Travel

Taking Your Kids on Holiday: What You Need to Know

Kid Playing On The Beach

Taking kids on holiday can be such a joy – but it can also be a big pain in the bum. Children, depending on their age, can present a few problems on holiday – not that you shouldn’t take them because of this! Your kids may be as good as gold, but to have the best time possible, there are a few things you should know first. You may be aware of some of them already, but it doesn’t hurt to be extra prepared – right? Let’s take a look at what you need to know:

Kids Are More Emotional Than Adults

Kids are way more emotional than adults. This can either come out as good emotion, like being excited, or bad emotion, like crying hysterically. Kids feel things more intensely than adults do, and they get scared of the unknown and start drawing their own conclusions.

Your child may be ridiculously excited to go on their holiday, and that’s great! Just make sure they know how to behave on an airplane, and that they should never get so excited that they run away from you in a strange place.

Your kids may not know what it means to go on holiday, and be sad because they are going to miss their pet, friends, or favourite toy. Reassure them that you’re all going to have an amazing time together and do some fun stuff. Sometimes, all kids need is a little explanation and reassurance. Just make sure you don’t make them any promises you won’t be able to keep – once you’ve done this, it’ll be hard for them to forget it. Adults don’t think much of it, but kids will remember and likely be very upset – even if they don’t say anything to you. You can prepare your children for travelling by reading this post first.

Kids Will Need to Be Entertained More Than You

You probably knew this already, but you’ll need to provide lots of entertainment for the kids. Adults can be very content just lying on a sun lounger with a cocktail in hand, but it’ll take more than warm weather and a juice box to entertain the kids. If you plan on spending days at the beach, make sure they have plenty of options. You can take some books with you for them to read, or even take a toy with them, such as a handheld games console. You will need to play with them sometimes too. Kids love building sandcastles and splashing in the sea! The sea isn’t safe for kids to be around on their own though, so make sure you keep a watchful eye over them at all times. The same applies around a swimming pool – lots of entertainment and making sure they are safe. Lots of apartments have private pools. These are great for families, as you are able to keep a closer eye on your kids and enjoy more privacy.

Kids Will Have to Be More Careful in the Sun

Kids need to be much more careful in the sun than adults. We all need to stay hydrated and apply sunscreen liberally, but it’s especially important for kids to do so. Make sure you apply a high factor sunscreen to them whenever they need it, and never let them burn. Give them lots of hydrating liquids, and make sure they wear protective clothing. This includes sunglasses, a hat, and t-shirts to wear over their swimsuits. Always keep a close eye on anything that could be burning and give them aftersun to soothe their skin. Try to encourage them to spend a good amount of time in the shade, and keep them out of the sun when it’s at its hottest (usually in the afternoon).

You’ll Get Charged If You Take Your Children Out of School

The rules at school have changed. While parents used to be able to take their child out of school once a year to go on holiday, you will now get charged if you do so. There are reasonable points to both sides of the argument. Children shouldn’t be missing school, and holidays can be taken out of term time. However, holidays out of term time are way more expensive and will be full of tourists. A lot of families say they can’t afford a holiday out of term time, but they still want to keep their family bonding time by going away. It’s up to you whether you want to face a fine when you get home from a nice holiday! The amount you are charged will depend on how long you’ve been away, usually. Most schools say you need a sick note to keep children off school, so calling and saying they are ill isn’t really an option.

Taking Your Kids on Holiday Helps Them Learn and Develop

Children need all kinds of different experiences to help them learn and develop as people. Going on holiday is a great way to do this! They will develop more social skills, and learn a great deal about the country they are visiting. They may become interested in other languages and walks of life. It’s good for kids to learn about different cultures! Providing you take all of the other advice above, this holiday should do your child a world of good. You don’t even have to take them far, many great places are a short drive/plane ride away. You could even holiday in the same country – I’m sure there’s a lot of exploring to be done there, too!

Now you’re aware of all of the important aspects of taking kids on holiday, you can plan your time together to make sure you have the best time ever. Just bear in mind that things don’t always go to plan when you have kids with you, for whatever reason. Try not to let this get you down and stay positive – you’re all on holiday, after all! Have a fantastic time!

Photo by Leandro Müller.

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Paul Tomaszewski is a science & tech writer as well as a programmer and entrepreneur. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of CosmoBC. He has a degree in computer science from John Abbott College, a bachelor's degree in technology from the Memorial University of Newfoundland, and completed some business and economics classes at Concordia University in Montreal. While in college he was the vice-president of the Astronomy Club. In his spare time he is an amateur astronomer and enjoys reading or watching science-fiction. You can follow him on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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