Travel with kids - 5 things to pack

Both John and I did a fair amount of travelling before we had kids but nothing really prepares you for taking little ones along for the ride until you actually do it and since having Mr A we gone on some amazing adventures and have become more travel savvy in terms of keeping him entertained on a budget as well as making sure all his needs are met.

ClickStay invited us to put together a post about what our top tips for travelling with kid which you can VOTE for. I would put together a little vlog and blog about 5 budget friendly things to pack to help keep kids entertained while on the road, that is not an iPad. We only recently got a tablet so the majority of our travels have been without any kind of tablet to help entertain our son even on long train journeys from the UK to Europe and to be honest you really don't need one either.

John and Mr A in Paris last year

When travelling with young children you need to make them feel as involved as possible and allowing them to have there own suitcase such as a trunki (we cannot recommend these enough) is a good place to start. Also taking something from home such as their favourite soft toy can also ease homesickness. Another essential is packing things like plasters and Capol just in case as being stuck in a foreign country with a child that has a temperature is no fun.

Here are 5 things to pack to keep kids entertained

1. 100 thing (not 1000 as I mistakenly said in my vlog) for little kids to do on a journey - by Usborn £6.99. The box comes with 50 double side wipe-clean cards with 100 simple and easy activities and my 4yr old love this and keeps him entertained for a fair amount of time and with some of the activities being really educational this is a win win all round.

2.  Are we there yet? Travel Game £6.99 - a really fun and easy card game that you can play on a car or train trip - you get points for spotting things along your journey and the person who has the most points at the end wins. Easy to understand even for young children

3. Auto Bingo by Schmidt £8 - just like bingo, each player get s wipe-clean car with various thing to spot along a car/train or ferry journey and the first person to spot everything on their card wins.

4. Notepad and stickers - our son while spend a good half an hour just sticking and writing in his notepad, it's really cheap and easy and you can also encourage them to start a travel journal.

5. Kids magazines - we don't buy these unless we are going on a trip as they come with stickers, usually a little toy and lots of games and colouring in - they are light and perfect for handbags.

Mr A sticking in his notepad on the train to London

To us travel is all about learning and trying new things and the journey is apart of that, although one must remember that children are different to us and keeping on top of the basics will also ensure a more calm experience so always make sure your children have had enough sleep as well as keeping them hydrated and well fed, just those three things will go a long way in preventing a meltdown while on the road.

This is my entry for the Clickstay Mummy Blogger Awards,please vote for me