Positive Parenting on A Vacation Trip
Vacations are an awesome way to keep your family close and connected! At the same time, however, traveling can also be stressful -- especially trying to keep children occupied for long road trips or flights. This article shares a few ideas for keeping
your sanity during such times!
Our family LOVES vacationing and we try to plan a couple of big trips for the whole family ever year. These trips may be anything from camping in the great outdoors to spending a few days at a theme park such as Disneyland. Camping is great because it is inexpensive and there is just something bonding about sleeping in
tents and roasting marshmellows over a camp-fire!
Disneyland or Disneyworld is also fun because the parks are timeless and appeal to a wide variety of ages. By the way, if you are planning a trip to Disney World any time in the near future, then check out this Disney World Vacation Guide - It will tell you everything you need to know to make your vacation awesome (including how to save a lot of money)!
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?5uZIEyBZmUSaWKm4bbhrpw
We are lucky that we live within a half day's drive to Disneyland, but even with that - seven hours in a car with six small children is no easy feat! Recently we took such a trip and I was wishing that I had brought along our tickets and envelopes from the G.O.L.D.
Standard and perhaps a few prizes to earn for the long drive.
One of the nice things about the G.O.L.D. Standard, is that it is portable, meaning you can bring it with you on vacation! I hadn't really thought about it for this particular trip, however, and our children started becoming restless trying to sit still for so long in a car. Soon petty arguments began to break out and I found myself becoming increasingly irritated!
So, here we are...confined in our mini-van -- with several more hours to go until we reach our destination. What to do? Have you ever been in a similar situation and found yourself shouting, "You had better stop it right now or we are turning this car around right
now and going home!" Now, this is an empty threat (and your kids
know it)! Maybe some of you would actually have the gumption to carry out such a threat, but I know I wouldn't want to turn around and go home after driving several hours!
Of course we could have pulled over and waited until everyone stopped fighting before continuing to drive. That usually works well, but it also wastes precious time and would probably wake up my baby who somehow managed to sleep peacefully through all of the noise! In any case, I found myself barking useless orders such as, "stop that!" "Knock it off!" and "Will you PLEASE be quiet!" Of course this did absolutely
no good.
If I had brought along the tickets and something for my children to earn, (or a prize they could pick out at Disneyland if they had enough tickets) then I could have taken a ticket every time our children acted up - and rewarded them for behaving well in the car.
Not that this solves every problem (it doesn't) but it helps TREMENDOUSLY!
Since this road-trip was a little difficult to handle, I started looking into some other ideas to make our trips run more smoothly.
Now when we go on vacation, we let each of our children pack a little backpack with one of their favorite toys, books to read, little travel games and activity books.
Another idea that works really well is to buy a few surprises to pass out along the way such as books, bubble posters and markers, or word-finds and crossword puzzles. The kids can "earn" these surprises along the way with tickets they have earned with their good behavior. Other simple activities that work well are: a piece of yarn (kid's can play games like cat's cradle), pipe cleaners (kids will twist them up into all sorts of cool creations), and paper and pens (for hang-man, tic-tac-toe and other games they can play with each other).
I recently heard a humorous tip to help deal with travel battles.
When the kids are fighting and knocking each other over the head, just pull the car over and start kissing your spouse. Your kids will immediately stop what they are doing to see what is going one.
Then they will promise you the world to get you to stop being so "gross!"
On a more serious note, however, the more we can keep our children occupied, the better they will behave in the car or plane. Of course there is always the old stand-by of having a DVD/VCR in your car. That does help keep children occupied for awhile, but even that can become mundane after awhile and doesn't offer much family interaction.
Other options for car travel include playing family games such as "Twenty Questions" and "The Alphabet Game." The Alphabet helps keep children occupied as they try and spot each letter of the alphabet in order on various signs and billboards before everyone else does. Our family loves to sing and we have a grand old time singing songs together at the top of our lungs or playing games
such as "Name That Tune." I have found an excellent web-site that
lists travel games and ideas for kids of all ages. You can find it
at: http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?zlGaeUMztJyAsiWpTT0pqw
Vacations can provide a great atmosphere for learning. Kids can follow along with their own map or play "car bingo" looking for different items along the way. Another game is called "Geography."
