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. Now that they are gorwing into tweens and teen, treat those older ones with some fun activities and gear to make traveling fun and easier for everyone.
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Splurge Gifts
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Your older teens who are into makeup may want to make sure they have all their tools with them. These travel brushes come with a case, and have two on each side to reduce the number you need.
Teens 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 stainless steel bottles come in fun colors and keep drinks cooler longer (and reduce plastic waste).
If you have a tween or teen, likelihood is you have given in at this point and they have a phone. Let them personalize it with PopSockets. There are so many fun ones, it’s easy to find one that fits your particular kiddos likes. Plus, they are less likely to drop it when trying to hold it to to film the latest TikTok dance.
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For your teen or tween experimenting with phone photography, this is a great upgrade. It is macro and wide angle lens that clip onto your phone, and lets them experiment with more interesting shots they can upload to their Instagram.
Bluetooth Wireless Transmitter
Many people are switching from wired to wireless headphones and ear buds. However, that doesn’t work on a plane, forcing you to use the cheap earbuds they provide (or worse charge you for). Use on of these wireless transmitters to connect your nice wireless headphones to the screen provided on the airplane seat. It makes your long distance flights much more comfortable.
A screenager who is constantly on their phone will find this powerful portable charger helpful when out all day. Phones die and you DON’T want that happening on a long flight or road trip. More than once ours has saved someone when we are out all day exploring.
Once your tween hits puberty, hormones start to appear and cause havoc particularly to your face in the form of acne. My kids have had some issues with acne, so we started early with a routine of washing their face, using toner, and moisturizer. When a flareup does occur, the spot treatment from Proactive has worked really well. Having the small sized means they can easily bring it on your next trip.
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You older tweens and teens will love good headphones that connect to their phones and/or tablets without wires. That way on the airplane ride or road trip they an tune out mom and dad and be in their own world.
Good quality Bluetooth earbuds are great for travel. They are small, can be carried in a bag or pocket, connect with Bluetooth, and can even be noise reducing. Jabra and JLab are great alternatives to Apple Airpods which can be pricy.
Splurge Gifts
Once your child outgrow the smaller character luggage, there are a number of cute full sized carry on suitcases with fun patterns for your tween and teen. There are a number of brands on Amazon that are around the $100 mark that your growing kid will love.
Generally, Nintendo is known as the gaming system for younger children, but there are plenty of games teens and tweens love. But the best part is that the Switch works as both as a console attached to a TV or a handheld to travel with ease.
We are a split household. I’m Android gal and my husband loves his Apple products. If your household has an iOS ecosystem, and your teen (wants) a tablet, you may want to invest in an iPad. Just make sure to buy a case to protect your investment.
If you have a mixed or Android household, there are a number of reasonably priced Android tablets that could suit the needs of your teen or tween not ready for a phone.
