6 Sanity-Saving Travel Tips for Adventures with Children

Taking a trip or vacation with young children can feel like embarking on an expedition with unpredictable challenges and surprising discoveries. At LeafSpring Schools, we understand children thrive on routine and familiarity, which are often disrupted during travel. With some thoughtful planning and flexibility, your family’s next adventure can become a cherished memory rather than a stressful endeavor.

Let’s explore six strategies that align with our developmental approach and help make traveling with your little explorers a more enjoyable experience for everyone:

Explore the Idea of Traveling Before your trip, look for opportunities to show your little learner what to expect during your journey. For a long road trip, take practice drives for an increasing duration. If flying, check out books about airplanes and flying from the library or, if available, visit an airport observation deck to bring the experience to life. This preparation mirrors our PLAYWORKS© curriculum’s approach to learning through experience, helping children build confidence through familiarity.

Pack a “Sensory Survival Kit” Children process experiences through multiple senses and need appropriate tools to manage environmental changes. Before the trip, pack a small bag of familiar toys, comforting items, and sensory tools that can be revealed during strategic travel moments. Be sure to include a variety of manipulative toys, noise-canceling headphones, and soothing items.

Maintain Elements of Routine While schedules naturally shift during travel, maintaining key elements of your child’s routine provides security. Bring familiar bedtime items, continue essential rituals, and respect nap times when possible. At LeafSpring Schools, we’ve observed how consistent routines help children adapt more easily to new environments.

Build in Movement Breaks Plan regular opportunities for physical activity. Airport terminal walks, playground stops during road trips, and hotel hallway races are just a few ideas to help get the gears turning. These necessary breaks are backed by our PLAYWORKS© curriculum, which emphasizes physical development to help children regulate their energy and emotions.

Create a Visual Travel Schedule Develop a simple, age-appropriate way for your child to understand the travel journey. Picture books, simple drawings, or a digital countdown can help them grasp the concept of travel time. This will also help your child develop time awareness and build anticipation constructively.  

Embrace the Unexpected Perhaps most importantly, maintain flexibility and a sense of humor through it all. Flights could be missed. Traffic could be bad. It’s up to you to model resilience when plans change and treat unexpected moments as adventures rather than disasters. This outlook embodies our INSPIRED curriculum’s focus on resilience, showing children how to adapt positively to life’s unpredictable nature.

When traveling with little learners, the journey matters as much as the destination. The fun starts for them when you pull out of the driveway.

At LeafSpring Schools, we support your child’s growth in our classrooms and beyond. Our nationally accredited programs help children develop the resilience, curiosity, and social skills that make them excellent travel companions. 

Want to learn more about how we can support your child’s development? Contact a LeafSpring School near you today!