One child thinks up a place like Colorado, and then the next person has to come up with another place using either the first or last letter of the word "Colorado." Another game you can play is to have a "Scavenger Hunt." Type up a list of things you might see on your road-trip and pass out copies. The first one to "find"
everything on the list wins!
When traveling with children, it is always a good idea to stop every couple of hours or so at a rest-stop or park so that everyone can stretch their legs. This way the kids can run around for a few minutes. Stopping to eat also helps break up a road-trip and allows everyone a much-needed break.
Little yummy (but nutritious) treats also come in handy on trips.
To avoid arguments between siblings, it is a good idea to let each child have his or her own Ziploc bag filled with a few snacks. I always pack a water bottle for each child (the kind with the pop-up spouts work best and are harder to spill). I fill the water-bottles part way full with water and then freeze them the night before so that the water remains cold the entire trip.
My husband and I like to listen to Audio Books in the car. Being involved in a great story really helps the time fly! Kids can also listen to audio books that are geared towards their age range. You can pick these up from your local library. Then your children can either follow along with the book or simply listen to the story and let their imagination soar.
Vacations are a wonderful investment for a family. They will bring you closer together both physically and emotionally. These are times when some of the greatest memories are made. I still get nostalgic when I think back on particular vacations I had growing up. Memories such as these are priceless!
For more information on vacation or travel tips, go to:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?XuUhpfTTQDyjtjWhMFhtCw
For more information on using the G.O.L.D. Standard either at home, or on vacation, go to:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?sJ8UR6BLtDSZIb0Jkv3BVw
Have Fun!
Wendy
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?sJ8UR6BLtDSZIb0Jkv3BVw
Positive Parenting
P.O. Box 752
Santa Clara, UT 84765-0752
your sanity during such times!
Our family LOVES vacationing and we try to plan a couple of big trips for the whole family ever year. These trips may be anything from camping in the great outdoors to spending a few days at a theme park such as Disneyland. Camping is great because it is inexpensive and there is just something bonding about sleeping in
tents and roasting marshmellows over a camp-fire!
Disneyland or Disneyworld is also fun because the parks are timeless and appeal to a wide variety of ages. By the way, if you are planning a trip to Disney World any time in the near future, then check out this Disney World Vacation Guide - It will tell you everything you need to know to make your vacation awesome (including how to save a lot of money)!
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?5uZIEyBZmUSaWKm4bbhrpw
We are lucky that we live within a half day's drive to Disneyland, but even with that - seven hours in a car with six small children is no easy feat! Recently we took such a trip and I was wishing that I had brought along our tickets and envelopes from the G.O.L.D.
Standard and perhaps a few prizes to earn for the long drive.
One of the nice things about the G.O.L.D. Standard, is that it is portable, meaning you can bring it with you on vacation! I hadn't really thought about it for this particular trip, however, and our children started becoming restless trying to sit still for so long in a car. Soon petty arguments began to break out and I found myself becoming increasingly irritated!
So, here we are...confined in our mini-van -- with several more hours to go until we reach our destination. What to do? Have you ever been in a similar situation and found yourself shouting, "You had better stop it right now or we are turning this car around right
now and going home!" Now, this is an empty threat (and your kids
know it)! Maybe some of you would actually have the gumption to carry out such a threat, but I know I wouldn't want to turn around and go home after driving several hours!
Of course we could have pulled over and waited until everyone stopped fighting before continuing to drive. That usually works well, but it also wastes precious time and would probably wake up my baby who somehow managed to sleep peacefully through all of the noise! In any case, I found myself barking useless orders such as, "stop that!" "Knock it off!" and "Will you PLEASE be quiet!" Of course this did absolutely
no good.
