How To Craft An Educational Vacation For Your Family

How To Craft An Educational Vacation For Your Family

As parents, we always want to bring joy to our children. We want family vacations to be fun, packed with great moments they will remember for the rest of their lives. At the same time, we don’t want their young, developing, thirsty brains to lay dormant for three months every summer either.

Happily, vacations don’t have to be absent of intellectual stimulation. The world, and its amazing array of destinations, means you don’t have to choose between fun and learning. So if you are wondering how to craft an educational vacation for your family, read on for some handy tips.

Do Your Homework
Obviously, not all destinations are created equal. Some are great detach-and-chill kind of places, while others are big on history and light on warm, sunny places to lounge about. Nonetheless, that does not mean you ever have to forego bringing some education into your children’s lives while on an extended family outing. Your job is to know a bit about where you are going and what kinds of people and attractions you may find there.

Make Them Happy
The digital world now offers an application for every conceivable activity, so why not get your kids dialed in even before you depart? From information about destinations to ways to track their visits, an app can keep your children engaged before, during and after your vacation.

Assign Homework
As mentioned, you have to be flexible in the ways you engage your children. Naturally, if there is a great selection of historical monuments, museums and art galleries, most of your work is done for you. However, if you find yourself in a place without those attractions, get your children involved in the things they can lend a hand with, such as researching and taking part in planning trips, reading maps on their phone for directions or taking on other responsibilities. In the end, they will be happy they could contribute, which will make the trip even more memorable for them.

Give a Test
Once you’ve left a particular destination, gently nudge family discussions to a recap of what you’ve all seen, or ask each family member their opinion of the most and least interesting facets of your visit. Studies show that talking about something you have just learned helps you retain the information for a longer period of time. This can have both short-term and long-term benefits.

In the end, the more you know about the place you are visiting, the more your children will know. In addition, the more you all know, the more they will remember the vacation for the rest of their lives.