planning trips

Family trips – how to get the kids involved in planning.

Research shows that the planning portion of trips gives us as much or more joy than the actual trip (or the time following the trip).  That being the case, why on earth do we let the planning fall squarely on one person’s shoulders?  (In our family, this person is always me.)  I relish in it, in fact, because it means I get to create spreadsheets like this:

I get giddy over spreadsheets.  Still, let’s share the joy with our children for heaven’s sake!

They can participate in the planning so that they have something to look forward to.  That way, they refrain from the inevitable “what are we doing today, mom?” question that makes them seem oh, so entitled.

I feel like I’ve been hogging all the joy of anticipation and have begun including my kids in the trip prep in recent years.  They helped prep camping meals for last year’s vacation.  The year before, they researched places we could go, how much they cost, and then voted on their favorites.  We factored in their votes and considered the budget to decide on which attractions and sites we’d visit.

My husband even gets in on the action now.  He hits up his best friend Yelp to choose the best restaurants for our select few occasions dining out.  There’s nothing like dropping some good cash on a crappy restaurant when there’s so much to choose from.  He likes to eat so he does his homework.

This year’s family vacation is going to be epic.  Like three weeks epic.  I’m part ecstatic, part terrified.  I’ve done most of my research already and have mapped out where we’re going to stay, how long it takes to get from point A to point B, and crafted a basic budget (see above spreadsheet).

Now it’s time to get the kids involved.  Where to begin?

How to get the kids involved in planning family trips:

  1.  Give them a list of the places you are going.  Let them pick one or two locations on your list and research the best things to do in the area.  Make sure they record the cost and time required for each activity so you can factor that into a decision on whether or not you visit that particular attraction/site.
  2. Let them know who you will be visiting and/or famous people who lived in the places on your list.  Invite them to find out about those people so that they have a connection with them in advance.  Your kids will thank you when you drop in on Great Aunt Ida and they can actually strike up a meaningful conversation with her instead of watching the clock.  Alternatively, if you are in Cambridge, MA touring Longfellow’s house, it won’t hurt for them to have some stories shored up in their little brains so they can make meaningful connections.
  3. Give them a list of books that relate to the places you’re visiting.  They can choose a few from the list and read them during the months/weeks leading up to your trip.  Add a bit of interest by encouraging them to record some highlights from these books so that others can benefit from their reading.
  4. If food is an interest for them, let the kids know on which occasions you will be eating out and challenge them to find the highest-rated (within budget) restaurants within that location.  They’ll feel more satisfaction in a meal for which they played a decision-making role.
  5. Let them organize a playlist(or two) for your time on the road.  This is a big one for me.  I LOVE music but can’t seem to squeeze in the time to construct playlists.  The kids will totally dig this.  Especially since we’ll be spending close to eighty hours in the car so they’ll be particularly motivated to avoid having to listen to dad’s playlists on repeat.
  6. Let them pick out a few activities for the car ride (or airplane ride, as the case may be).  One of our family traditions is to take the kids to the bookstore before a road trip and let them pick out a new book to read (and add to our permanent collection).  The girls often swap books so this gives them a few good hours of entertainment in the car.  But since this particular trip ain’t no regular road trip, we’ll be adding a million other activities to our list.  Audiobooks for the whole fam, travel games, madlibs, coloring books and the like.  I’ll be outlining a budget and letting the kiddos run with it.

My hope is that by letting the littles have a hand in planning more of the details of our family trips, they will be feel more invested in the outcome.  They’ll also get to share more in the joy that comes in the anticipation.  Win for me, win for them.

Click here to access a printable (PDF) to get the kids involved in your next vacation.