If I had brought along the tickets and something for my children to earn, (or a prize they could pick out at Disneyland if they had enough tickets) then I could have taken a ticket every time our children acted up - and rewarded them for behaving well in the car.
Not that this solves every problem (it doesn't) but it helps TREMENDOUSLY!
Since this road-trip was a little difficult to handle, I started looking into some other ideas to make our trips run more smoothly.
Now when we go on vacation, we let each of our children pack a little backpack with one of their favorite toys, books to read, little travel games and activity books.
Another idea that works really well is to buy a few surprises to pass out along the way such as books, bubble posters and markers, or word-finds and crossword puzzles. The kids can "earn" these surprises along the way with tickets they have earned with their good behavior. Other simple activities that work well are: a piece of yarn (kid's can play games like cat's cradle), pipe cleaners (kids will twist them up into all sorts of cool creations), and paper and pens (for hang-man, tic-tac-toe and other games they can play with each other).
I recently heard a humorous tip to help deal with travel battles.
When the kids are fighting and knocking each other over the head, just pull the car over and start kissing your spouse. Your kids will immediately stop what they are doing to see what is going one.
Then they will promise you the world to get you to stop being so "gross!"
On a more serious note, however, the more we can keep our children occupied, the better they will behave in the car or plane. Of course there is always the old stand-by of having a DVD/VCR in your car. That does help keep children occupied for awhile, but even that can become mundane after awhile and doesn't offer much family interaction.
Other options for car travel include playing family games such as "Twenty Questions" and "The Alphabet Game." The Alphabet helps keep children occupied as they try and spot each letter of the alphabet in order on various signs and billboards before everyone else does. Our family loves to sing and we have a grand old time singing songs together at the top of our lungs or playing games
such as "Name That Tune." I have found an excellent web-site that
lists travel games and ideas for kids of all ages. You can find it
at: http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?zlGaeUMztJyAsiWpTT0pqw
Vacations can provide a great atmosphere for learning. Kids can follow along with their own map or play "car bingo" looking for different items along the way. Another game is called "Geography."
One child thinks up a place like Colorado, and then the next person has to come up with another place using either the first or last letter of the word "Colorado." Another game you can play is to have a "Scavenger Hunt." Type up a list of things you might see on your road-trip and pass out copies. The first one to "find"
everything on the list wins!
When traveling with children, it is always a good idea to stop every couple of hours or so at a rest-stop or park so that everyone can stretch their legs. This way the kids can run around for a few minutes. Stopping to eat also helps break up a road-trip and allows everyone a much-needed break.
Little yummy (but nutritious) treats also come in handy on trips.
To avoid arguments between siblings, it is a good idea to let each child have his or her own Ziploc bag filled with a few snacks. I always pack a water bottle for each child (the kind with the pop-up spouts work best and are harder to spill). I fill the water-bottles part way full with water and then freeze them the night before so that the water remains cold the entire trip.
My husband and I like to listen to Audio Books in the car. Being involved in a great story really helps the time fly! Kids can also listen to audio books that are geared towards their age range. You can pick these up from your local library. Then your children can either follow along with the book or simply listen to the story and let their imagination soar.
Vacations are a wonderful investment for a family. They will bring you closer together both physically and emotionally. These are times when some of the greatest memories are made. I still get nostalgic when I think back on particular vacations I had growing up. Memories such as these are priceless!
For more information on vacation or travel tips, go to:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?XuUhpfTTQDyjtjWhMFhtCw
For more information on using the G.O.L.D. Standard either at home, or on vacation, go to:
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?sJ8UR6BLtDSZIb0Jkv3BVw
Have Fun!
Wendy
http://clicks.aweber.com/z/ct/?sJ8UR6BLtDSZIb0Jkv3BVw
Positive Parenting
P.O. Box 752
Santa Clara, UT 84765-0752
posted by Dr. Joe at 5:45 AM
1 Comments:
This comment has been removed by the author.
Post a Comment
<< Home