As the holidays approach, I thought this would be a pertinent time to look at how to keep your children happy, occupied and comfortable when you go away for your holidays. I have been travelling with my son since he was a newborn and time and experience have taught me there are some things you don’t leave behind. It doesn’t matter whether you go away overnight or for a long holiday, some children simply do not deal well with the whole ‘being away from home’ part of it, while others need to be entertained constantly and this can be tiring for you. When we go on holiday, as much as it is new and exciting, we are still moving out of our comfort zone and so hopefully the hints that follow will make it as smooth as possible.

I have always found it useful to have a special backpack for your child/children that has their things in. This would include;

1. Snacks – ideally these should not be squishy messy foods, such as yoghurt nor should they be too salty as this makes children thirsty and then they need to go to the loo more often
2. Drinks – preferably in an sports bottle with a drinking spout to minimise spills and the best liquid refreshment would be water.
3. Toys – logic tells me that providing children with noisy beeping toys would not make you popular with other passengers should you be travelling by bus, plane or train and in reality these noises soon irritate car drivers too – especially dads for some reason! It is always a good idea to take your child’s favourite small toy – I find that my son’s stuffed tiger is a must as it’s a comfort item as well as a great makeshift pillow.
4. Games – these should not be the kind of games that involve lots of small pieces that can be lost, thus spoiling the game for future play and ideally they should not allow too many fights between siblings. See tips later in this newsletter for travel game ideas.
5. Presents – this is always a win. Once the special backpack is ready, I slip in a couple of wrapped (small) new toys, books or other presents for my son. This is obviously exciting for him when he finds the item and creates interest in a new object but it also makes the trip more special and memorable as opposed to him whining about how much longer we’ll be travelling and asking the famous – are we there yet?
6. Wet wipes and a small dry cloth – please don’t go anywhere without these items as they are invaluable in every travel situation, whether you are cleaning up spills or just cleaning hands to eat

Older children enjoy listening to stories and music, which can either be on a CD walkman or an iPod. Having said that even younger children enjoy listening to songs and stories but it is essential that you monitor the volume on the headphones – it goes without saying that if you can hear the music it is too loud and that should be one of the non-negotiable things in your family – if the volume if high enough that you can hear it then the headphones are removed as invariably the volume if turned down and then is turned up again in small increments!

Things to do in the car – some of these obviously apply to different methods of transport too and are not limited to just travelling time either)

1. Play ‘I spy’ – younger children can look for something green
2. Tell stories and take it in turns to add to the story and the nest person must carry on from where the previous person left off
3. Play word association games – one person says a word and the next person has to say the first word they can think of that relates to the word they were given – if general consensus is that there is not link between the words then that person is out, alternatively, if they wait too long to respond, they are out.
4. Go through the alphabet naming pre-determined objects that begin with that letter, for example, everyone must name a boy’s name beginning with A, then, B, etc. Each name must be different. Use names, places, foods, clothes, animals, etc.
5. Give the younger ones finger puppets to make up their own stories with – these could even be the wrapped up new items in their bags
6. Give each child a long list of things they need to look out for on the drive and the first person to see them all wins
7. Provide a bag of multi-coloured pipe cleaners to play with and see what they can create
8. Sing songs together

I love travelling with my son as I love the look of wonder on his face and he learns something new or experiences the unusual. In fact, I cannot wait until we fly out again later in the month – I’ve already got goodies for his travel bag.

Happy holidays and safe travelling to all.
Melanie

Author:
Melanie Hartgill
Educational Psychologist
Pr. no. 0860000115134
Click here to email Melanie
082 678 4300

Specialising in: Assessments (educational, psychological, school readiness, emotional and career), Learning Disabilities, Parenting Issues and Training and Child Development
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Posted: 7 December 2007

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