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You have an amazing vacation planned with your young children.  Beautiful beaches and gorgeous scenery await you! What makes travel so magical for us? The chance to experience new places, learn about different cultures, and taste unique foods are all high on the list.  However, it’s also about the downtime.  The break from the every day.

Down time is super important for parents with young kids or we simply burn out! The early morning hours and evenings can be extra hard when we are away from home and routine. With the right plan in place and some creative ideas (and products) parents can actually relax a little without solely relying on technology/screens!

Tips for Encouraging Imaginative Play on Vacation

Build Background Knowledge

Before you leave for your vacation or travels, learn about and teach your children about the destination.  Read books.  Watch videos.  Visit relevant museums and other local attractions that may allow you and your kids to learn more about the locale you are visiting.  Think…zoos and aquariums for animals, gardens and conservatories for flora, and art and history museums for special exhibits that may focus on important cultural aspects.

What does this have to do with play?

The more prior knowledge that children have of a destination, the more engaged with it they’ll be! Children will feel more comfortable, and therefore more imaginative and playful.  Here’s a example: Legend has it that the “Menehune” people were a group of small, dwarf-sized creatures that roamed the Hawaiian Islands.  They were excellent craftsmen, but also mischievous! After teaching your children about these storied inhabitants, can you imagine the fun that would take place?

Hover over the above image to learn more about these PLAYMOBIL toys and to purchase them at Walmart!

Set Expectations

If routines work well at home, try to follow that plan roughly, and make sure to talk about it ahead of time.  Communicate plans and anticipated rhythms so that kids know when there is time built in just to play.

With our children’s ages (7 years & 3.5 years), we often have an activity that gets us out of the hotel/rental in the morning, then come back for nap/rest time, and usually head back out for an afternoon activity.  Of course meals are always a part of the plan, and sometimes an activity in and of themselves!

The key for us though is having that conversation so our kids have things to look forward to!

Rules!

Rules on vacation? Yes, of course! Since the kids often are allowed tons of (more than usual) screen time getting to and from our destination, we usually set a rule of no tablets once we’ve arrived.  We’ll still utilize the hotel/rental’s television from time to time, but knowing tablets are off limits helps the kids understand that downtime or early morning time is for playing, reading, and connecting.  Also, with a firm rule, we don’t need to worry about balancing it all.  It’s just not an option.

Thoughtful Toy Choices

Of course we can’t pack their entire room of toys, but we can be strategic about what we bring.  Keep in mind: Many rentals and hotels will have games and other toys.  If you don’t see any right away, poke around, or just ask! Open-ended toys, sticker and activity books, and portable games, cards, and dice work well.

Inspired by the similarity of Kauai’s wild Na Pali coast, I bought the PLAYMOBIL Hidden Temple with T-Rex for Bergen at our local Walmart.  I love how the set evokes the feeling of being in a far off, exotic place.

Since we’re headed to Kauai this week, it’s been the perfect way to build excitement and have some fun conversations about the garden island’s landscape.  The set has inspired so much creative play, that I considered bringing the whole thing along, but ultimately decided it was a bit much!

PLAYMOBIL Packing Tips:

• Bring parts of the set to continue play at the destination.  There are some large walls, structures, and a T-Rex that we won’t bring, but the other parts are easy to pack (see below).
• PLAYMOBIL also has travel sets! I bought (also at Walmart) the pirate themed set (has a handy travel case) as I thought it blended well with our island/beach destination.  Smaller sets are available too.  The Explorer Quad with T-Rex would also be a great addition to our collection.

• Print coloring sheets and activity pages! Visit the PLAYMOBIL website, and explore by theme.  Within each theme there are downloadable coloring sheets, activity pages, and even comic books.  We printed of several, and they’ll be perfect for the airplane as well as downtime in our rental.  I have a feeling the pages and comic books will spark some additional creativity and imagination in Bergen’s play!
• And finally, PLAYMOBIL has mystery packs! I’m keeping a couple of these handy for an incentive or surprise to add a little excitement to our trip.  Piggy-backing on that idea, you might also consider holding back items from the larger set and bringing them out slowly throughout the trip.

For more inspiration, visit the PLAYMOBIL hub, where you’ll find activity ideas, additional set options, and more!

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