Family Trips: Make Them Educational and Fun at the Same Time

It sounds too good to be true: a family vacation that’s fun and educational at the same time. But it is possible. If you’re concerned to avoid the usual pools, beaches and amusement parks on your next family vacation, but still make things fun for your children, here are a few ideas.

1. Consider a theme. What type of educational experience would you like your children to have? For example, there’s an abundance of opportunities to learn about history throughout the country. Art history can be achieved in major metropolitan cities like New York and you can head to the beach for an education on marine biology. And a trip to our nation’s capital will be great for an education in both history and government.
   Starting with a theme can help you decide where to go, but you can also decide where to go first and then explore the educational opportunities present in that location. For example, if you decide to head to Orlando for a Disney vacation, you can explore nearby beaches for marine life, explore the behind-the-scenes engineering aspect of the theme park or explore the NASA facilities nearby and learn about space.
2. Cater the trip to the ages of your children. This may seem like an obvious statement; however, it’s important to consider not only what your children are likely to be interested in but also how long it’ll hold their attention. For example, a trip to the Smithsonian museums in Washington D.C. may seem like a fine idea for an educational trip; however, unless they’re older than twelve or even thirteen or fourteen, it isn’t likely to hold their attention long.
3. Don’t forget the fun. Like we said above, fun doesn’t have to be an amusement park or a swimming pool, but there does have to be a fun element to your trip or you’re going to have grumpy children. Fun can be a dinner at a theme restaurant, it can be swimming in the ocean and learning to surf, and it can be visiting a wildlife sanctuary and enjoying the things that interest your children.
4. What about volunteer vacations? Volunteer vacations can also be educational and fun. They’re a way for your child to feel as if they’re contributing, to meet new people and make new friends, and to learn new skills. It’s also a wonderful way to learn about new cultures or lifestyles. Volunteer vacations can take you to new parts of the country or new parts of the world and can be extremely valuable learning opportunities.
5. Consider traveling abroad. There’s nothing like a trip to another country. It’s educational and your children will have a blast learning about new cultures, learning a new language, eating new food and exploring. And there are pools, beaches and amusement parks in many countries if your child is looking for that sort of activity.

It’s easy to combine fun and learning in a family vacation. It just takes a bit of planning and a good idea about what your children’s attention span is, where their interests lie and how to balance fun and learning for their unique personalities.