Can You Make Your Family Vacation both Fun and Educational?

As we head into Spring and the days start getting longer, it is time to think again about how we will keep our kids busy during the long summer vacation. Plenty of physical activity to keep their bodies healthy is important, but don’t forget to factor in some educational experiences to keep their minds active too.

Should a Family Vacation be Educational?

Children, particularly during the early years of school, often find it difficult to return to lessons when they have spent the whole summer forgetting what they learned the previous year. The summer learning loss over the long vacation has been estimated to set most children back by a month, with some losing as much as two to three months of their progress in math and reading by the time they return to classes in the fall. However, this learning loss can be counteracted. Children who enjoy reading, or who engage in other forms of learning outside of the school term do not suffer from being out of the classroom. In fact, they can actually experience long-term benefits from being out of school, traveling and learning in a different way. According to a study conducted by the US Department of Education, children who travel over the summer do better in reading, math and general knowledge, no matter where they go. Just accumulating new experiences in a new place seems to help boost academic achievement in the early years of education. It’s not being on vacation that causes learning loss, but rather being stuck at home with nothing to inspire or engage their minds.

Enrolling in Educational Programs

The simplest way to make sure your children are being challenged is to enroll them in an educational program at a local school, camp or museum, or to plan a vacation that will provide plenty of organized learning activities for children of all ages. Joining a family friendly cruise can be a particularly good option if you are looking for a structured program. Family cruises offer activities for different age groups, many of which have an educational element. Disney cruises are one of the most popular choices for families, and despite the brand name, they do offer plenty of activities for adults and older children too. Other cruise lines can also offer interesting ways for children to learn about the world. The marine themed science programs aboard Royal Caribbean and Princess ships are particularly good. These programs can keep your children busy and educationally challenged, while each new port will expose them to a new location and culture, without your having to organize transport and accommodation for each new city. Cruises can be a great way for children to encounter people from different countries and cultures, both on shore excursions and on board the ship. For example, the staff often wear name badges that also tell you their home country, so you can make a game of spotting people from as many places as possible.

Engaging Your Kids’ Brains Every Day

Participating in educational programs can be a great way to keep kids learning over the vacation, but there are also plenty of ways to engage children in fun learning games and projects in between these activities, whether you are at home, cruising, camping or staying in a hotel.

1. Pick some child friendly museums or galleries to visit, with interactive exhibits or activity days, but remember education doesn’t just happen in museums. Kids can learn a lot simply from spending time in nature, visiting a pick your own fruit farm to learn how food grows, or just having time to play freely.

2. Card and board games can boost math and counting skills and be a good way to escape bad weather, while word and number games are great for journeys since you don’t need any pieces to play them. Try naming countries for each letter of the alphabet, or coming up with as many rhymes as you can.

3. Learning about different cultures is one of the most important benefits of travel, so you should seek out cultural events and activities, such as concerts and festivals, particularly when they involve traditions from other parts of the world. Even if you have to stick close to home, you may find local events offering interesting insights into different cultures.

4. Reading is the simplest and most effective means of preventing, or even reversing, summer learning loss. Summer reading should be fun, so let children pick their own books. Encourage them by reading together, whether you are reading to them, they are reading to you, or you are both reading the same book so that you can have your own book group style discussions after each chapter.

5. Get your kids to suggest their own ideas for destinations and activities, and to research places before you travel to learn about the history, geography, or language. Ask them to tell you what they have found out, to record it in a travel journal for you to read, or to quiz each other to see who has learned most. Showing that you are still interested in learning new things as an adult might teach your children that learning can be enjoyable for its own sake.