Pattaya Daily News

Published : July 26, 2010 :: 17:07:33 [ 1,792 views ]

One of the most dreaded parts of any holiday can be traveling with young children on a long journey. Babies are not too bad as they are usually quite happy being given any kind of attention and will usually sleep throughout most of the journey

Parents need to be prepared for the constant ‘are we there yet’ or the incessant whining or crying through shear boredom. Travel with children is no laughing matter and requires a lot of thought, planning and preparation.

When traveling with toddlers if at all possible try planning your holiday or travel for the night. Children will be excited throughout the day and will wear themselves out with chatter and running around, so will hopefully fall asleep once the journey has started, leaving you and your fellow travelers with peace and quiet. The problem arising is when they get cranky and cry nonstop or for long periods.

Be sure to pack and keep within easy reach some essential items for the car such as a diaper bag, tissues and wipes, first aid kit and food as well as a few fun games to keep the little ones happy and occupied while on long car journeys.

Pick your young child’s pacifier, favorite toys, or comfort blankets, or purchase a few cheap toys that will be new to them, but give them only one at a time so they can be exchanged for a different one once the novelty has worn off the one they are in possession of.

Peek-a-boo goes down well with babies and toddlers along with pulling funny faces. Books with a few images on each page with sounds and flaps that open and close will take longer to go through than those without,  as you can involve your child in pointing at and discussing the images or make up short stories about each picture.  Coloring books with crayons are a must even if the child just likes to scribble.

Older children are easier to distract and entertain on long journeys with activities, story reading, counting, singing and I spy. All children love music which can be a good way to occupy them. They love music from children’s programs or sing-a- longs with actions or nursery rhymes.

Make up small goodie bags and let your children feel them and guess what the contents are before giving it to them. Fill them with 5-6 items such as balloons, small toys, stickers, picture books, crayons, pencil eraser, but make sure the items are appropriate to the age as you wouldn’t want a two year old to have a balloon as he/she may choke on it.

If traveling by road, involve the children in counting how many animals they see such as cows, sheep, dogs, horses, or how many of each colored cars you pass, but keep the numbers low so as not to bore the children.

Portable DVD players have made entertaining children easy they will work off batteries or from the cigarette lighter in the car. Pop in a kiddies DVD and kill a couple of hours or more.

Sarah Goldman

Related items

• The Pros & Cons of Multitasking
• Tenerife’s New and Exciting Siam Water Kingdom
• Etiquettes, Dining and Table Manners
• How to Know When It’s Time to Diet
• Paraben’s Pornographic Detection Stick

Type : Lifestyle
Photo : Internet

Extensive Gallery [ 5 photos ]

• 
• 
• 
• 
•