My Best Tips for Traveling with Young Kids

This past year has been a busy travel year for us. We’ve traveled to a few faraway places with young kids (between 2-4 years old) and learned a lot of things along the way. Today’s blog post contains a few of my best tips for maintaining sanity and enjoying travel with young kids!

As a young adult, I had the opportunity to travel internationally with my grandparents, and especially recently, I’ve been itching to expose my kids to travel, too.

But traveling with young kids is not all rainbows and sunshine. It takes quite a bit of work, patience, flexibility, and stress management. Spending a lot of time traveling, whether in a car, bus, plane, or train, paired with limited familiar food options, a new environment, little sleep, and a departure from routines can really throw young children off (and adults, too). Managing all of those things on top of everyday management, like what to wear and eat and breaking up sibling arguments, is a lot, simply put.

But in my year of traveling, I’ve learned that it was incredibly, undoubtedly worth it. The night we all didn’t go to sleep until almost four in the morning — it was worth it to see the beauty of the Cotswolds the next day. The constant complaining and tantrums about not getting a toy from the Maui aquarium — it was worth it to get to experience the island before the fires in Lahaina this year and to see the places where my husband’s family grew up.

If you have the ability or opportunity to travel with your kids, I say do it. Don’t wait until they’re older. These experiences are learning experiences for them, too. Both of you grow in the process and get to see the beauty and diversity of the world we live in.

Tips for traveling with young kids:

1. Allow unlimited screen time during travel. We’re pretty intentional about limiting screen time at home, but the minute we get on an airplane, our kids get unlimited screen time. We take the time to download games and shows that we approve of, but other than that, they’re welcome to play games and watch movies and shows until we land. When we traveled internationally, they did have a few hours to sleep on the plane, but other than that, they had headphones on and a show queued up. We do a similar thing with long car trips but try to put off the screen time as long as we can by playing eye spy or listening to music and reading books. We generally don’t allow screen time for the rest of the trip (not at restaurants or in the hotel room), so they get to look forward to a fun few hours on the plane.

2. Hold plans loosely. Sometimes, you have a reservation to be somewhere at a specific time, otherwise, I think it’s best to be willing to change plans at a moment’s notice. Maybe the kids are starting to get hangry, so stopping for a snack or meal should be the next move. Or maybe they’ve been in the car all day, so googling the nearest park or beach will help them expend their energy. Or maybe they only got five hours of sleep the night before, and taking the scenic drive will help them get a much needed nap. Be ready to adapt to your kids’ needs.

3. Bring screen-free activities to enjoy at restaurants. Books, coloring pages, pop-its, and table games help keep kids busy when they need to wait. Pack whatever it is that keeps them busy in your carry-on and lug it around to outings where you might have a long car ride or a wait at a restaurant. If they’re not enjoying what you’ve packed, find a local Target and have them pick out a few things to keep them busy. I speak from experience here, haha.

4. Buy tickets to places where kids get in free. Many tours and museums offer tickets free to children under two or three years of age (sometimes even up to five years old!). Take advantage of the free ticket if it’s a place your kids might enjoy coming along with you to. Our kids got into Windsor Castle and the Tower of London for free and were so excited to see where a queen used to live.

5. Buy familiar snacks if possible, or pack enough in your carry-on to last the length of the trip. For picky kids or kids averse to trying different foods, it’s so important to keep familiar foods on hand. We’ve flown with fruit pouches, crackers, oatmeal packets, and protein bars with no problem both within the US and internationally. Either pack up a big assortment to carry with you during the duration of your trip (we packed an entire backpack full when we flew internationally) or be ready to do a grocery store run soon after landing.

6. Save money by purchasing breakfast or lunch items at grocery stores. Travel often means eating out for every meal, but if you have a refrigerator or kitchenette in your room, buying easy breakfast and lunch items from the grocery store can help save a ton of money! This is also key for picky eaters, as noted above. Grab yogurt and granola or lunch meat/cheese or peanut butter and jelly to make sandwiches. Or even grab a frozen dinner to heat up if your room has a microwave. It’s not glamorous, but sometimes it’s necessary!

7. Try to maintain some parts of your home routines. Even though routines are completely thrown off during travel, I think having some kind of invisible landmark to a child’s day is helpful in maintaining a sense of safety and comfort in a new environment. We like to pack the kids’ vitamins and serve them with their breakfast just like at home and bring along our Jesus Storybook Bible so that their nighttime routine follows a familiar cadence as well. Bringing along a familiar toy can be a big comfort for kids, too.

