Holiday Travel

Travel map, 1954, From RMC's Travel Brochure and Map Collection

The holidays are approaching!
As one of the biggest times of year for travel, your family may be one of the many who are planning a trip.

Click HERE to be linked to a fun quiz about whether your child is ready to travel.

Some ideas for traveling with children:

-Talk about your journey together with your child in advance. Show pictures of places or people you will see, plot out your destination on a map, and give your child a simple travel agenda so they know what to expect. Sometimes it's helpful to sketch simple pictures to go along with a written agenda.


-Let your child choose a favorite blanket or stuffed animal to take with them and let them know that while they may be away from home, they'll aways have their special item with them during their time away. Favorite books are always comforting too.

-Bring a blank book or spiral-bound notebook and create a travel diary with your child; older children can do this activity on their own to keep them busy while riding in a car or on an airplane. It's easy to do and will preserve special memories for a lifetime. In addition to recording each day's activities, you can add photos, postcards, ticket stubs, and even make your own drawings to commemorate the trip. For speech therapy clients, this could make a wonderful opportunity for your child to sit and talk about their activites with someone after they've returned from their trip.

-Travel Seek and Find: Create a list of things for your child to keep a look-out for during their travels and have them check them off as they see them.


-On car trips, older kids may enjoy keeping a list of license plates. See how many different state license plates you can spot!

-Buy inexpensive toys or books and wrap them. Dole them out to your child at prescribed intervals during the trip. This gives them something new to play with and something to look forward to.

-Definitely don't forget to bring non-sugary drinks and bags of healthy snacks to keep kids from getting thirsty, hungry, and cranky! You'll save money too.

-It is tempting to bring along enough DVDs to keep kids quiet during car rides, but seize the opportunity to exercise your child's creativity and imagination. Try an audio book; as they look out the window they can create images with their imagination as they listen to the story. Also consider a book by Oxford press called "250 Word Games"; they're verbal games you can play with your family. Create unique memories and great conversation!

Happy travels!