How to get your kids ready for a family vacation

Vacations are a time to relax, enjoy, cherish and rejuvenate before you go back to the hectic life back

home. However, your vacations are time for joy only when you have planned them well. Preparing for

your vacations can be stressful. Choosing a great place for vacation, finding the right hotel, making travel

arrangements, planning and getting tickets for activities – planning your vacation includes all these and

much more. And when it comes to planning a vacation for your family it becomes and nerve-wracking

ordeal. This is because you have to not only plan the perfect vacation but also look after every need of

your kids while on the vacation.

The key is to pay attention to the needs of your kids, that’s half battle won. It is also important toknow

that vacation with kids will be a lot different from the style of travel you are used to – solo, couple or

adult gang. Advanced planning can reduce your stress and give you a hassle-free holiday where you can

make memories with your family. After all, a family that travels together stays together.

Planning a family friendly vacation

Gather all the information

Take time in deciding the place of your choice for your vacation. Once you have decided the place,

thoroughly research about the place. Ask your friends who have visited. About the hotels and activities

you should plan. Ask questions about the vacation spot on online forums. Inquire if you need to hire a

car or any other services you need to take care of. It is very important to find the kids friendly

accommodations available. Whatever you are planning, plan the things keeping your kids in your mind

and your vacation is bound to be a joyful one.

Set a budget

Setting a budget is vital for any holiday and your family holiday is no different. Once you are on your

vacation, it is easy to splurge on when on a holiday spirit. Fix a budget and stay on it. It is also a good

idea to tell your kids about your budget and ask them to spend within it. Also, set aside money for

emergency and make sure you don’t use them unless absolutely necessary.

Book tickets, hotels and get tickets for activities

When you plan early, you can get tickets at cheaper rate. You also get options to choose from, whether

it is the flight tickets, accommodation or any other services you avail. Look into the facilities of the

accommodation before booking one. The accommodation you choose should be kids friendly. They

should have kids’ friendly food, room space offered and the activities available for your kids within the

premises of the hotel. Book in advance any kids entertainment you must procure. When you make early

reservations, it gives you room to plan other things much easily.

How to get your kids ready for the vacation?

Getting your kids ready for a vacation is like rocket science. While you will create memories and cherish

the times forever, getting ready is never easy. You are probably more worked abou t how you will

prepare yourself. After all, you have tonnes of things to do – book tickets, accommodation, plan

activities and pack. The most important of them all is to get your kids ready for vacation. While older

children and teenagers will understand the ordeal and even be excited about it. Small children will have

no clue why you are stressed and what they should make of it. This is why it becomes necessary to

prepare them for your vacation. This can make your vacation fun and adventurous instead of mayhem.

Their needs

The foremost factor while vacationing with kids is to consider their needs at all times. Can your toddler

handle a long flight? Probably not! However, choosing an evening flight can make it easier for him/her.

It’s just not the flight but you need to keep in mind of your children needs for the entire holiday. Can

you use public transportation while on vacation or should you hire your own car? What type of weather

will be tolerable if you are accompanied by toddlers? Does your vacation spot have activities for your

kids? Planning a vacation around their needs can make your holiday eventful.

Getting them ready

In a nut shell, you need get your kids ready for the vacation. Talk about the vacation, where you are

going, what they can expect and what will happen. If you think it could be scary for the kid, talk about it

and explain things. It might do good to show demonstrative videos or read stories that can prepare

them for the holiday. Finally, it is also important to let your kids know what you expect from them and

how they should behave while on a holiday.

Involve kids in the planning

If your kids are old enough, sit down with them to discuss ideas and get them to talk about their

interests. Everyone should enjoy the trip and when your kids enjoy it, you will enjoy too. Bring in your

budget, expectation and limitation, so that all of you can make a decision together. When you plan your

holiday together, you are certain to have that much fun.

Getting your babies and toddlers ready

If you are going on vacation with your toddlers, you can talk about the trip a day before. Just tell them

about your plans and what they should accept. Give them instructions, warnings and directives over

what will happen and what you expect of them. Answer their questions patiently and keep them

satisfied. While on trip, keep narrating them about what will happen next and ask them if you are fine. If

you are flying long distance, get you toddler picture books to keep them occupied. You can also show

them demonstrative videos about the flight – where you need to get in, sit down, get off as well as how

the flight takes off, flies and lands.

Discuss safety

While on a vacation, there may be times when you may need to be away from your kids. Also, when you

go out together, your kids will be public spaces. You need tell your kids to be aware of strangers, to not

eat anything they offer and what they should do it they encounter uncomfortable situations. Give them

instruction about what they have to do if they ever get separate from you. You can help your children

make a safety car that they can carry at all times. Make sure it includes the name of the parents, contact

numbers, residential address and the address of the place you are staying.

Getting your preschoolers ready

When it comes to preschoolers, make sure you tell them about the trip a lot earlier. You should not only

tell them what is going to happen and what they expect, but also make them comfortable about the

new things they are likely to experience. You can practice the new things they are going to experience.

You can practise it with the kids so that it doesn’t spring as a surprise for them. Train them to use toys

appropriately. You need to tell them to wear headphones while using iPad on an airplane. You can

practice living in tents in your backyard, if you are going camping while on vacation or using goggles

while bathing, if your vacation sport involves water sporting. Practising airport security can also make

the flight trip easy for the kids. Set up a security line in your house and make your kids practice removing

coats, shoes and other items and place it in bins. These practises give kids a familiarity and idea of what

to expect.

You can also use picture books, demo videos to give them an idea about flight travel. You can involve

these kids in packing. You still need to pack the actual vacation bag for them. However, you can still ask

them to pack a bag full of the toys they want for the trip. You can supervise the packing to make sure

they do not overload or carry thing that shouldn’t be. This can keep them occupied for some time. Also,

when you are travelling, you can allow your kids to pull their own luggage that can keep the preschooler

happy and engaged.

School going kids

As your kids grow old, they would become more familiar with vacations, flight travels and staying at

hotels or resorts. Nevertheless, you need to tell about the destination and you can involve them with

the planning. Ask them if they want to particularly visit a place when on a holiday. Give them an idea

about the destination and glimpse of what to expect. Kids are bound to get excited so do not spoil the

surprise and adventure by divulging all information.

Involve you kids in packing. It is better to have a separate suitcase for the m. Ask your kids to choose

clothes of their choice. However, make sure to review them before finally packing. Most probably your

ids will stay in a separate room, in such cases, make sure you have all the necessary things packed for

them separately. This makes it easy for them and you. You don’t want your kids to turn up at your room

for every single thing.

To make the trip more fun, get an inexpensive camera for you kids where they can record all the fun. A

travel journal would also be a great idea for kids to jot down their adventure. Finally, give them an idea

of what to expect in the destination. Things that may seem normal may be stressful for kids. Let them

know, you will be with them at all times and keep narrating what they should expect next.

Packing for kids - A general guideline of what should you pack

Safety – Make sure you have their passports, medicine, ban-aids and other essentials.

Clothes – Choose it for them or supervise their choices. Make sure you pack clothes according to

the weather and activities planned. Take extra pairs of clothes, socks, shoes and undergarments.

Toys – To keep your children occupied, make sure to pack a few essential and appropriate toys

along with the luggage.

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