Thanksgiving Travel Tips: Activities for KIDS
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: Activities For KIDS
Need something fun and Thanksgiving themed for that trip to Grandma’s for the holiday? You have come to the right spot!
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Thanksgiving Travel Tips: Busy Travel Day Tips
The Thanksgiving holidays are some of the busiest travel days during the entire year! Things can go wrong at any stage because of the sheer volume of travelers. Plan carefully to make the journey as smooth as possible.
Choose the airline based on the ‘on time stats’ to see if your airline choice has a good record of getting people there on time! See the 2017 stats for on time airline flights here.
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: Activities for Kids – Color!
Coloring is not just for the littles! People of all ages are getting on the coloring bandwagon. Coloring books are among the top book sellers now! Coloring can be relaxing and is the newest form of meditation for many. Get the crayons and coloring pencils out and join the kids!
Teach the kids to deal with stress early! Sadly, we know stress is a part of life and that it increases with age. You are off to a great start by traveling! Traveling improves stress for the whole family! Giving the kids methods for dealing with stress is a valuable life lesson.
According to psychologist G. Martinez Ayala coloring can combat stress:
“The action involves both logic, by which we color forms, and creativity, when mixing and matching colors. This incorporates the areas of the cerebral cortex involved in vision and fine motor skills [coordination necessary to make small, precise movements]. The relaxation that it provides lowers the activity of the amygdala, a basic part of our brain involved in controlling emotion that is affected by stress.”
Coloring books for littles:
Coloring pages for tweens and adults:
This book is for adults and tweens who have great fine motor control as the lines are quite fine. No crayons here – the lines are too fine. Instead try colored pencils or give your tween gel pens!
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: Activities for Kids – Use Scissors
Traveling with kids old enough to handle scissors? You’ll love these! Remember no scissors on planes unless they are the plastic kind.
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: Activities for Kids – Word Scramble
These are great fun! AND they are great practice. Have you ever wondered why teachers love these so much?
Word puzzles hone observational abilities and spelling skills. They also develop skills like pattern recognition and word recognition.
Go ahead and sneak in some academic practice on the way to Grandma’s house for Thanksgiving. But smile and let the kids think it is all just fun!
Thank you, Moms & Munchkins for the clever printable.
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: Activities for Kids -Thanksgiving journals!
I love journal writing! Journal writing increases confidence skills and lets kids speak their mind. As a society, we really edit the thoughts of kids. Sometimes we tell them they ‘shouldn’t think something’ and we certainly do a lot of telling them they ‘shouldn’t say something. Journals are a place where you think, write, say anything. Journals let kids explore their thoughts and emotions. They can practice their writing skills and fine motor skills along the way!
Consider a family Thanksgiving journal: I would love to keep it year to year and watch the responses and handwriting change. When my little one was 4, he was thankful for cheerios. (How cute is that??) You can put the book together before you go or have an older child do it during the flight/road trip. Ask family members to ‘autograph’ and create a special memory.
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: Activities for Kids -Party favors
Fun ‘party favors’ aren’t just for parties! And…..well, why can’t family Thanksgiving dinners be parties, too?
How cute are these?? Even the littlest of travelers could help with this one.
If you are short on time, buy these precut tulle circles at hobby store like Micheals or Hobby Lobby.
Arrive at Grandma’s house with all the table decorations you made!
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: Activities for Kids – Map Fun
There are two groups of people in the geography. Those who thinks maps are loads of fun and those who think maps are the most boring things ever. LOL! Which camp do you fall into?
Where are you going? Have the kids draw a US map with the help of this incredibly gifted educator, Solagratiamom‘s, interesting tip. With her great idea, I think I could draw a US map, too!
Next, use crayons to plot your home, Grandma’s home and anything else you want to put on the map. Who knew geography could be so fun?
How about dots for these places:
Where mom and dad met
Where mom and dad went to school
Places you’ve visited
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: Activities for Kids – Make jewelry
Tweens love things like this. Kids can create LOVE this Morse Code bracelet for themselves or their friends. Use a message like BFF or use everyone’s initials.
The beads are fashioned into a word, thanks to one color that serves as dashes and another color that serves as dot. Details here.
Enjoy the graphic…you know…just in case your Morse Code is rusty. 😉
Thanksgiving Travel Tips: Activities for Kids – Read about Thanksgiving
Reading is a GREAT way to pass the time while on a road trip. Use audio books to give everyone a break, especially if anyone gets car sick while reading. Turn up the volume or turn the page and enjoy!
If you are traveling for the Thanksgiving Holidays you’ll be interested in these related posts!
Preschool Activities for Keeping Kids Busy During Travel
Keep Kids Happy on a Long Flight with These Activities
Happy and Thankful Travels,
Natalie, The Educational Tourist