Making Travel Educational for Kids
- Beth Bliss
- 6 hours ago
- 4 min read
First, I would argue that travel itself is inherently educational for everyone, especially kids. Think of the following:
They learn about other cultures or hear other languages. This opens their world-view and makes them more open-minded and accepting people.
They see historical places or artwork first hand, making it much more easily accessible in their memories and easier for them to understand rather than just from the classroom or a textbook.
They learn how to navigate directions, look for signs, take public transportation, and other important independent life skills.
They see animals and plants in real life and learn about all the different ecosystems. This is better than any school-based science lesson!
But let's say that you, like me, are an over-achiever. Maybe you want to make the most out of the trip's educational components because you know it's a once in a lifetime trip or opportunity. Maybe you want to because you had to fill out a permission slip for an "educational trip" to be an excused absence from school and you don't want to feel guilty or like you're lying. Maybe you just have no ability to relax and like homework even when on vacation....you know who you are, my fellow Type A people out there! Regardless of your reasons, I will say that I've found lots of fun and enjoyable ways to make our trips more educational for the kids.
Before trips, we always rent books from our local library about the location we are going. This helps if the kids are younger and haven't learned about a specific place yet. We read about the Maya Civilization before our trip to Mexico, read about mummies and Ancient Egypt before visiting Egypt, even trips just to other states have been bolstered by reading a book about the state before going.
Sometimes we do special crafts or activities before trips too. Below are pictures of my kids before we went to Rome and Greece. We had rented books from our library about the places that included crafts and games and activities, which were so fun!
When we go on a trip, I often like to make binders or folders for the kids to take with them. If it's a different country, I'll put a couple helpful phrases at the beginning for the language (like hello, goodbye, please, and thank you). Then each page is dedicated to one specific day on the trip. At the top, there might be a quick summary of the items we have planned for the day. There are a few questions on the page for them to find or learn the answers to and fill in or there might be a coloring page or activity if I can find one online. And then there's space for them to essentially journal a bit, asking them prompts like for something they ate, something they saw, something they learned, and their favorite part of the day. That way, not only are they learning with this binder, but it also serves as a memory for them to save at the end of the trip too.
When booking tours, I always search specifically for ones that say "for kids" or "for families." I also like to add notes in to the tour guide if it's a private tour saying a bit of info about my kids or to ensure we get a very kid-friendly guide. It's amazing how much children can learn from a great guide.
Often we like to book experiences in different areas rather than just standard site-seeing tours. For example, in Barcelona, we did a mosaic making class. In Rome, we did a pizza-making class. In Hawaii, they took surf lessons and hula dancing lessons. In Costa Rica, we did a homestay and the woman who lived there did a bread-making class while the man who lived there did a farm tour and we milked cows. These experiences build such strong memories and are so enjoyable for both the children and adults, but they also help to really immerse the children into the culture or learn more about a specific place or people.
In any National Park, we do the Junior Ranger Program. Essentially, you check in at the visitor center to get the workbook. The kids have a set number of pages they have to complete, which sometimes include games or activities, sometimes include hikes or meditative practices, etc. These activities help to teach the kids a little bit about that specific place or the land or animals. When they're done, they turn in the workbook and are sworn in as junior rangers, earning a litle wooden pin. These are great free souvenirs too!
My kids are particularly into science and animals. I don't know- is that maybe all kids? Or at least all boys? Regardless, they LOVE any types of activities on trips that involve animals and wildlife, so we plan trips that include a lot of that. They have learned way more than I ever knew about different types of animals, plants, and ecosystems.
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