Taking children in the plane to the Walt Disney World Resort? Are you looking forward to the process of going through the airport? While you might be feeling a bit jaded and apprehensive about the whole thing – baggage handling, checking in, security and waiting for your flight – your child probably sees it differently. If you see things through your child’s eyes, the airport is just part of the adventure and the fun of the vacation.

Parents often forget how their moods affect their children’s moods. If you’re grumpy, bored and hassled, your children will catch this off you and you will all end up feeling worse. If you stay calm, then your children will take their cues for you. If you manage to drum up some enthusiasm, then your children will often become enthusiastic, too. It’s hard to be perfect when you’re a parent, but try your best!

One key thing to do to help your children through the process of going through an airport and flying is to explain what’s going on to them. Don’t worry that all the other people around you will think you’re an idiot if you entertain your child with singing, dancing and the like. In the case of airport officials and staff, you’ll probably make their day a lot more enjoyable. If a silly song complete with actions and funny noises is going to stop a toddler throwing a tantrum in the middle of the security check, for goodness sake, sing it. With gusto!

Here are a handful of ideas for making the process of going through a busy airport a lot more fun.

Baggage handling: Let your children ride on the airport baggage trolley as you proceed to the check-in. If you’re sensible, you’ll leave a lot of child-related paraphernalia behind at home and get, say, stroller rentals in Orlando at the other end of your journey. You’ll have more room for little passengers if you don’t have all that extra clobber with you. Something new to ride on is a lot more fun for a child than riding in their regular stroller.

Check-in: One tip that makes things easy at the other end of your air journey when it comes to finding your baggage on the carousel is to put a strip of brightly coloured material on each item of your check-in baggage. Ask your children to help you make sure that each item that goes on to be weighed has this piece of material on it. Show children the numbers on the scales if they’re old enough and explain why baggage has to be weighed and why there’s a limit – if we take too much stuff, the plane won’t be able to take off (and you can sing the song about Mr Hippopotamus and Mrs Hippopotamus getting on the bus to go out to tea to fill in a few minutes). At this point, you don’t want to lose your cool and get flustered and irritated if you’ve got too much baggage and are likely to incur an excess baggage charge – if you’ve decided that booking stroller rentals is the way to go, you are likely to be glad that you did.

Security: Again, tell the children what’s going on: the guards/security officers/cops/soldiers (however you want to describe them) are trying to stop bad guys sneaking dangerous stuff onto the plane that they could use to hurt other people, and everyone has to be checked just in case. As all children who are able to walk unaided have to walk through the security gate alone, encourage him or her to march through like a soldier and to salute the guard on duty. You might get a smile! If you’re in the mood for it and if you’ve had a number of children marching through and saluting, try doing it yourself. Children and babies should not remain in cribs, carrier or the like as these go through the X-ray. If the item is too big to go through the X-ray machine, the security people will have to inspect it manually, which is another reason why getting stroller rentals makes your trip easier: it speeds the process up if you don’t take this sort of clobber with you through security.

The departure lounge: This can actually be the most tedious part, especially if a connecting flight is late or if the weather is not cooperating. Don’t worry about making your child sit still in a seat for ages at this point – they’re going to be sitting down for long enough in the plane, after all. If you have insisted on taking your own stroller this far rather than checking it in or booking stroller rentals, let your child out for a wriggle. You shouldn’t let your child annoy other people or bump into them, but sensible activity won’t hurt anyone and shouldn’t annoy them (running riot will, however). See if your child can do forward rolls (or hop or spider walk) across the floor. Walk around the room and watch planes taking off. Get your child to do exercises on the spot – star jumps and arm waving things. Action songs are also good. If you’re really lucky, you will tire your child right out so he or she falls asleep during the trip – a real plus on a longer flight!

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You want to go on a trip with the kids but when you think about all the countless “I have to pee!” “Are we there yet?” “I’m hungry!” nuisances, you feel like you’re already exhausted. Taking a trip with the kids does not have to be stressful. To make it fun and exciting, here are some things that you need to keep in mind.

Change your mindset

If you dread the trip and think about the horrific things that could go wrong along the way, your trip will not be fun at all. Instead, think about all the wonderful things that the trip has in store for you and the kids. Imagine the delight on their faces when you go to a theme park or something that excites them. Think of the trip as a chance for bonding and reconnection.

