Hotel Activities for KIDS – 5 TIPS
Hotel Activities for KIDS – 5 TIPS
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Having a plan for kids to have quiet and easy fun in the hotel room during vacation evenings is really important for a happy and comfortable holiday. For some reason, after a loooooooong day of sight seeing parents are exhausted and yet the kids are still full of energy!
Why is that??
Right at the time you need to relax, or plan the next days event, or just put your feet up, they have boundless energy. You need a plan to keep them busy and occupied – without assistance from you so you can have a few minutes to yourself. Believe me, it is TOTALLY worth the extra planning time on the front end to have time later.
Hotel Activities for KIDS – Hocus Pocus
What kid doesn’t love a little hocus pocus and being able to fool mom, dad, and siblings? Kids just love a magic ‘trick’ and this one is so much fun.
With just a piece of paper and scissors – Can you cut a hole in the paper big enough to walk through? NO? Are you sure?????
Read here for the how to. Impress your kiddos with magic! Better yet…have the older kids impress the little kids! This will keep them busy for a bit and they’ll be so proud when they get the hang of it and can fool you.
Hotel Activities for KIDS – Be creative
With all the technology these days, kids do not spend as much time being creative as we did when we were young. What a shame. I remember being so proud of the coloring I did for my grandmother. She would pin my coloring pages on the curtain in the bedroom. Little did I know she was keeping me busy and occupied and out of her hair while she did some cooking. LOL! Well done, grandma!
Love this coloring book about things that go for the littles! Help those toddlers learn and have fun!
Teens and Tweens can get into this emoji coloring book! Kids that age need some de-stressing time, too,
Coloring is also a really great stress reliever and a way to get the kids winding down for bed. Electronics and tv can get them wound up which is certainly the opposite of what you need a bedtime in a small confined space like a hotel room!
Combining literature with anything is a great idea! I love this fun idea to go along with the book Harold and the Purple Crayon. Harold draws his own adventures and your kiddo can draw theirs, too!
Thank you Jen from Mama.Pappa. Bubba. for this clever idea! She has a tech savy husband to help her, but if you are not tech savy and on your own, just print a photo of your kiddo, cut and paste on white paper. Then, laminate so your child can use it again and again. Use crayons or erasable markers.
Ask them to tell you a story about the photo – or give them a journal and have them write about it. Easy Squeezy and loads of fun!
Make it super easy for taking on the road by downloading the book onto your IPAD/IPOD/KINDLE device – one less thing to carry. Be sure to tell the teacher about your educational activities – sometimes you can use them in lieu of the mountain of nasty make-up work upon your return!
Check this out! Crayons are washable now. Extra kudos to the inventor of this brilliant idea.
Hotel Activities for KIDS – Q-Tips and Straws
Who knew Q-tips could be such fun? Sometimes they even have a package of Q-tips in the bathroom at a hotel. I doubt they intended you to use them in this way, but since they didn’t specify you use them for make up or cleaning out an ear why not use them for this way? All is fair in love, war, and keeping kids busy in a hotel room, right?
Get out the Q-tips, a few straws, the garbage can or empty icebucket in the hotel room.
Then, ready, steady, aim and FIRE!
Using straws as the shooter and Q-tips as the ammo shoot the Q-tips into the container. Compete for for points. Quiet, simple, lightweight and fun….absolutely perfect! This will keep kiddos busy while you relax from the day or review notes for the next day.
Thank you, Cheryl from That’s What She Said for the incredibly creative idea using simple items already on hand in a hotel room. Read about it here.
This simple idea is wonderful fun,too. Stack cups into a pyramid and shoot them down with Q-tips ‘shot’ from a straw. Hotel rooms often have paper cups for coffee ready for this activity or be on the safe side and bring your own. Plastic cups are cheap and light to pack.
Stack them, aim, and FIRE! Thanks to Rachel at Kids Activity Blog for this fun idea.
Hotel Activities for KIDS – Recipe for FUN!!
Shaving Cream!
This fun activity is a little messy which of course makes it all the more fun for kids! Don’t worry about the mess, just have the kids do this sort of fun play in the bathroom where it won’t hurt anything!
Do some building! Bring some soft small blocks from home. They are cheap and lightweight so it makes a great traveling toy! Do free building or make a pattern of colors. Pop the kids into the bathtub in swim suits or on a bath towel on the floor for this fun activity.
