Summer is the best time to go on vacation and enjoy some well earned relaxation with the family. You’ll be able to show your kids things they’ve never seen before and give them experiences they’ll remember for a lifetime. While summer journeys can be tons of fun, traveling with kids can be very difficult — as they have completely different energy levels, attention spans, and interests as adults — and can sometimes get bored while sightseeing. That’s why it’s paramount to keep your kids engaged while on your excursions. With that in mind, here are our tips to get your kids personally involved and interested while traveling this summer. 

Dive into Games Galore

The most important tip we have is to bring games for the plane trip or car ride so they can entertain themselves while spending hours with not much to do. We suggest bringing kids friendly activities to keep kids engaged while on these long trips, especially if you’re in the car. But an even better game is one that involves no screens, pages or objects at all. Try searching for different objects outside the window of a train, finding different license plates while on the road, or simple word games to keep them having fun.

Avoid Long Walks

While traveling, walking around the city you’re staying in is unavoidable. However, the longer the walk the more likely they’ll tire out and become irritable. The best thing you can do is break up long walks with breaks for food, or a nice resting area. Try to plan your sightseeing so that you take ample breaks between areas so there aren’t long walks in the sun during the day. Especially if you’re staying in a warm locale it is even more important to take breaks and keep water around so they are always well hydrated and full of energy.

Create a Kid-Friendly Itinerary

Another thing you can do to keep them engaged while traveling is to pick kid-friendly activities so they have time during the vacation to do things they enjoy. We suggest taking them to parks to play, go to a local zoo so they can learn about animals, or visiting a youngster-themed museum. If all your children are doing is following you around to see artwork and architecture, they might lose interest quickly. Mix in some activities to keep kids engaged and they will be raring to keep walking around in excitement to see more.

Let Them Plan

Similar to having a kid friendly itinerary, allowing them to help plan the trip will make it much easier for them to stay engaged while traveling from place to place. When starting to plan, let them do their own research on the city you’ll be going to and ask them what they would like to see. You’ll be shocked at the amount of ideas they’ll come up with, and they might even pick something you were planning on doing already. While on the trip they’ll love seeing things that they chose to see, and they’ll love telling their friends about how they helped plan the trip as well.

Keep Consistent Sleep Routines

Out of all our tips this is the most important one. It can be tough on their sleep schedules when traveling across different time zones. Nobody likes jet lag after all, least of all kids. Make sure that every night they are still getting the right amount of sleep, and do your best not to plan any early morning activities so they are fully energized when out and about. The less sleep they get the harder it will be for them to invest into activities, even if it’s one they picked out. We suggest planning your itinerary with this in mind so that bedtime stays the same, wherever you choose to go.

At Coastal Kids, we put great importance on kids’ mental health. And the more engaged your children are, and the less screen time they experience, the happier everyone will be. If your kids  feel they are part of your trip, and their voices are being heard, they will be excited for every moment of their vacation. We know traveling with family can be difficult, but the life experience it gives them will be second to none. 

Happy travels!