Keep them busy

One of the most challenging parts of traveling with kids is during the time when you’re on the road or up in the air. Kids are very impatient and you would probably hear the infamous, “are we there yet?” question over a thousand times even before you reach halfway of the flight or road travel. This should not be the case if you equip them with things to busy themselves with. Have them watch a movie or play board games or do any other activity that will not bore them. Better yet, use the time to play games with them. This would also keep you from getting bored.

Make the vacation kid friendly

When planning the itinerary, think about the kids at all times. Choose attractions that you know the kids would enjoy. It will not be a good idea to drag impatient toddlers or hyperactive preschoolers to museums that would require them to shut their mouths for hours. Also, keep the pace realistic for children. Kids can get tired more easily than you. Don’t pack the schedule with too many places to visit. See to it that you allot ample time for taking breaks so that the family will enjoy the trip without being overly tired.

Think about safety

Safety is paramount during vacations. For one, you need to have another adult help you handle the kids. Being outnumbered is not safe as this can mean lost kids. Bring all the medications that kids need. Pack complete first aid so you can attend quickly to minor mishaps like a cut or scrape. Apply sunscreen on their skin before you go out into the sun. If you’re visiting parks, wilderness areas, or any other places where you suspect there would be insects, apply insect repellent on their skin. Moreover, get travel insurance as a family. This should include health, baggage loss, and travel cancellation insurance.

Traveling with the kids can actually be a wonderful experience. When they are grown up and you can barely see them at home anymore, you would regret those times that you did not go on trips with them when they were still kids.

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Travelling with children can be quite an ordeal, but if you involve your children in the preparation, things could be much easier. When preparing the trip, take into account their ages and potential needs. Also think of a number of practical issues you can apply and then hopefully there will be no surprises. If you’re well prepared on the stage then the play is number one ranking and  a success. You will be able to take a bow and receive a well deserved applause and holiday!

Involving your children in the travel plans

Children are so much fun when you allow them to be part of the preparation and planning.  Fun breaks and activities can assist to break up the monotony of heavy school responsibilities for the older ones. The little ones actually do tell you so much and give you so much information when you playing games with them. You can do the activities together, but as for the older children, you can send them on their own “mission path” to find the perfect vacation and give them a choice of destinations and budgets with which to work.

You can encourage a toddler to look in an atlas with you to find the location of the holiday. Questions like, which country you will be traveling to, how long does the trip actually take, and what part of it will probably be the longest? Part of the game can be to discuss the places of interest and sights you will seeing in the country you will be visiting and to look it up on the Internet. You can also do picture, language or word games, which can obviously be a big help to you too as well.

Little ones love to hear a couple of months in advance about the activities that they are going to do. It can be very important for children to be involved in the planning stage so they can have their say in what they like or dislike about a certain vacation. We adults often take it for granted that our children just love the holidays that we have planned and prepared for them. However this is not always the case, how many times have we ended up with bored, misbehaving, screaming children looking for attention?

Travelling with school age children

School kids usually burst with energy, they want to try everything. For example, consider canoeing, mountain biking, skating or hiking activities. You could even consider a surfing school or similar activity whilst you have your day at the beach relaxing.  Failing that, you could do something together like horse riding.  If you are a working family who usually spends a lot of time indoors, why not take the challenge and maybe encourage the kids to do something like rock climbing to encourage them overcome their own limitations in life.

Maybe your teenagers are a bit rebellious and want to party all the time or perhaps they want to spend time on their own.  The answer to this may be to consider a combined vacation where you can do a lot of family activities together like sports, walking or climbing. This may allow you talk and perhaps bond together. In the evenings you separate and do your own thing!

Many travel agents nowadays focus on family holidays and activities. Many hotels are specially equipped for entertaining families and children of all ages. You can find them on the Internet but beware these forms of entertainment may not fit every individuals needs.

Some children are under the spell of animals. In this case, a farmhouse or safari holiday is something you might well consider.

If you have children that are diagnosed with forms of autism or ADHD you might consider taking a vacation with nature and animals, like visiting a donkey sanctuary or perhaps something like swimming with dolphins. The healing and soothing powers of nature can do miracles.

So listen to those little voices around you and within, and have a great vacation.

Monica Luna