Ingredients:
dollop of shaving cream from the toiletry bag
butter knife from breakfast
small cubes/plasticware/whatever you have on hand!
Use the knife to spread the shaving cream like icing or mortar and stick the cubes together.
Great for fine motor skills and plain clean fun. Thanks Katie at Gift of Curiosity for this great idea.
Pudding Cups – not just for eating!
One idea I used when my daughter was tiny was pudding! You can buy pudding in little cups that doesn’t need refrigeration. I put her in a swim diaper in the bathtub with the pudding and let her finger paint. She had a blast while I sat near here on the floor with her newbie infant brother snoozing on a baby blanket near me. It was the closest thing to ‘downtime’ I had with a 2 year old and and an infant!
Hotel Activities for KIDS – Rainbow Loom
Keeping little fingers busy and minds occupied is the only way to have peace in the kingdom (or hotel room) and while the Rainbow Loom is not the ‘NEW’ internet sensation it was a few years back, it is still a GREAT way to pass the time. Kids love creating and this helps practice important skills like following directions and fine motor skills. For me it is also a way to practice patience because even though the kids have amazing creations – mine all look like a blind and drunk goat put them together.
There is enough stuff online to sink a camel about using the rainbow loom but most of it is for girls. Sarah, at Frugal Fun for Boys, has boys at her house ! Visit her for the how to.
If you are spending time in a hotel with the kids you’ll be interested in keeping them happy during the flight or car, too!
CLICK HERE Fun activities for road trips
CLICK HERE Activities for kids on long plane trips
Reading is a great way to practice skills, have some quiet time in the evening before bed, and learn about a destination! Click on any destination below to find a list of books about a place you want to learn about or where you’ll be heading for your family vacation!
CLICK any destination BELOW for a list of kids’ books about your next family vacation spot!
Canada Paris Hawaii New York City San Francisco London Greece Italy Caribbean
Happy and peaceful travels,
Natalie, The Educational Tourist
These are such nice ideas! Keeps the kids out of trouble, and away from technology!
Yes! We do not see technology as an evil outright, but there are so many other things to do. We try to save it for long plane rides when we are stuck in one place. LOL! Thanks for stopping by!
These are amazing tips! I remember how fun it was to play with my siblings in hotels as a kid. I love that all these ideas use things that are almost always in hotels already!
LOL! Anything to avoid packing more, right????? Pack less is a great mantra for all travelers! 🙂
Thanks for this. This is amazing and I love these ideas. We are taking a big trip soon and I will be using these ideas to amuse our son!
Oh, yeah! I’d love to hear all about it! Have a wonderful adventure!
Using Qtips and straws as a toy blowgun is genius. And everyone loves magic. These ideas are so creative and fun. Thanks for these cool tips.
Kids enjoy silliness and their laughter and giggles is always contagious!
I agree Natalie, technology, like most things should all be don in moderation. As a former educator, I love the way you keep the kids entertained with your ideas. These are really cool and easy to do activities!
I can’t imagine how difficult it is to entertain kids when travelling. It’s hard enough keeping myself occupied sometimes. These are such fun activities you’ve listed.
What I admire most about these methods of keeping the kids entertained is there is no screen or iPad involved! Only the Harold and the purple crayon uses the screen but they are still drawing like we used to do when growing up. Q tips and straws would definitely keep the kids occupied for a while giving the parent time to do something else or relax. I’m not sure I’d be happy about sharing my shaving cream for last game though!
Shaving cream certainly requires a little more supervision. 😉 Once when my kids were 4 months and 2 years I knew we’d be spending time in the hotel and I needed to keep the 2 year old busy. I bought the type of pudding that doesn’t require refrigeration and put her in the tub with it wearing only a diaper. She finger painted and then when she was done had a bubble bath. I sat next to her in the bathroom with baby lying on a blanket on the floor. Simple, easy and fun!! But….don’t turn your back on shaving cream for sure!! Thanks for stopping by!
Thank god I don’t have kids yet haha, but these are some awesome ways to keep them entertained. I am constantly pinning stuff like this for the future so I can always keep my future kids happy!!
You will be ready!
This is so creative. I am sure all these activities will keep the kids engaged and they will love the vacation too.