Family Trips as Educational Enrichment Opportunities: 5 Easy Ways to Incorporate Learning into Your Travel

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If you’ve been thinking about a trip with the kids, one close by or a big trip across the country or internationally, we’re here to tell you to go ahead and take the trip! Why? Keep reading…

By the way, we recorded a podcast episode on this topic. Listen here!

There are so many educational and developmental benefits for children when they are fortunate enough to go on excursions. Traveling, near and far, can correlate with better grades and higher levels of academic success. How? Studies show that:

  • Traveling can significantly improve cognitive and linguistic development, especially in the years from birth to age 8.

  • Traveling makes children more tolerant and empathetic to differences due to their exposure to different places, people, and cultures.

  • Traveling sparks a child’s curiosity about the world around them (allow space for them to confidently ask questions!).

  • Traveling provides children with opportunities for real-world application of the concepts they learn in school. It allows for hands-on learning that they’ll be able to better remember and recall when needed.

  • Traveling helps children to adapt to novel or changing situations. Running late for a flight? What changes do we need to make to ensure that we don’t miss the plane? GPS not working? What should we do to find the museum we want to visit without having to use our phones?

And don’t think that your child is too young to benefit from travel. Even babies will benefit from all they see and hear. This exposure to the vast world around them will positively impact their development, hands down!

Here are 5 easy ways to facilitate learning even when you’re on vacation.

1. Before the trip, research the educational opportunities and activities wherever you’re visiting (especially the free ones!). For instance, you can visit National Parks that sometimes have discounts on tickets or even free activities. Public libraries across the country also put on a lot of great programs that you and your family can take advantage of.

2. Narrate the trip by overexplaining everything. This one is simple! Talk about what you’re doing and where you’re going. If you’re headed to the airport, talk to your kids about the route you’re taking, how the airport is set up, what “checking into a hotel” means, and so on. And remember, no word is too big. Narration expands their vocabulary and will help them to make connections when they later are exposed to the words and concepts in school texts.

3. Make educational outings during the trip as fun as possible.

4. If there is a day that you’re inside due to weather or your family is just staying into relax, interactive games are a great way to get educational skills.

5. Always get a book wherever you visit.