Traveling to new and exciting places with children can be great fun but also extremely trying at times.
We recently went on holiday to the other side of Sweden. We hired a house and visited lots of new and interesting places. The holiday inspired this month's article.
Most kids love travel, they love the excitement of visiting new places and learning new things. However it is important to remember that children can't cope with too much new stimulus, it becomes overwhelming.
Like adults, kids need chill out time to recharge their batteries. If not given this space it is easy for them to fall into a cycle of tantrums, causing stress for everyone.
A simple way to release 'travel stress' is to make sure you schedule relaxing 'play' days into your holiday. A 'play' day is a day with no or very little travel and the chance for the children to just 'be' and play in their own way. What you will notice is they naturally gravitate to creative games, whether it be building a city in the sand, making a book or role play games.
Creative games are a way children make sense of new stimulus and work as a kind of meditation. After a 'play' day most kids will be more than ready for the next adventure.
Of course this tip is equally applicable to adults. As an adult you may choose to chill out by playing with your child or take some time for creative writing, sketching, painting or reading.
So if you have an action packed holiday on the cards, remember to schedule in some creative chill out time for everyone.
