Travelling with Kids Soon?

Are you planning a family holiday soon? Are you getting nervous about travelling with kids? Well, we have you covered, today we are sharing our top tried and tested tips to help make travelling so much easier!

Before we start with our family travel tips

We wanted to share our 32 ideas on things to do during the holidays with your kids – you can find that post here. This will also help provide some much-needed ideas when you prep for your family holiday.

Travelling with Kids

Can be so much fun for them and for us and with the right planning and preparation, it can be an enjoyable experience that you won’t hesitate to do again in the future.

Let’s delay it no more….our top tips for travelling with kids

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Write a packing list:

The number one preparation idea is to always write a packing list of everything you want to take for the kids that they can have access to in the car, plane, bus or however you plan on travelling.

A packing list is so useful, and it prevents you from forgetting anything and stops the kids from having a meltdown because they are missing their favourite toy!

To help you out, we have attached a printable packing list. Click on the link here or the image below and access a range of different packing list templates that you can easily print off and fill out!

Always pack Snacks and Drinks:

 

Pack a range of delicious snacks and treats for your children to enjoy.  Sandwiches, crackers, fruit and muesli bars are all great things to have handy with you.  A cooler backpack is handy in these circumstances. These travel cooler backpacks are so helpful, and they can keep items cold.

Don’t forget to have the kids water bottles too and make sure you fill them up with water before you leave the house.

At airports, if you are travelling internationally with kids then once you have got through customs you can use the water filters available to refill the water bottles up.

Keep Kids busy while travelling:

Pack a selection of entertainment options for the kids. You do not have to pack your whole playroom (that would be ridiculous) but sort out a great selection of:

• Books
• Drawing Items like pens, paper, colouring books
• Tablet
• leap pads
• portable DVD players
• Add a variety of lego pieces to a small container or inside a pencil case

These are all great ways to keep the kids entertained for a while, especially on long journeys. However, it is also an excellent opportunity for kids to spend some time looking out of the window and enjoying the scenery.

You can play family travelling games such as:

• I spy
• Who can spot an item or object first
• Scavenger hunt – prepare cards beforehand of a selection of things the kids can find on the way to your destination. Examples could include: A fluffy dog, a cat, something green, something that washes cars, a blue letterbox.
• Car cricket – Each person has a turn at ‘batting’, and the scoring system goes like this: Car = 1 point. Van/Ute/SUV = 4 Points. Motorcycle = 6 points and a Big Truck = Out. For every vehicle that passes your car the person in gets allocated points. Unless a big truck comes past then they are out and it is the next person’s turn.

Don’t forget to have with you the kids special things!

Super important to not forget any particular item your kids have that can help settle them or calm them down – especially the young ones.

Think of items your kids have during nap times or to comfort them such as a blanket, soft toy or perhaps a unique pillow. 

 

Travelling with kids in a car:

Prepare your trip by mapping out the route you are taking. Make sure you identify places for a toilet stop and parks or playgrounds that you can stop at to have lunch and give the kids a chance to stretch their legs.

Take a packed lunch and picnic blanket with you. This helps to keep the cost down while travelling and also ensures your children are eating some healthy food on your journey.

If you have a long car ride ahead of you, it can be a good idea to rest during the day and travel at night.  Usually, the roads are quieter.  We did this for a 9-hour car journey and found that our kids slept the majority of the trip.

Make or purchase a car activity bag to attach behind the driver and passenger seats. This allows the kids to quickly grab items when they want without pestering Mum or Dad.

Planning a long road trip? Then perhaps a car travel station will be the perfect option. These are a fantastic idea to keep kids’ activity items all in an easily reachable place.

 

Travelling with kids on a plane:

Travelling by plane with kids can be a bit more challenging as you have limited space available. Our ideas include:

• If your child has a carry on bag allocated to them, have a backpack filled with a selection of different and new activities such as these activity packs from Amazon
• Want to have activity bags already packed for you? Then these super cool busy bags are an awesome idea!
• A plane footrest may be the perfect companion for a long haul flight. These go in front of the seat and would allow your small child to lie down for their nap. Check these out here and see what you think!
• And as above make sure you bring your little ones favourite snuggle toy and books!

Activity box for car travel and plane travel:

Grab a plastic box that has a lid (a lunch box or equivalent is a good size for this) fill it with felt pens, colour pencils, paper, puzzles, and cards.  The kids can then grab an activity out and use the lid to lean on.

That was our top tips to make travelling with kids easier

Hopefully, this has given you some helpful tips to make travelling with your children a wonderful experience!

Check out our other Parenting tips here!

Don’t forget to save this post your Kids boards on Pinterest!

 

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