Fun and Educational Family Travel Tips

For many of you, the school year is quickly approaching.  I know that, for me, I have to return to work on Monday and my students return on Wednesday.  EEK!  Where has the summer gone?!

With so little time left before your kids are back in school, it is time to consider some last minute family vacation ideas.

Obviously, you aren’t going to plan some great getaway over the next couple of days and whisk your family off on a week long vacation.  Nonetheless, you can still have some fun before those last few days of summer vacation pass you by.

One great place to go is to a nearby zoo.  Zoos offer fun for kids of all ages.  From my experience, even teenagers can have fun at a zoo.  And, it gets the whole family out for the day while the weather is still great.

More than likely, there are some great museums within an hour or two drive from where you live.  Children’s museums are a great choice as they generally offer displays that are appropriate for infants all the way up to adults.  In addition, the displays are often changing, so it can be a new experience every year.

Having a great family vacation doesn’t even have to involve going somewhere.  You can plan a great day of fun in your own backyard and, if you want to give it more of a “vacation” feel, you might want to pitch a tent and let the kids stay outside.  Roast marshmallows, sing songs, play games and just enjoy each other’s company.  After all, isn’t family togetherness the best part of having a family vacation?

If you don’t have a swimming pool or know anyone that does, you might even want to consider renting a hotel room in a nearby city for the night.  Enjoy an evening of swimming and fun as you spend the day somewhere away from the same ‘ole, same ‘ole of home!

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I thought my faithul readers might be interested in checking out this travel article that I wrote for another site.  It is about my return trip after our family vacation to Disney - and how even the worse situations can turn out to be “hidden gems.” 

I will discuss this trip in more detail later (complete with pictures!), but here is a little teaser for now - click here!

While we are on the subject of me bragging, take a look at this book I wrote for Remedia Publications.  This is series of short stories that follow Jenna and her family through various national parks as she solves mysteries.  Obviously, I put my travel experiences to work for inspiration on this one!  If you want to see my name as author, you will have to get a copy.  Or,  you can visit this site where they have the book for sale and have listed me as the author.  I also did several of the stories and questions for this product. 

Although I do a great deal of writing for a variety of purposes, my favorite projects are educational materials and blogs such as this one since these materials help me teach someone in some way.  Hopefully, there are plenty of you out there that are learning something with this blog because of the experiences I have to share.

Do any of you write?  If so, what do you like to write about?

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Perhaps the single most important family travel roadtrip tip is to keep the kids entertained while on the road. By  breaking up the trip and stopping every couple of hours, you will automatically help stave off boredom.  Nonetheless, you will need to take other steps to prevent boredom as well.

The most obvious thing you can do to help keep the kids from getting bored is to install a DVD system in your vehicle.  Watching movies along the way to your family vacation destination will certainly keep the children entertained as long as the movies remain available.

Of course, not everyone has a DVD player in their vehicle.  If this is the case, music can help prevent boredom from setting in as well - particularly if everyone joins in with the merriment.

Another roadtrip game you can play is to challenge the children to look for certain items along the way.  For example, you can challenge them to look for license plates for all 50 states. If you create a list ahead of time, they can simply check off the states as they find them.  You can use this states.doc with your kids while on your trip.

Another roadtrip game is to look for every letter of the alphabet on the signs along the road.  To make the game even more challenging, go in alphabetical order and only count the first letter of the words you see on the signs.  You might have to cheat a little on X, though we usually find a semi-trailer with Xtra on it at some point or another.  Q can be a challenge as well - just hope you come across a Dairy Queen once you reac that letter!

You can also look for different colored vehicles, such as challenging the children to be the first to spot a red vehicle or any other color you select.

With a little imagination, you can make your family travel experience enjoyable while on the road.

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One family travel tip that I learned rather early on was to always be prepared for the worse!

It seems like every time we go on a family vacation, at least one of our family members becomes ill.  I have been the one to all victim, as has each of my kids.

My oldest, Jacob, seems to be the one that gets sick the mose often when we go on family vacations.  He has a tendency to throw up at least once during the trip.  Of course, he is not the only one that has ended up puking in the car.

When you are speeding down a highway, there really is no way to quickly pull over to the side so your child can throw up outside of the vehicle.  Unfortunately for us, the only thing we had available the first time he threw up was a paper bag - it seemed like a great idea until the vomit seeped through just seconds after hitting the bag.

Therefore, I recommend always bring a plastic bag with you.  A Ziploc bag is the best, since you can lock it shut and seal out the smell until you can find a place to stop.

Speaking of Ziploc bags, my twins were having a problem with diarrhea when we went to Disney World.  Those bags were a life saver when it came to changing out underwear since we had to tote the soiled underwear around with us throughout the park (I will admit, a couple pair just ended up in the trash).

I know, the topic is disgusting, but kids have a way of puking and pooping at the worse of times! Being prepared will make it much less of a disaster when it occurs.

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Now that you have the right mindset for your roadtrip, there are a few additional steps you can take to make your roadtrip as pleasant as possible.

If your budget is tight and stopping off for snacks periodically along the way will be too costly, be sure to pack some snacks with you.  Even if you have a “no eating in the vehicle” rule, you can pull off to a roadstop at some time point and pull the snacks out of the vehicle.

