Talking your entire family abroad with you can be a challenging and extremely daunting prospect. Will they cope with the flight? Will they have enough energy to walk around the city all day? Will they eat the food? Kids can be fussy after all! Even with all of these worries plaguing your mind, you still don’t want to leave your little ones behind, and want to enjoy time out together forming some special memories.

When it comes to taking your children on holiday with you, there’s not a lot of advice out there about what you should do. And thus, this blog is here to help. If you’re planning some friendly family fun in the sun soon, make sure you take these ideas into account to make the process a lot easier on everyone involved. There’s no reason a love of travelling shouldn’t be cultivated from a young age!

Plan with the Kids in Mind

Your children have a lot of the world to get used to, and even as adults quite a lot of us are still adjusting to it. Keep that in mind when you’re planning your next vacation; you’re going to have to go as slow as possible into such a deep dive.

Plan your days out in advance, and always have backup options in case the kids get tired or otherwise refuse to try something out. Seeing as children can be unpredictable at the best of times, it’s very likely you’re not going to cover everything you want to in a day. Leave little time pockets for snacks or naps, and try to return to finish off what you were planning to do the next day.

If you’ve got the money to spare, try to book somewhere that has a swimming pool to its name. When you’re all a bit tired, either from having little legs that can’t go too far or lugging around tired children, you can spend some easy time enjoying your holiday here. You don’t have to go far, and have a little pool party of your own.

Try to Cut Down Travel Times

No one really likes having to wait around in the airport, and it’s the one place the kids tend to really get bored. The same goes for the adults actually, as just sitting and waiting for a flight to be called can make the minutes stretch on and on. However, if you know what time to get to the airport, and plan a couple of quick activities once you get there, you’re going to be just fine.

You’re always going to need to get to the airport with a lot of time to spare, as there’s no guarantee you’re going to be let on the plane if it’s depaturing in the next five minutes and you’ve just got through customs. At the same time, you don’t want to be there for too long, so where’s the inbetween?

It can usually be determined by the amount of luggage you’re carrying, and how long your flight is going to be for. With luggage, you’re going to need a good gap of about an hour to make sure you can get through checking in without any fuss. And if you’re travelling between countries, a.k.a going international, it’s good to leave a three hour gap for both check in and boarding. So take your phones and tablets along with you, load up some movies and games into them, and let the kids go wild with the digital world whilst you wait. Or you could simply go exploring in the airport, checking out all of the shops and duty free items you could pick up.

Stay Somewhere with a Good Reputation

Even if the price is a bit steep! When you’ve got your entire family in tow, you’re going to want to make sure they’re looked after. A good hotel with some raving reviews means you’ll be in comfort during your stay, and you’ll have plenty of napping opportunities for anyone who gets tired in the middle of the day.

It also means you’re more likely to be staying in a room that’s child proof, meaning there’s a reduced chance of any accidents happening and far less tears on the horizon. It’s not something anyone wants to deal with when they’re meant to be away on holiday, especially the kids, so keep them in mind when you’re booking the place to stay.

Pack Lots of Sunscreen

Sunscreen is the number one solution to all of the sun’s problems. If you’re going to a place incredibly warm, with little moisture in the air, and you’re going to be spending a lot of time at the pool or the beach, pack some sunscreen.

Your little ones need it most of all, as you don’t want their first ever good time away to be one full of memories of peeling skin that’s sore to the touch. Similarly, this can easily sap away their energy, so apply before you got out. The top up when you’re outside, and then have some aftersun available for when you get back in. Try to get the waterproof variety if you’re worried what the sea waves might do to your careful preparation.

Vary Your Activities

Varying your activities means young minds won’t get bored, and you’ll have plenty to do and see when you’re out and about. You don’t want to be crowding the same kinds of attractions each time you head out from the hotel, so this is also a good way to get the full experience in the limited time you have on holiday.

Travelling with kids doesn’t have to be a nightmare, so take steps to make sure it’s enjoyable for everyone involved. Good memories when you’re young last a lifetime, and help form habits when we’re older. Make your little ones responsible and fun loving from the get go!