How do you engage your kids in your vacation prep?

[sarahkp1]

I’m currently working on a business idea with the purpose of creating better travel experiences for kids (and ultimately the entire family). I’m in the early stages of the project and am very keen on getting a deeper understanding of how much other parents involve their kids in the travel planning process and if it has an effect on how engaged your kids feel throughout the trip. My focus area is kids age 7-12 who are going on cultural vacations and/or city breaks.

• In which way do you involve/engage your kids in the planning process (guidebooks, programs, discussions, something completely different)?

• Have you changed how you involve your kids prior to going away based on your previous vacation experiences?

• If your kids have been involved in the planning or have knowledge of the destination, do you feel a difference in their curiosity and engagement with the destination?

[karmakameleon]

@Discodreams

Never involved the dc. We’re paying we are picking.
if I asked my dc where they would like to go on holiday I’d have answers ranging from Japan (for Pokémon), New York (to visit the avengers tower and hopefully see Spider-Man) or McDonalds (because a 6yr old has zero concept of distance and time etc).

we then pick the activities based on what we know they’d enjoy or would tolerate (I love a bit of culture but have to ensure their short attention spans are also catered for). They are told what we are doing each day.

when they start paying, they can start picking

I think that’s such a sad attitude. Obviously our children don’t get blow the budget on a trip to Japan but happy to take their views into account in an appropriate way. So for example, we usually would plan a week somewhere warm in Europe. This year the decision of where to go was swayed by DS1 who wants to visit a friend who moved from the UK. Next year we will probably go to Italy because DS2 wants to eat pasta every day! Holidays are for the whole family, not just the adults.

[Discodreams]

Never involved the dc. We’re paying we are picking.
if I asked my dc where they would like to go on holiday I’d have answers ranging from Japan (for Pokémon), New York (to visit the avengers tower and hopefully see Spider-Man) or McDonalds (because a 6yr old has zero concept of distance and time etc).

we then pick the activities based on what we know they’d enjoy or would tolerate (I love a bit of culture but have to ensure their short attention spans are also catered for). They are told what we are doing each day.

when they start paying, they can start picking

[LizzieSiddal]

I too never involves them in the planning at that age. Once we had booked it, we’d look at maps, have a Google and see what’s around the area and then let them have a say in any trips. I also used to get them an A4 notebook to keep a Holday Diary and they’d do a bit of writing, drawings and stick in tickets, postcards etc if they wanted to.

They are fab to look at now, years later.

[speakout]

Never really involved the kids in the decision process- unless they had a keen interest in a particular place.
As adults we have to make the practical decisions which would be lost on a 10 year old. Children are not really aware of the many factors that come into play.
So cost, travel time, transfer time, departure and arrival times, departure airport and parking.
Unless you have an unlimted budget- but even then lots of stuff need to be considered.
As parents we would give children a say, maybe two options- a hotel with a water slide or another near a beach- both would fit the criteria that us parents have, but allowing them some input. As a family we would then research the local area and take on board ideas that the children may have- visit to a waterfall/ waterpark/caves etc
Not sure how you would develop a business or make money from your ideas OP.

[Sswhinesthebest]

I thought I was creating independence by making a list with them and them packing for themselves at an early age. That was their only input - apart from making them write a diary to justify to myself, taking them out of school 😀

[anotherneutralname]

My kids of that age will be more excited about going away somewhere, than particularly where. While on the trip, we take it one day at a time - I have a general idea of the places and activities I think they would like and that I want to do, and we just pick one or two per day as the mood takes us. If we get home and they say their favourite part was anything other than “the sausage roll from the cafe” I consider it a win!

More seriously, it’s just fun to spend time together - I am not that invested in where it is, and I don’t have the energy or interest to do what you describe as a “planning process” but I do try and make sure we do a variety of things wherever we end up.

[Howcoldloveis]

I can’t really remember the discussions being structured. One of us had an idea / could have been the adults or the kids and it took hold and then I’d book it. They refused to go to India - too scared of the jabs. I have the attention span of a gnat, so staying in one place for longer than 4 days was strongly opposed to. If it’s not a mini break it’ll always be a tour and it’ll always having good as the main interest - kids have always been happy with that.

[SirChenjins]

We talk about the places we’d all like to go and then DH and I decide because we’re paying. Nearer the time we’ll look at guide books, YouTube and Trip Advisor for things to do, they’ll stop playing Fortnite long enough to look horrified at the cultural stuff, we’ll throw in a couple of trips to theme parks, football stadiums or water parks to placate them, and that’s about it really.

I suspect most families don’t do much than that.

[karmakameleon]

My 8 and 10 year olds would be clueless if we asked them where they want to go holiday (beyond places they’ve already been to or that we have mentioned) and they’d have no idea at all if we asked them to help plan!

We do what I assume most people do, which is parents choose the destination, taking into account preferences of adults and children, and then for activities when we are there, we research and present some basic options (eg would you like to go to the botanical gardens or the science museum today?)

[PermanentTemporary]

I did a mind map thing where I put various options on paper (sea, city, mountains etc) and then ds picked some options and I chose a holiday based on that. I'm paying so chose a holiday I wanted with some input iyswim.

[Ohthatsexciting]

So what have you decided op?
Because I honestly can’t imagine how my children would respond if I tried to make a chat about an imminent holiday in any way structured or with a whiff of “educational”

my two primary would be baffled
my teenager would laugh at me!

[TeenDivided]

DH & I decided and planned, but using information on what had worked before.
So when we did cultural holidays for 2 or 3 years, I initially used what I knew from daytrips to plan, and then fed back how previous years had gone into future.
Mainly around how much could be done in one day, how often to stop for food, how to go round museums etc.
At age 7-12 neither of my children would have had nearly enough 'experience of life' to provide meaningful input to planning.

[Fabulousfanny69]

@sarahkp1

I’m currently working on a business idea with the purpose of creating better travel experiences for kids (and ultimately the entire family). I’m in the early stages of the project and am very keen on getting a deeper understanding of how much other parents involve their kids in the travel planning process and if it has an effect on how engaged your kids feel throughout the trip. My focus area is kids age 7-12 who are going on cultural vacations and/or city breaks.

• In which way do you involve/engage your kids in the planning process (guidebooks, programs, discussions, something completely different)?

• Have you changed how you involve your kids prior to going away based on your previous vacation experiences?

• If your kids have been involved in the planning or have knowledge of the destination, do you feel a difference in their curiosity and engagement with the destination?

As I'm paying for it I decide where and when we are going then inform them

[Ohthatsexciting]

Which I suspect… is the opposite of you! 😂

[Ohthatsexciting]

Very chilled
no hint of “project”

just chewing the fat over dinner and in the car