Highlights:
- Look at the schedule and incorporate nap, activity and break times into your planning.
- Your kids need to be active, in their own way, multiple times a day.
- Walt Disney World in Florida can actually be a healthy family vacation destination.
Traveling with kids needs a whole book to explain all the ins and outs of making sure traveling with your family is not only an enjoyable, but also a healthy, experience. Since I don't have any children of my own, I've asked numerous friends, fitness and travel experts to share their tips. Here’s a compilation of their tips.
- Look at the schedule and incorporate nap and break times into your planning. They don’t have to be exact - when kids are excited, it’s even harder to keep them on a regular schedule anyway.
- Schedule breaks for your kids to burn off some energy. Even if you’re walking around all day, your kids need to be active, in their own way, multiple times a day.
- Involve your kids in the trip planning. Have your kids plan an activity for the whole family to participate in. Let the kids research where you are going on the trip and all of the fun activities and things to see.
- Do at least 1 activity every day.
- Put your children’s favorite healthy snacks in separate containers or baggies that they can use themselves.
- Have older kids travel with their own water bottles and make sure to encourage them to drink and fill up when you do.
- Car trips must include a packed cooler with water and healthy snacks.
- Bookmark or download favorite programs ahead of time. The Wiggles, Diego and all of your kids’ favorites can be found online.
- Make it easy for them to be able to operate themselves. Netflix and Hulu are phenomenal.
- There's a great iPhone app called Playground Finder (playspacefinder.kaboom.org), which uses Google maps to find the nearest playground. This app goes along with a fun children’s resource called KaBoom (kaboom.org).
- Have your kids send postcards to themselves. This will be a fun memory of the trip, and their handwriting, if they want to have a memory of their vacation.
- Make sure everyone gets a good night’s sleep. It increases the fun factor and lowers the crankiness.
