Play Time on a Family Trip

Discussing motherhood, is like discussing religion. It is deeply personal, and every mother is unique, every child is unique, the relationships are unique twice. Nonetheless, I believe the most important thing you can do, for your child, is to be emotionally available for them. Part of being emotionally available for me is play time. Play time is so important to the development of young person's mind and social skills. I think all too often parents look at playtime as free time for them. Not that children shouldn't be given freedom, but I think adult attention not supervision is craved by children, and boundaries given them a feeling of safety and security. Now that I have rambled, I will sum up my position by stating, play time on a family trip should be enjoyable for both the parents and the children. Here are some of my son's favorite playtime activities, and they are all portable and perfect for a weekend away. 

• Games
• Hoot Owl Hoot - a board game with cards that is cooperative. The object of the game is to get all six owls back into the next before daylight. 
• Let's Go Fishing - a motor skills development toy, players have a small fishing line and they try and get fish of a certain color
• Hungry, Hungry Hippos - this is more of a fun game where players make their plastic hippos gobble up as many marbles as possible. In the end, children practice their counting when they total up the marbles.
• Sneaky Squirrel - a motor skills development toy, players have a darling squirrel tweezer and they try and get acorns of a certain color depending on the spinner
• Candy Land - a darling game where players draw cards to see which spot they move to. Its education value is on color coordination and counting, when you count the places. 
• Learning Toys 
• Wooden Tiger Spelling Toy - my son is just learning to sound out letters, but I love this cute spelling tiger. You can use it to spell five letter words, it is very portable and darling. 
• Spelling Puzzles - These flexible foam spelling mini puzzles are quick, easy, and provide both the educational benefit of learning to spell but also the social benefit of confidence. 
• Imagination Toys
• Playdough - what child doesn't love play dough? I don't know one. Play dough can super enjoyable and so portable. Worst case scenario to trash the lot of them and buy new ones for a few dollars after the weekend is over
• Balloons - blowing up balloons and jumping on them, throwing them around, are a wonderful way to entertain children. Because they do take up space I recommend playing with them in a family room or children's space. 
• Kazoos - small, fun, and endlessly entertaining. Probably the most easily played children's musical instrument, and a parade is great fun. 
• Bubbles - small, portable stimulating for young and older children. As a bonus, whether you are going to the beach in the summer or the mountains in the winter bubbles outside is endlessly entertaining. If you blow them outside when it is below freezing the bubbles will freeze and fall to the ground. 
• Crayons - a little bit of paper and some free time and children's imagination can go wild. My son prefers it for me to color on the same sheet of paper with him. But it is great pre-writing skills for him to develop, and I love to color. 
• Books and Videos
• Seasonal books - I rotate our books so that the novelty effect adds to the excitement of reading a "new" book. I think all children love books and there are some that adults can enjoy also. I love Skippyjon Jones, Steam Train, Dream Train, Arctic Animal Books. 
• iPad - the ever present iPad. While I don't enjoy copious amounts of children's videos I do think some are very educational. My son currently enjoys Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Doozers, and Dinosaur Train. 

Whatever you choose to bring with you and your family on your weekend trip, involve your children in packing. I use a large "Boat and Tote" bag from LL Bean. Whatever fits in the bag goes, if it doesn't fit, it doesn't go. I also wrap new books and toys as presents. It adds more meaning and excitement. It is also a wonderful positive enforcement tool.

Another important tip to remember, is to bring toys that can be shared, if you are going to a house where there will be more than one child. One kazoo, or one silly straw would probably get more than its fair share of germ sharing, so best to bring multiples. 

As always, much love, many blessings and happy family time.