How to keep kids happy when travelling
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This post will cover what we take with us in order to keep our kids happy when travelling. Whilst we spend a huge amount of time out and about when we travel, during the downtime back at our accommodation it is SO valuable to have activities, toys and books to keep the children happy. If they are occupied, you might even get 5 minutes to sit down and rest yourself!
Playdough
You can get really good small sets of playdough to take away with you or take a few pots you have lurking around the cupboards – either way, it’s a sure fire way of keeping young children occupied whilst away. Here’s a great small multi pack to take with you.
Bubbles
An absolute winner with our children is a bottle of bubble mixture. We take some with us on pretty much every trip – ideal for a cloudy day, a lazy day or just some fun in the garden. And pretty small to pack too. Our big bubble maker is a firm favourite for our holidays.
Stickers
Ideal for the plane but also for quiet time at your accommodation, stickers come in many forms and I can find ones suitable for both our 2 year old and 5 year old. The biggest benefit is that they are small and light to carry with you.
Here are some of our favourites:
Sticker Dolly Dressing Fairies
Peppa Pig 1000 first words sticker book
Downloaded Films and TV
We always ensure we have some favourites downloaded onto apps on our phones so that they girls can watch it if they are tired or need some down time. More and more often we are finding that Netflix and Youtube is available on TVs when we’re away but this is always a good backup. Don’t ever assume WiFi will be good! We’ve fallen foul of that on many occasion. So having things downloaded is great.
Favourite Books
We have always taken a few books for each child to read in the evening before bed. They love them and we often pack them in the carry on luggage for the plane too.
Here’s a list of some of our holiday related favourites:
What the ladybird heard at the seaside
Colouring pens and paper
Our eldest in particular will happily sit for hours colouring or drawing. This can be in the holiday accommodation, at restaurants or in the car. It is the BEST way to keep her happy. This is a great selection of colouring pens and an A4 pad of plain paper.
A soft toy or two!
We always realise when we’re away a) how few toys children actually need and b) how much can be done with a few soft toys. The girls both have a great time setting up imaginary play with a few toys and its obviously that extra comfort at bed time too.
Conclusion
Travelling with kids can be tricky at times. But there are definite ways of making it more manageable, some of which I’ve mentioned above. If anyone has any other suggestions please feel free to leave them in the comments below! We hope you enjoyed reading our guide on how to keep kids happy when travelling.
Traveling with a baby? Check out our ‘Essential items for traveling with a baby’ here.
Want some practical ideas for traveling with kids? Check out our post here on the essential items for traveling with children. For some ways to make your travels with Children memorable, check out this great article here by The Mamma Fairy.
