Here at Around the World with Kids, we believe in family travel, and taking your kids on all sorts of fun adventures. I’ve been traveling with mine since they were babies and now I’m incredibly proud of how good they are at traveling. Treat your kids to some fun activities and gear to make traveling fun and easier for everyone.
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Splurge Gifts
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This fun sticker book will keep the little one entertained for hours on the flight or the long road trip. And in the process they are learning all about different clothing, cultures, or traditions around the world. Love this brand, they have a variety of books like this.
These days the kids are on a lot of technology thanks to the pandemic. Make sure they have a good set of kid friendly headphones for their zoom session when you are on a school-cation or just using the devices in the car or on the plane.
This fun journal walks your kids through documenting and writing about their trip. It makes road trips more entertaining, helps your kids get into the unique aspects of where you are visiting, and gives them a fun memory to look back on later on.
Easy, Spill-Proof Water Bottle
Kids drink a lot of water (or at least mine do). We never travel without refillable water bottles to help reduce the use of plastic and keep thirst at bay. These spill-proof bottles are recommended time and time again.
Kids always want snacks. When they are younger, you can’t trust them with a bowl or an open bag, otherwise you find them all over the backseat of the car or airline seat. For a shockingly long time, my kids used these for goldfish, crackers, grapes, etc. They loved them, long past when they couldn’t be trusted with open bags. They are one of my favorite baby shower gifts.
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My creative one loves to write and draw during long car rides. This one allows kids to have all these on hand, and keeps the mess contained while on the long road trips.
We have had a few travel boosters but the Mifold is by far has been the best. It works by brining the seatbelt to the right point on a child as opposed to boosting the child up. Folds up and fits in the kids backpack. This is great for travel, but also works when someone else is picking up the kids that day.
My son was addicted to Thomas for 3+ years. I always had a few trains in my bag, and we usually brought a few trains and tracks when traveling. The wooden trains are really nice, but the Take-and-Play are smaller, and the tracks are cheaper to replace if lost. It’s set designed for travel.
Before my kids could really read, we traveled all over the world with this pen and a few of the books. The LeapReader Pen will either read the book, let the kids go over each word and say the word, or even sound it out. The independence this provided was amazing, and the kids used them even after they could read on their own.
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For younger kids, this innovative cart lets you attach the car seat, and turn that car seat into a stroller in the airport. Ever have to lug a car seat through the airport? If you have, you will appreciate and love this.
Once we got our kids American Tourister character carry-on bags, we traveled carry on only and never looked back. These are perfect for your 4 – 8 year old to get them invested in packing and taking carrying their own luggage. They have a variety of characters to match your little one’s interest.
Splurge Gifts
We personally resisted gaming systems for a long time. But when it became clear that it was truly desired and would be used, we did a lot of research and came up with the Nintendo Switch as the best option. Parental controls allow us to limit the time the kids use the system, but the Switch can also work as a console attached to a TV or as a to handheld to travel with ease.
My niece has this and my sister swears by it. A rubberized bumper makes it drop proof from the most careless kid, and Amazon has a ton of features that makes sure the kids are only getting access to what you want them see.
We are a split household. I’m Android gal and my husband loves his Apple products. The kids have mostly been on Android phones and tablets given that the iPhones get traded in for upgrades. I’ve always been a fan of Samsung, but there are a number of reasonably priced Android tablets if that’s the ecosystem your family prefers.
And of course, if your household has an iOS ecosystem, you’ll want to invest in an iPad. Just make sure to buy a case to protect your investment.