8. Pay a little bit extra to book a flight at a normal time of day. We really learned our lesson with this one when we flew from Cyprus to England. There were a lot of valid reasons that went into why we picked the flight time we did (it landed at 10:30 pm London time, but 12:30 am Cyprus time and left us WRECKED), but now, after experiencing it, we’d go back and pay the extra money in a heartbeat to land at our destination earlier in the day. Very early or very late flights can throw off children’s sleep routines and make it harder to go to sleep at night or harder to stay awake during the day if they are up too early. Even though very early or very late flights are cheaper, purchasing tickets for a flight that takes off or lands during a child’s normal waking hours will save both you and the children the mental and emotional exhaustion of losing precious sleep.

9. Create memories. Most of all, have fun. See the wonder of a new place through your child’s eyes. Take pictures. Laugh at the hard things so that you don’t cry. Do the fun things and the picture-worthy things or just the small things that mean the most to your children.

Resources for traveling with young kids:

We’ve found a few foolproof travel items that have been key for our family in this season of travel. Try these things out next time you’re traveling with your children to make the trip a little less stressful:

1. Travel car seats - these travel car seats from Wayb are pricey but worth their weight in gold. They come with a backpack to carry them in and they’re super lightweight. Rolling your kids’ suitcases, your suitcase, and their car seat(s), plus all the carry-on items, is A LOT. So save yourself the hassle and buy or borrow one of these!

2. Crayola color wonder sheets - my kids went to town on these at restaurants during our Maui trip. They were not at all entertained by any of the cute things I packed — the princess/Paw Patrol brightly colored paper is what kept them busy. At least I tried haha.

3. This carry-on bag and packing organizers - this style of suitcase paired with the packing organizers makes my organizational heart so happy and keeps the kids’ clothes well organized during travel. A carry-on fits both my girl’s essentials perfectly!

4. Yoto Player Mini - we love this compact audiobook player for nighttime stories or for car & plane travel.

If you’re off to travel with your kids, I wish you the best! I hope you’ll enjoy the good times and let the rough times roll off your back. You’re gonna do great, mama!

The Practice of Blessing Your Children

Recently, I was listening to a podcast by Intentional Parents. In it, the hosts talk about the benefits of speaking blessing over your children. This can look like simply saying, “You are kind” or “I noticed you sharing; I appreciate your thoughtfulness.”

In the Bible, a blessing often looks like a paragraph-long speech foretelling the success of your children. While you can do that, I’ve found great benefit from simply noticing the small things my children do and telling them.

When I started this practice, I had difficulty accepting the task. I thought, “Why would I say things that aren’t true about my kids to them??”. My children are currently 4.5 and 3 years old and definitely in a phase of tantrums and fighting and not sharing. They’re good kids, but I felt most of my time was spent on discipline and correction. I was putting a lot of time into trying to fix behaviors. How can I tell them they’re kind when wrestling each other? How can I call them thoughtful when they refuse to share?

But I found that the more I noticed and called out the small kindnesses in my children, the less they actively engaged in less desirable behaviors.

Blessings work similarly to affirmations. With affirmations, we tell ourselves truths over and over again. Hearing “I am strong” or “I am loved” day in and day out or repeated over a few minutes allows those truths to sink into our core. Over time, we come to believe these things about ourselves. When we know we are loved, we can act in love. When we know we are strong, we can face hardships better.

It’s the same with speaking affirmations to your children. Telling them “you are strong” or “you are loved” day in and day out allows those truths about themselves to take root in their hearts. Soon they’re operating on the truth that they are strong, and kind, and brave, and friendly, and patient. They can act more freely on those characteristics when they know those things to be true.

Children live up to the expectations we put on them. If we expect them to misbehave and be challenging, they will be. If we expect them to be kind, thoughtful, and gentle, they will be. When we see them in their full potential, they can see themselves that way too.

Here are a few steps to begin the practice of blessing your children:

1. Start by noticing. Take the time to watch your children move about their world and interact with peers and family members. Observe the “thank you’s” and the “excuse me’s” and the hugs and the sharing.

2. Call it out. You can say something like, “Thank you for sharing with your sister,” or “I noticed you put away your shoes. That’s so helpful!” or “You’re a great friend.”

3. Repeat it. Make space for blessing every day. Even in the busyness of life, even in the middle of a day full of major toddler meltdowns, find something to bless them with.

