As a family travel defender, I am a great supporter of the involvement of the whole family in vacation planning. Of course, the level of involvement must be adapted to age, but I noticed that the involvement of children allows them to appropriate, helps experiences to resonate more and that everyone “on board”.
Knowing how to start involving your children in vacation planning can be the delicate part. After all, they do not know what they do not know and do not necessarily have the research skills to understand things by themselves. To help, I have set up a set of travel planning printables for children.
In addition to keeping children occupied and involved in vacation planning, they can also support home schooling initiatives in geography and social studies. So if you are looking for a printable vacation planner for children, be sure to read until the end.
Printable travel planning for children
Give your children the following mission. You can use the downloadable calculation sheets at the end of this post to make it an “official” assignment.
Here is your mission:
- Choose three destinations that you would like to visit. It can be cities, national parks, states or countries. If you find it difficult to find ideas for three places, browse the Internet and Youtube (with parental supervision if necessary) to look for things like:
- Look for these destinations using Google, Pinterest, YouTube and / or Instagram to answer the following questions. Try to use blogs or articles from real people / families in your search to have the “real” sense of the place.
- Enumerate three interesting facts on this destination that you did not already know and that make you want to visit. Look for things like “things to know …, interesting facts on … or visit the tourism website for this destination.
- What is the best time to visit? Look for “Best time to visit Xyz” or “Best time of the year to visit Xyz”.
- How long do you have to stay? Look for “How many days should you spend in Xyz”.
- What are the best things you want to do there? Make sure to list the opening days and hours, as well as the price of tickets if necessary. Look for “things to do in xyz”, “things to do with children in xyz”, “xyz itinerary” and read the articles to find things that are interested.
- Find three restaurants you would like to try. Look for “where to eat in Xyz”, “Best Restaurants in Xyz”, “XYZ family restaurants” – Read the items, then click on the restaurant’s website to consult the menus.
- Bonus for adolescents: Create a Google card that shows the attractions and views you want to visit.
- Open Google Maps and search for the destination
- Search each attraction and “record” or “star” each location
- Zoom and have an idea of where everything is located.
- Double bonus for adolescents: Create a daily route for your trip. Look at the location of each attraction and how long you want to spend to everyone, as well as the days / hours it is open. Use this information and the card you have created to build a daily route for your future trip.
- Fill down the downloadable work sheets opposite to present to your parents.
- Plan a time to present your results to your parents. You can use these calculation sheets or create a presentation on Google slides, save a video, etc. Remember that you have to present all the options, but be sure to choose a favorite!
You may want to start with a list of your favorite Family travel blogs to be used as resources. I strongly encourage them as resources because you get real advice from real people.
Download your vacation planner work sheets
There are three calculation sheets to download, in particular: instructions, vacation planner for children and optional vacation planner for adolescents.
Tamara Gruber is the founder and publisher of We3Travel. Former director of marketing and travel advisor, Tamara is a award -winning and expert travel writer recognized in family trips. Tamara is a member of Satw, Natja, Ifwtwa and Adventure Travel Trade Association, and headquarters to the Board of Directors of the Family Travel Association. She is also the publisher of YourTimeTofly.com and the co-host of the Mavens Travel Podcast Podcast.