Keep the snacks that your pack on for your family vacation ones that do not spoil easily and that are easy to pack and to obtain.  Water is a good choice for drinks, as it won’t result in upset bellies like pop or even juice can do.  Peanut butter crackers or cheese crackers are a good snack to bring with you because they are filling and healthy without taking up much space.

Obviously, you will need to consider the likes and dislikes of your family members, but I would stay clear of candies and other sweets.  If you pump the kids up with sugar while on a roadtrip, you will go insane before the real family vacation has ever really started!

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I have done a great deal of talking about some of the wonderful places I have visited with my family, so I think it is about time I offer a few family travel tips for when on the road.

For me, the actal trip to the destination can be just as much fun as the destination itself.  In order to make the trip a pleasant part of your family vacation, you have to establish a certain mindset.

First of all, don’t try to push your way through as quickly as possible.  This only results in cranky children and irritated adults when the trip schedule is inevitably thrown of track.

I used to call my husband the “Pee Nazi” because stopping for a restroom break was such an ordeal.  “But, baby, I am making such good time” he would say.

Finally, he realized that going into the roadtrip with the understanding that we would have to stop along the way just made it easier on everyone.  Now, when we go on a family vacation, we even keep an eye out for fun stops along the way.  Stopping every few hours to take a restroom break, to grab a snack, or to see a interesting site has made the roadtrip aspect of our family vacations a great part of the trip rather than a hassle.

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The site that my family seemed to enjoy the most on our trip to Wisconsin Dells was the Rick Wilcox Magic show. 

Now, I will warn you, this was the single most expensive attraction that we visited while at Wisconsin Dells.  Part of the reason for the added expense, however, was that we purchased center row tickets for all six of us.  The theater is pretty small, so I would imagine that sitting in a sit seat would offer just as good of a view and it wouldn’t be necessary to sit in the center of the theater.

We weren’t sure what to expect with this show.  Seeing as we were in Wisconsin Dells, we were a little afraid of it being CHEESIE (bad pun intended).  But, the show was actually quite entertaining and all of the children absolutely loved.  It was definitely an expense that was well worth it.

Depending on the time of year that you visit the Dells, you will only have one or two chances each day to see the show.  Also, I would recommend purchasing your tickets ahead of time.  The theater was nearly full when we visited and we went in early June before the Dells are really in full swing.

In my opinion, this show is a must see!

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Another site that you will have the opportunity to visit when you take a family vacation to Wisconsin Dells is Wizards Quest.  Wizards Quest offers a different form of family travel opportunity to the norm, as it is basically a huge scavenger hunt that the entire family participates in.

 When you enter Wizards Quest, you will be asked to come up with a name for your traveling party.  If you are stuck, they have a list of suggestions that you can choose from.  You then enter a little room where you are introduced to the elemental wizards you will be trying to free.  In order to free them, you will have to find answers to questions you are given in order to collect enough points to release the wizards.  To find the answers, you will have to walk through the various realms and look for clues.

 While finding the answers to the questions was a little beyond the twin’s grasp (since they are only 5 years old), they still enjoyed going through the various realms because they included slides and other things to climb and have fun on.

 Beware of the last realm, however, as there are a whole bunch of mirrors that you will have to walk through and determining which images are the real person and which are just reflections can be tough.  The twins ran into mirrors on more than one occassion as they ran to what they thought was me in order to give me a hug!

I won’t give away any secrets to how you find the answers to the questions because I don’t want to ruin the fun of your family vacation.  But, if you are afraid that finding the answers to the clues will be too difficult and you won’t be able to free the wizards within your provided time limit, you can choose to take the easier challenge.  We didn’t gather quite enough points to free all of our wizards, but we did have a good time trying!

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One of my fellow bloggers by the name of Joe (check out his site at www.fatheredfive.com) sent this cute little story my way.  Check it out before reading any further.

While I certainly agree with the author that a vacation with the children is not a particularly relaxing experience, I have still have vacations with my family that I would consider to be first class.  Would could possibly be better than bonding with your children and spending time with the ones you love?

Personally, I would never compare having my children with me on vacation as being as bad as losing my luggage, experiencing car trouble, or getting a speeding ticket.  Are there times when I want to spend time alone with my husband?  Certainly!  But, I wouldn’t trade those vacation moments with my children for anything in the world.

What are your thoughts on children and vacations?

Shannon

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Here are some photos of some of the great sites you can enjoy at Devil’s Lake State Park.  Here is a photo of the lake.  Check out the sailboat in the background!  This is where we first stopped off after entering through the gate.

We then drove around a bit aimlessly until we ended up outside of the park.  We looped around and decided to go through the other entrance.  Here, we found a designated beach area with a rather large parking lot.  We were confused about where the trailheads we wanted were located, so we just got out and walked around.  It didn’t take long before we found the trailhead to the Devil’s Gate and some other sites.   Here is a large boulder we found along the way that the boys climbed up.

And here are the boys exploring a rock formation that formed a bit of a cave.

Along the way, you will get some great views of the hills.  Check out the rocks in the background.  Those are the “stairs” you will climb along the way. 

You will also get some great views of the lake.

Here is my husband and my two oldest boys walking down to the Devil’s Gate rock formation.  The twins are going down there too, but you can’t see them in the photo.

Here is Kieran triumphantly standing in front of Devil’s gate.  Check out the cool view of the hills and the lake below.

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