Whether you have two-year-olds or twelve-year-olds or even adult children, offering a blessing to your children can make a significant impact on their lives. And honestly, it can change your heart too.

Memorizing Scripture with Young Kids

I’ve recently started memorizing scripture with my daughters (4.5 and 3 years old) using these beautiful scripture memorization cards from Pip & J Papery.

While beautiful cards are not necessary to memorize scripture, these have been a fun visual for our kids to practice this new skill. I have a few tips for memorizing scripture with young kids to share today to help you start your memorization journey!

1. Add memorization to your routine.

   Find a time that works for you to incorporate scripture memorization into your daily routine. This could be over breakfast, driving to school, or before bed. We started adding memorization into our bedtime routine, and it’s been so impactful for us! After jammies, teeth brushing, and Bible reading, we recite our verses before praying and hopping into bed.

2. Practice daily.

   Habits take time to form, so be consistent! Practicing at least once daily to keep up the momentum.

3. Start small.

   All of the scriptures we are memorizing are short sentences. I usually have the kids repeat after me a few times before bed each night to help them remember.

4. Perform for family members.

   If your children like to show off new skills, ask them to recite their verses to a friend or family member! They’ll be proud of their achievements and light up from that positive reinforcement.

5. Make it visual

   Here’s where scripture cards come in! Make your own or find some to buy from various brands. Having the visual helps my daughters connect the alphabet letters with the verse and serves as a reminder for me to practice every night. It’s hard to forget a new routine when it’s in a spot you’ll always see it and be reminded of the practice.

I hope you’ll jump into this simple practice with your children! the Bible tells us it carries so many benefits! “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.” Proverbs 22:6 & “I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:11

The Best Christmas Books for Young Kids

We love bringing books into our home based on seasonal topics - oceans and sea creatures in the summer, love and friendships for Valentine’s day, pumpkins and bats and spiders for fall, and Christmas books for the last month of the year.

We’ve rounded up our favorite Christmas books for our the most wonderful time of the year. Some we’ve had since I (Alisa) was little and some we’ve added to our collection in recent years.

Keep reading for links to buy each book and a little description of each and why we love them for our young kids.

Here are some of our favorites from PaperPie Books:

1. ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas Pop-Up - this is the classic tale we all know and love, with beautifully illustrated pop-up pictures! We love being able to pass down timeless Christmas stories, and this book from PaperPie brings this classic to life for young kids with fun pop-ups on every page.

2. The Twinkly, Twinkly Christmas Tree and Twinkly, Twinkly Nativity - both of these books light up story time with bright LED lights! The first is a story about searching for Christmas lights and the second is about the beautiful stars in the sky at the time of Jesus’ birth. These make bedtime reading so magical!

3. The Nutcracker Sound Book - I grew up listening to the musical score from the Nutcracker every year during Christmas and attended the ballet as well! So this book is so special for me to share with my kids — they get to experience the sounds of the Nutcracker right along with the story.

4. Peek Inside the Nativity - the story of Jesus’ birth becomes a delight to read with beautifully cut out holes to see through each page. Peek at animals hiding in the stable or spy innkeepers watching over their inn. So much joy and mystery to experience in this story about the true meaning of Christmas.

Some more favorites from other publishers:

1. Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree - I (Alisa) LOVED this book as a child. I don’t necessarily know what drew me in with this story, but I was so delighted to read about this grand Christmas tree that Mr. Willowby bought. His tree is too tall for this house, so he chops off the top. Someone finds it, but it’s too tall for their space as well. And on it goes down through bears and foxes and rabbits and mice. This one Christmas tree winds up blessing so many little families - what a Christmas joy!

2. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer - it wouldn’t be Christmas without this classic to read and sing about! We have this edition from A Little Golden Book with the cutest vintage illustrations. Any edition would be lovely to add to your Christmas shelf!

3. Together—I absolutely fell in love with this book, which highlights the beauty of spending time together above receiving gifts during the Christmas season. That’s truly what it’s about, right? Family time, laughter shared, cookies baked, and memories made. I love the simple reminder of presence and family in this book.

4. Where’s Santa Claus? - this lift-the-flap board book is perfect for babies and toddlers. It has soft, felted flaps and fun illustrations. It would make the perfect stocking stuffer!

   *note- I’ve linked all of these to Amazon, but we highly recommend shopping secondhand for books or supporting your local bookstore!

If your Christmas books aren’t already out, we hope you find a fun book to bring home and read with your kids this season! Snuggle up by the fire, grab some hot cocoa, and soak in the memories of reading with your little ones.