Prepare your children in advance for the trip you will be taking. If you are traveling by car or plane, you can show them on a map the route you will be taking. Even young children enjoy following the route on a map. Show your children travel brochures on the places you will be visiting, and if you can check out some books from your local library about where you will be going, you can use them too.

Memory making is a very important part of your trip. Your children can enjoy creating their own special memories. Have them keep a scrapbook or journal for your vacation. They can cut pictures out of brochures and paste them in, keep their ticket stubs, have new friends they meet sign their books, and much more! Even young children can color or draw things to represent what they have seen on the trip. Mom and Dad can help the younger ones by writing down some of the things they really enjoyed doing on their trip.

If you are going to fly, have younger children's ears checked before you leave. Nobody wants to travel with a child who has an ear infection.

In planning a road trip with younger children, prepare surprise packets for them to open periodically during the trip. Perhaps you could plan for two a day - one midmorning, the other mid-afternoon. In these packets could be such items as books, travel games, snacks, small toys. This gives the child something to anticipate . . . as well as something to do.