Even the best holiday can turn into a nightmare if the kids are not well entertained. Actually, the worst part is travelling by car especially if the journey is long and tiresome. Kids are impatient to get out of the car and the constant question When will we arrive? drives the parents mad.
However, if their phone battery works well and they can watch videos or play games, parents can have some communication between themselves without interruptions and make plans to keep them engaged during the trip. From my point of view, electronic gadgets are not a good choice, but at such moments they are more than welcome.
Let’s start from the beginning.
Packing
The most important part of the holiday lies in the suitcase. It is the key element of parents’ freedom and children’s joy which lead to a successful holiday.
We’ve just come back from a camping holiday and I think we can call it successful.
Apart from the necessary clothes and shoes, the most important part is toys. One case of carefully chosen toys is enough. First of all, you have to take your child’s favourite toy. My kid doesn’t like leaving home even though he knows we visit his favourite places. So he always takes his monkey, with Velcro on its legs so that he can hang it around his neck or on his backpack. It gives him the comfort of having a home near himself.
Cards take the second place in a row as he likes the family-playing-cards time. There are simple card games for small ones that you can google and learn the rules in order to have an enjoyable time, especially in case of rain, which is a must whenever we go on holiday.
For good weather conditions, the choice is obvious and easy. A ball and a Frisbee are always the best alternatives. My son always takes his skateboard, too.
Yes, we have a big car and we always need a little more space.
Car Ride
Helpful, but never my preferred choice is a tablet or a phone. So I allow it in the car because it is the only way to keep my children calm and quiet in the car.
I remember last year’s car ride to the seaside was more than a nightmare. Out of boredom, they argued, played loudly, screamed, and in the end, it all turned into a fight. They jumped and hit each other screaming, so we stopped at the gas station and let them out. We said they could fight out not in the car, but it wasn’t interesting for them to fight outside.
However, 8 years difference between them, as well as gender difference, makes them watch and listen to different videos. Then the noise becomes unbearable because each of them turns the volume so loud and then they start a quarrel about who should turn it down. It’s the beginning of the nightmare. So we decide to stop next to the first shop and buy the headphones for each of them. Good choice. Finally, calm, we can hear our thoughts and drive on.
I am not very happy about tablets and headphones because of their eyes and hearing sights. This time, as we had a long journey of about 8 hours ahead these gadgets were very welcome.
Other convenient things in the car were chargers, our life saviours.
Arriving at the Campsite
We’ve finally arrived at our destination. You would think, thank God, we’ll have some rest now after driving for so long. But not with our kids! Now they leave the modern gadgets and want to have some real fun, but with their best friends, mum and dad. Yes, we are happy to be their best friends, but we really need some rest, don’t we?
However, let’s have a walk through the campsite, then play ball, and Frisbee, now let’s have dinner. Finally, bedtime, but they want more fun.
Once we are settled into the cabin and the parents ready to sleep, the kids are given some more time to play with the surprise toys we have secretly taken. This one is for the younger and that one for the older child. Actually, they are given tasks and not let play with what they want. If you leave them to play the way they want that turns into chaos and you need some peace and quiet like everybody else on the campsite.
However, we have four sets of letters so longer sentences can be written. I write a sentence on a piece of paper and leave it for my boy to put together with the wooden letters. And for my girl, I write several simple mathematical problems for her to solve. Later, when she has finished it, she is supposed to read the sentence and both of them are supposed to do what the sentence says. You can be very creative with the sentences you make for them. Mine is: “If you stay calm, the ice cream will come”
This is actually our primary agreement. This is the rule set before they start their tasks. They have to know to follow the rules and they have to know what happens if they follow the rules, not if they don’t follow the rules. When you give them the clear goal of successfully accomplishing tasks, like ice cream tomorrow, playing football with them in the morning or whatever your kids love, they will know what will happen if they don’t do it. So you don’t have to be mean and remind them of it.
Finally, Having Fun
Tomorrow’s come and you are refreshed, just like new. My kids are not awake yet but we see they have their tasks neatly done. We are happy about it, now it is our turn to fulfil the promise.
We have everything ready and even had our coffee in peace and quiet. The kids are up and their happiness starts. Of course, the campsite is full of kids and they are all pleased to have new company.
They also have their pull caterpillar with them and a wooden hammer which I use when I want their attention. This time, the hammer serves them well to build things.
We are so happy to see them play with wooden branches, nut shells and pebbles. They employ their imagination, express their creativity and apply all their knowledge to make their play better and more meaningful. Much better than ready-made toys which they use without thinking much.
Later on, the rafting takes us about 4 hours on water during which children learn a lot about nature, rivers, mountains, flora and fauna. We see a lot of animals, too including a Bambi that came to drink water from the river. Kids learn to paddle, jump from the boat and even from a cliff, learn to be careful about the river and not do these on their own. Such an exciting and educative holiday activity.
Going Back Home
The ride back home, after such an active holiday, is much better than coming. The kids are usually tired of so many activities and are calmer.
As a language teacher, I usually ask them to do some speech exercises about the holiday. The little one has to finish my sentences, like “I loved my holiday because…” or “What I didn’t like was…” or you can be more creative and precise like “The rafting boat made me…”. My older girl’s task is to tell me more about the holiday, the things she likes, the things she doesn’t like and something she would improve. Also, they both have to tell me if they would like a holiday like that again.
As our kids love the adventurous holidays, they say they love rafting and they would definitely love to do it again! I am so happy they, like us, love nature and all that nature can give us.
We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children. — Native American proverb
