So you’ve taken the plunge and booked a family ‘get away from it all’ Christmas break… but now you’re realizing exactly what you will be ‘away from’ and are wondering how you’ll move the ‘family Christmas at home’ experience to another place!?
Here are our top 10 tips for family friendly holidays at Christmas, to make sure you all have a wonderfully relaxing trip…
1. Involve the kids in the travel experience. Get out a map and show them where you are going. Talk about how far you are traveling – just like Santa himself! Let your children help pack their suit cases and even choose Christmas gifts for members of the family with whom you’ll be holidaying.
2. Make sure they leave a note at home letting Santa know of their temporary location so he can be sure to find them on Christmas Eve. If Santa will be unable to hop down a chimney, let the kids leave suggestions as to an alternative method for their delivery. And of course, remember to leave out a little tipple and a mince pie (or maybe a local equivalent!) at your journey’s end. He’s sure to be hungry after the extra trip from your house!
3. Find out if the larger online retailers deliver to your destination. You can even get deliveries gift wrapped. Just remember to plan for how you’ll get them home! Perhaps try to keep a suitcase or fold away bag empty and keep everyone’s luggage to a minimum (at least you won’t usually need swimming gear at this time of year!) Try to plan gifts that are small and lightweight to pack.
4. If you can’t take all the gifts, talk about how children in Europe get theirs on Epiphany instead. Maybe Santa will accommodate your travel plans and leave smaller than normal packages, or perhaps leave some but with a note that there are still some more surprises waiting at home under the tree.
5. Try to create the same ‘Christmassy’ atmosphere they’ve left behind when you get there – most properties will provide a tree, decorations, etc for Christmas guests.
6. Bring some CDs of Christmas songs along for the journey to keep the festive spirit going en route.
7. Investigate the local Christmas markets or make plans to visit a theme park that opens during the holiday season. Train rides, tours of lights and visits to see Santa are some of the things you can expect to find no matter where you go on baby friendly holidays at Christmas.
8. Bring a small bag of supplies for your tots to make decorations for your holiday home. Or pop to the local supermarket on arrival to stock up on the makings of some Christmas biscuits or mince pies (though you may need to pack a jar of mincemeat from home!)
9. Before your trip, read about how children celebrate Christmas in other places.You can perhaps introduce some new traditions during your child friendly holidays, to take home with you for future Christmases.
10. Enjoy the relaxation that being away from your home environment brings – no running around visiting family, no shopping in the sales, no ‘let’s use the time off to decorate the spare room’ – just chill out and enjoy time as a family!
Want to find out more about baby friendly holidays? Then visit Wendy Q Shand’s site on how to choose the best child friendly accommodation for your needs.
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