Create a Vision Board for Travel with Kids

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Help your kids know about where you’re going on your next vacation and to envision what it might be like with a vision board.

Creating a Vision Board for Travel with Kids | Life as MOM - Help your kids know about where you're going on your next vacation and to envision what it might be like with a vision board.

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Two years ago we decided to dream a big dream: We were going to take all six kids to France for our 20th anniversary. At the time it seemed really wild and crazy, especially when I did a preliminary budget to see how much money we had to save to make it happen. Oy!

We started talking to our kids about it on a regular basis. “When we go to France, we will ….” It was an easy way to start acclimating them to the idea.

You might think that a bunch of kids would jump at the chance to travel, but a few were a little slow to warm to the idea, particularly those who don’t like long car rides. An overseas flight is like the road trip of death to some. There is no stopping or turning around. We knew this would be good for us all, but we’d need to get folks used to the idea.

Where are we going?

Last summer we took our planning one step further and built a vision board for our big trip. FishPapa built the frame and picked up maps at AAA. I dug out memorabilia from our previous trips. We hung it on our living room wall and we’ve walked past it every day for over a year. It’s a visual reminder of our plans as well an active to-do list of what’s left for us to plan and make happen before we go.

Your vision board doesn’t have to be as permanent or as elaborate as ours. In fact, you can easily do up some paper collages with your kids with travel brochures, maps, and pictures printed off the internet. Let them have a hand in it, talk about your travel plans, and dream big.

Creating a Vision Board for Travel with Kids | Life as MOM - Help your kids know about where you're going on your next vacation and to envision what it might be like with a vision board.

Our board has morphed a bit over the months. We originally planned to go in May, but my book deadlines prompted us to reschedule for the fall. Our route has changed a bit, too. As you can see, the maps from then and now differ; we’re going to be road tripping through the western half of France.

The vision board has a great place to document our plans and how they’re taking shape.

We’ve found that having this board is also a great conversation starter. New visitors to our home invariably ask about it, giving the kids the opportunity to explain our plans. Additionally, our kids love to look at maps so they trace our route from time to time and talk about the different places we’ll go.

Help your kids see where you’re going.

Whether you plan to take a trip overseas, to Disneyland, or just across the state, you can help your kids build excitement and learn about your destination with a vision board.

Check out the full tutorial on how to build a family vision board. You can tweak it for all kinds of family goals in addition to travel and big adventures.

travel-with-kids-150 Travel with Kids

This is part of the Travel with Kids series. Every day in October, I’m posting tips, tricks, and tutorials for making all your travels fun, frugal, and family-friendly.

Be sure to read through the archives in case you missed a post.

How do YOU envision your family for travel?

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2 Comments

  1. What a fantastic idea! Not only is it a great learning opportunity, but would also get them pretty pumped by the time the actual day comes to leave. I may just have to do this myself for any future trips we take. Thanks or sharing!

  2. We took our children to Disney World about 18 months ago for Spring Break. We have told them since they were quite little that at some point we would take them. About a year before the trip we bought a guidebook and had Disney send us a DVD about the park. I don’t know how many times we watched that DVD. We read the guidebook together from cover to cover. The kids helped us pick out the hotel rooms, the food plan, which park to visit each day and which rides to prioritize for fast passes. They helped me shop for fanny packs and disposable cameras and make a grocery list of snacks to take with us for the hotel room. We made packing lists for their checked suitcase and the backpacks they took on the plane. They each did special chores throughout the year before the trip to earn money for souvenirs. I think half the fun of travel is planning it and enjoying the anticipation of a great time. For younger children I think the more planning and talking you do about the trip in advance the more the trip will be ingrained in their memory for a lifetime.