Travel-n-Trips

Travel Kits for Kids

March 20, 2019 / 9 Comments

I’m constantly asking Matt, “How do we savor this relatively short amount of time we get with our children during the years they live at home?” I don’t mean to sound obsessive, but I see the children that I taught in elementary school already having their own children. The days are long; the years are short.

One of our answers is to travel as frequently as we can as a family. This answer isn’t everyone’s answer; traveling just happens to be something that we really like and enjoy as a family. I love planning trips—really digging in and seeing what the unique options are available in a new place. And I love the novelty of each day. I also love the concentrated time it affords us as a family, and I love the excitement that comes from experiencing new things together.

We save up our money and go on several trips a year: Spring Break, Summer Break, Fall Break, and Thanksgiving Break. Our children usually do well with traveling, but I’m thinking I would like to put together kits that we can “grab and go” when it’s time to travel. They would be used only for traveling, so that they toys/games/activities would stay fresh and interesting.

Here are some of the things I’m thinking about pulling together:

9 Comments

  • Christy Curton

    March 20, 2019 at 12:13 pm Reply

    Hi Sara!
    Mad Libs are fun too, especially for elementary children. We keep one in Kyla’s “travel backpack” for road trips.

  • Mary B.

    March 21, 2019 at 8:30 pm Reply

    We have an amazing set of Magnashapes magnetic tiles that are perfect for travel and fit nicely in our daughter’s backpack. We also often bring figurines for creative play, and an activity book and markers, too.

  • MamaSchlick

    March 22, 2019 at 5:39 am Reply

    I love traveling too! The secret decoder books were a huge hit with my 7 year old. I found a bunch super cheap at those discount stores. For tic tac toe and hangman I would just use paper. Or make something simple, like bringing a dry erase board. Anything I have used with pieces falls or gets lost and then the game is over. And I came up with a rule that if it can be done on paper then I don’t buy it. We have played tic tac toe with objects, on napkins, in flight magazines..etc. Another suggestion I have is playing battleship on PAPER! I have fond memories of this with my dad and have recreated it with my 7 year old. You can google how to do it and here is one link: http://www.papg.com/show?1TMC

    Even though my kid initially isn’t interested, I bring special books for him and once he starts he is immersed for a long time! I also bring audio books (I take them out from the library and burn them!). I also have a goodie bag with gum and small candies I normally don’t let him eat and he gets to pick something during take off and landing. And we use the in flight magazines to color! My son loves to find the page in the back with the different size planes and color them all in! It’s free and easy. I also print out a LOT of worksheets so that once they are done we recycle them and I don’t have to carry it. For example, I print dot to dots, mazes (there are great Kuzon maze books on amazon too if you want a book of them), matching/math/animal worksheets, and I print worksheets related to his interests, like Magic Treehouse worksheets and puzzles. I recently discovered free books you can print!! https://freekidsbooks.org The stories are a bit quirky sometimes; I think they are written by new/emerging/not amazing authors but my son enjoys them and it is easier for us not having to lug books around when we are trying to travel light.

    Anyway hope this helps and safe travels!

  • Nora Hauk

    March 22, 2019 at 4:59 pm Reply

    Maybe you could find a spelling game alternative to “hangman”? Some people have pointed out the game has racist origins, and even if we don’t exactly know the origin of the game, it normalizes a really horrifying and violent punishment.

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