Travel Activities for Kids to do at home
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So you’re stuck at home and your travel plans have been cancelled. You are not alone! But we can still learn about travel and engage our children in the World around us, even in these strange times. Read on for travel activities for kids to do at home.
Below are some travel activities for kids to do at home to keep us busy over the next few weeks (and maybe months) before we can head off on our travels again.
Baking and cooking – World cuisine is delicious
One of the quickest and easiest ways to transport yourself to a different country without actually going is to grab some ingredients and get cooking! The internet is rife with ideas – Fajitas from Mexico, Paella from Spain, a Curry from India. Or you could bake Focaccia Bread from Italy, Custard Tarts from Portugal, or Welsh Cakes from, you guessed it Wales!
I’ve been cooking with both our girls since they could hold a spoon. Even sitting on the kitchen floor with them before they could stand on a stool to cook at the counter. They absolutely love it and really enjoy trying new things as a result.
Sticker and Activity Books – the options are endless
We’ve collected a number of travel themed sticker and activity books over the years. Usborne are the ones we come back to time and again. They are beautifully illustrated and teach our eldest, who’s 5, loads about travel and the World. For our youngest, who’s two, we focus more on sticker books. Usborne, again, do excellent ones with various themes. Our favourite is the Airport Sticker Book.
Get a Map and study a specific Country
If you have a globe, perfect. If you don’t then a regular map or google maps will do! Let the children choose a country and then study it for a while. What is there in that country? Mountains, cities, desert? Set them a task to draw a scene from that country – what it looks like, what the people wear, what they eat.
You can do this using paper, or if you have a box cut it up and let them draw a huge picture. Paint, crayon or pens work equally well.
Scratch maps (like our one above) are a really fun activity for children. You can get a huge variety of them now here are some good options:
Write a story set in a different Country or about your own trip to a different Country
This is a great one for writing practice and depending on their age you can help as much or as little as necessary. For the youngest ones they could think it up and you could write it for them, perhaps asking them to do the illustrations later on.
For slightly older children you could write a few sentences and let them choose how the story unfolds. We have a game where you can create a story from a number of pre written cards. It’s a great way to spark imagination.
Some games to get you inspired about different countries are listed below:
Spanish Flashcards for kids
Maponimoes Ultimate Geography Game
Wild Card Games Who Knows Where
Pretend you’re in the Arctic (or Antarctic!)
One of the activities that we’ve done a few time with the girls and is a HUGE hit is this. Get a plastic box and fill it with water (it must be able to fit in your freezer!) then task the children to find any small plastic toys of animals that would live in the North or South Pole. Penguins, Polar Bears, fish – use a bit of creative license to make sure you have a few things gathered up.
Plop them into the water and put the box in the freezer. The next day you can task the children with ‘setting the animals free’ from the block of ice. My daughters found this process fascinating and sat for ages chiselling them out. Salt helps if necessary. We got this idea from this fantastic book ‘Look, I’m a Scientist’.
Set yourself the challenge of completing an Atlas Jigsaw
If you have really young children they might need a little help with this one but even my 2 year old enjoys doing jigsaws so it’s worth a try. A great way for children to learn about the World is to do one of the many Atlas Jigsaws on the market. We have this one pictured below and it’s good fun.
I hope you find these ideas for travel activities for kids to do at home helpful. I have loads more and would love you to share any you have!
If you are travel planning for when you can get away check out our two guides on Essentials for travelling with Children and Tips for flying with a baby.
Check out the excellent blog post here by Children of Wanderlust who are experts in Homeschooling, they have loads of ideas!
For 15 free Summer Activities that are sure to keep your children busy, click here. Children always love to play in the garden, however big or small your outdoor space is. Click here for some garden essentials for kids.
