How can you turn an ordinary vacation into an unforgettable adventure? Some families share their tips for beating backseat boredom, capturing memories and celebrating their time together.
1. Make trips magical
Families have found some surprising ways to make their vacations special. Take the Wenzels of Hudson, Ohio. Four years ago, they arranged a visit by the Travel Fairy for their now 8-year-old daughter Alexandra. Instead of the money her cousin the Tooth Fairy brings, the Travel Fairy delivers gifts – a disposable camera, snacks for the car, sunscreen – for kids going on vacation. “Alexandra loves her visits from the Travel Fairy and is a great traveler,” says mom Diane. Equally inspiring: Paul Goudeau of Amissville, Va., surprised his family with a treasure hunt on their beach vacation. To pull it off, he buried a small crate filled with “pirate loot,” including candy and a pirate flag, then left a treasure map in an old bottle for the kids to find. “Now, every time we go to the beach, the kids say, ‘Maybe we’ll find more treasure!’ ” says mom Christine.
2. Collect unusual souvenirs
The Chriswells of Longmont, Colo., reminisce about family adventures when they bake cookies. The reason? Their eclectic cookie cutter collection, which includes a bat from Carlsbad Caverns, a buffalo from Yellowstone National Park and a cactus from Santa Fe. The souvenirs never fail to elicit memories. They’re also long lasting. “Unlike T-shirts, kids can’t outgrow them,” mom Kym says.
3. Preserve your vacation memories
For many families, commemorating vacations is almost as fun as taking them.
Members of the Wirths family of Camdenton, Mo., collect postcards from their destinations and write highlights on the backs. Then they laminate the cards and put them together on a ring clip. “It’s exciting to see all of the places we’ve been, and the cards are inexpensive souvenirs,” says mom Stefanie.
The Fredericks kids of Sacramento, Calif., have mom Danielle to thank for a photo scavenger hunt that turned documenting their vacation into a game. At the start of the trip, Danielle made a list of items for the kids to find and gave each of them a disposable camera. “The cost of the cameras and processing wasn’t much considering the hours of fun my little photographers had looking at their pictures after we returned home,” Danielle says.
The Verdicks of Cottage Grove, Minn., collect vacation treasures from their annual camping trips – sand, rocks, mini-golf score cards – in clear plastic popcorn jugs. When they get home, they decorate the jugs and display them in their craft room as a visual reminder of how much fun they had.
4. Make learning part of the adventure
Helping kids discover the world is an important part of travel.
Whenever they visit a new place, the Schaefer boys – Nathan, age 10, Nicholas, 8, and Joey, 5, of Middletown, Del. – buy books as souvenirs. Favorites include titles about manatees and dolphins from Florida, a regional retelling of “The Three Little Pigs” from Arizona, and a signed copy of Carmen Agra Deedy’s “The Library Dragon,” purchased near the author’s hometown. “This tradition not only expands our library,” mom Lynne says, “it also keeps us connected to the wonderful places we’ve been.”
To help her sons track their cross-country adventures, Jacqueline Martin of Houston gave them pretend passports for the United States. Every time they visit a new state or fly over one, Jake, age 8, and Joe, 6, paste a printout of its flag (Jacqueline finds them online) in their passports and write down the dates of the trip. “It’s a great way for my boys to learn about the United States,” she says.
5. Turn saving into a game
Rather than setting aside family money for vacation extras, a number of families have come up with creative ways to get children to save their own spending money. The Carpenters of Sevierville, Tenn., collect loose change and birthday money in individual Mad Money Jars. When it’s time to go away, they dump out their jars and add up how much each person has to spend. The best part? “You can use your mad money to buy yourself whatever your little heart desires,” says mom Vanessa. The Mohans of Eden Prairie, Minn., took this concept a step further by creating a Good Deeds Bank before an upcoming trip. Mom Marci first had her kids decorate a coffee can to serve as the bank. Then, every time the kids did something helpful around the house, she or her husband would deposit a coin. The kids’ good deeds earned them a hefty chunk of change to spend on vacation. And, says Marci, “We had a more considerate household.”
6. Take the sting out of souvenir shopping
Some families swear by giving their kids a set amount of money for souvenirs and putting them in charge of how they spend it. This strategy not only eliminates those grating requests to Mom and Dad, but also puts kids in touch with how much things cost. As one reader noted, “Kids are more inclined to pinch pennies when it’s their pennies.” Another strategy, from travel writer Kim Wright Wiley of Charlotte, N.C.: hold off on souvenir shopping until the end of the day. It cuts down on impulse buys and helps ensure that kids get what they really want.
7. Play games on the go
Make the miles fly by with these clever boredom busters:
Sticker detective: A road-weary 4-year-old inspired Hannah Diller to create her own prehistoric version of “Where’s Waldo?” Having exhausted her supply of tapes and books, the Austin, Texas, mom stuck a dinosaur sticker inside a magazine and asked her son to play sticker detective. “It took him a while, but he found it, and triumphantly returned the magazine – this time with the sticker hidden for me to find,” Hannah says. “We passed the magazine back and forth for a while, with me giving hints and him forgetting to ask how much longer the drive would be!”
Car-counting game: Tammy Young of St. Peters, Mo., invented this easy observation game five years ago, and her family has been playing it ever since. Before trips, she prints up scorecards with pictures of different vehicles and their assigned values. Points range from 1 to 5, depending on uniqueness. Minivans and motorcycles are worth 1 point, for example, while Hummers and convertible Volkswagen Beetles are worth more. Each member of the family keeps track of the cars he sees, and the person with the highest score at the end of the trip wins. According to Tammy, the game is so popular, her husband, Steve, often drives past their destination just so they can keep playing.
8. Reward good travelers
When it comes to road-tripping with kids, getting there isn’t always half the fun. So Kelly Leavitt came up with this thrifty idea for encouraging harmony while teaching her children, ages 4 to 10, the value of a dollar. Before each trip, the American Fork, Utah, mom buys a collection of car-friendly activity toys – washable crayons and pads, craft kits, handheld travel games – and then labels them with different prices. Every 30 minutes to an hour, Kelly gives good passengers play money, which they can use to buy a reward. “Whether they save their money for a larger item or give in to an impulse buy,” Kelly says, “the kids want to behave so they can earn their money, which ends up being nice for my husband and me, too!”
9. Let children entertain themselves
Instead of bringing along the usual movies and TV shows for a portable DVD player, try some original programming. The Dandelets of Dayton, Ohio, discovered that home movies make great entertainment for Gavin, age 6, Ben, 5, and Blair, 2. “Our kids can’t always sit through a regular half-hour show,” says mom Molly, “but they never tire of seeing themselves!”
10. Print out travel activities
When her kids were younger, Stacy Osment of Richmond, Va., started making them custom activity binders for long road trips. Before leaving home, she would go online and print out puzzles, games and activity pages. “The binders kept the kids busy, so they didn’t want to stop as much,” Stacy says. To create a binder for your next trip, go to FamilyFun.com/printables, where you’ll find dozens of free word games, mazes and puzzles.
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