
Coloring books can also be good activities for younger children. Don't bring wax crayons as they melt easily. However, keep an eye on your child so he or she doesn't start drawing on the car door.
Dry erase markers can be used to draw pictures on the windows. The pictures easily wipe off with a cloth. Just make sure that your child's drawings and writings are appropriate.
Games are other appropriate travel activities. Kids love games. Traditional games such as "Car Bingo", "License Plate Bingo", and "I Spy" are always entertaining. My kids loved word and story games such as "I'm going on a trip and I'm going to bring my", "Add a Line Stories", " Things that Start With", and "I'm going to ? With my ?". Many of these games have the added benefit of being educational.
Other educational activities such as map reading, figuring out mileage, and reading signs can also be entertaining for children. For added fun give your child a pair of binoculars, read stories, make up stories, sing songs, be a little silly, point out wildlife, count cows, or just talk to your kids.
Another important thing to remember is that children need to move around and have access to a bathroom. Plan regular rest stops. Have some of these stops include activities or short walks. Bring snacks and lots of water for traveling to reduce crankiness and dehydration. You may also want to bring sandwiches. My mother always kept a cooler in the car during long trips. In this cooler, she always had buns, cold cuts, cheese, and fruit. When lunch was delayed too long, my mom started handing out food.
