10 Things to Remember While Travelling With Kids

Vacation with my girl is so very different from when just me and my husband used to go together by ourselves. You need to be a lot more prepared and Be patient - Remember, you are traveling with kids it will take longer to reach your destination. Be prepared and start early. Kids fight, get tired, whine, get hungry, and have to pee…a lot! So try to remain calm!  
I've put this handy list of things to remember- little things we all know yet forget many a times, based on some of my recent travel experience and hope it helps some of you!

 

1. Bring a backpack: having a backpack is very helpful. Find something that is lightweight that an adult or older child could carry. And you want it to have straps that cross your chest for good support. I pack a change of clothes, plenty of snacks and sunscreen in my backpack. There's nothing worse than stumbling upon a sprinkler on a HOT day ... with no bathing suits or towels.
2. Have A Case of Water On Hand- We are a no soda family and drink a lot of water! On the drive, with our meals, to take into the parks,  in the hotel room (instead of tap), we save HUGE money by always having a case of water in the car!
3. Sunblock- I apply sunblock cream before we leave the house/hotel room and then carry the continous spray sunscreen in my back pack. It makes it so easy to apply because you dont have to rub it in so your hands don't get all greasy!  Don't forget to put the sunblock, bug spray, sunhats and sun shirts in your backpack.  
4. Pack plenty of snacks - Cut fruits, nuts, berries, bananas, apples, raisins, banana chips, dried fruit, baby carrot, Crunchy dried soybean, pea, and chickpea snacks are all perfect pre-wrapped on-the-go snacks. Whole wheat crackers, soft bagels, no-salt pretzels, rice cakes, dry cereals, sugar-free yogurt, string cheese are great too! These healthy food ideas should keep hunger at bay while traveling.  It is nice to have these foods at our fingertips instead of trying to find the right restaurant to stop in at the right time. 
5. Naptime- Plan your car travel around naptime. No matter how nice a day it is. It really makes things so much better.
6. Baby powder - the magic sand eliminator! Don't go to the beach without it. Seriously: It works just like magic!!
   
   
7. Beach blanket -Get one with a vinyl bottom. These are great for picnics on damp grass and sand shakes right off.
8. Eating -Stay on the kids' normal eating and sleeping schedules.  Keep sleeping arrangements similar to home. 
9. Probiotics - I use Culturelle Kids Probiotics to prevent stomach issues and help support kids' natural defense systems.  We've been using Culturelle since Putti has had bad acid reflux.  It was recommended by her gastroenterologist.  Now, they have an easy chewable form and is a real lifesaver when on trips.  We rarely eat out meals, so on a vacation daily outside meals can wreak havoc on little bellies.  Just a dose of Culturelle a day will help in maintaining digestive health.  And Putti even enjoys the taste of it!  If your child doesn't like chewables, they also have a powder format that you can stir in juice, milk, or a soft cold food like applesauce.  
   
10. Medications- Be sure you carry medications your child might need, like fever reducers and anti- allergy.  Even if  your kid is fine when you leave home, you never know when something might pop up.  Better to have it on hand than to have to try to find a drug store in a new place late at night. 

What are your tips for taking family vacations?

Disclosure: I received a free product sample and was compensated for this post.  All opinions expressed are my own and unbiased.

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BabbaBox - Review and Giveaway

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Thank you to all of you who entered. Congrats to Winner, Karen!!

I got to review one BabbaBox and you can win one too! Check out the giveaway at the end of the post.
BabbaCo is a subscription based arts, crafts and learning activity box for kids between the ages of 3 and 6. Boxes are delivered at your doorsteps filled with projects, activities, books, digital downloads and online content. Each delivery is a theme-based box with ALL the materials necessary plus know-how content to really engage with kids. Can’t get much easier than that. No thinking. No shopping. No leftovers. You can subscribe to it monthly, quarterly or annually.

For my review, I received a box that was a “You Are What You Eat” theme. My 4 year-old was VERY excited to open the box and check out the contents. Infact she pulled everything out even before I took a photo of the box and it's contents.
In every BabbaBox there are items to help children:  Create, Explore, Story Tell, and Connect.  

Our box included supplies to:

• Create - a shopping list and a power placemat - Sort lots of yummy foods into five food groups.
• Explore - Use your very own measuring cups to cook some delicious, good for you recipes.
• Story Tell - Read "I will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato" in which Charlie uses his imagination to convince his picky eater sister Lola, to try new foods.
• Connect - Ziggy's Plate.

The first activity she wanted to work on was creating the shopping list. Everything required for it including the scissors, glue and a detailed instruction was there in the box.

 After my daughter cut the food paper sheets, I talked to her about the five food groups. And we played by placing them on the appropriate colored felts.

 Next she finished the process of putting the shopping list folder together. She loved all of the glueing and cutting, though had to help her with cutting the felt.

 Here is the finished shopping list! We have been using it to show what she ate that day and whether all the five food groups have been included are not. I love that all of this fits nicely inside the clear pocket.

Next activity was a hit too and she really loved coloring the canvas placemat.

Now that both the activities are complete, we plan on making a meal together using the measuring cups next! I love the learning process that takes place doing everyday activities, like cooking.
I really loved this concept. I think it will even be perfect as a Birthday gift. The ability to sit down and do something crafty and fun with your kids without having to hunt down all of the supplies is awesome. And the best part is the learning aspect of it which makes it very unique from other subscription based activity boxes out there. I love the concept of having a theme each month to keep the activities fun and interesting for kids.
With everything that is included in your Babbabox every month you are definitely getting your money’s worth, and your child has something special to look forward to every month. 

And you can too get a box too! BabbaCo is going to give away one month membership to one of the Putti's World readers! I’m so excited for you. There’s a few ways you can win this membership, just use the Rafflecopter gadget below. Good luck! The giveaway will end on August 26th. 

If you just can’t wait, you can start your membership right away and get 20% off your BabbaBox by using PP20OFF. Order here.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: I have been provided with a free BabbaBox from BabbaCo. But, all opinions are my own. 

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Paper Chain for Indian Independence Day

We made these patriotic paper chains for Indian Independence Day. They are very simple to make.

Supplies for Paper Chain:

• paper – we used  Orange(Saffron), White and Green construction paper
• scissors or paper slicer
• glue or tape or stapler
• blue marker

Cut strips approximately 2" x 8 ½" from the construction paper using a ruler and zacto blade. My ruler is about 2" wide so I use that as my guide.

Once you have cut the strips, draw little circles on the center of the white stripes with blue marker. 

And draw lines as shown inside it which forms the 24 spokes of the Ashoka Chakra. 

Take one strip and over lap the ends to form a loop and staple in place. My girl recently has learnt to sucessfully use the stapler and thus chose it, but you could glue or tape the loop. Slide the next piece of paper through the first and secure. 

Continue till all strips are used - make sure to follow the colors of India Flag - Saffron, White and Green. 

• Paper chains are a great inexpensive way to decorate for a holiday or party.  
• These can be made in any colors to suit all sorts of occasions. 
• Decorate inside or outdoors with these easy paper chain decorations. 
• Chains can be hung from the ceiling as you would hang crape paper or draped around the room anyway your imagination decides.
• They are great countdown to holidays and or birthdays too.

Linking to all places mentioned here and August 2012 Arsty Craftsy.

Come follow Putti 's World via our Brand new Facebook page. We are sure to have many fun ideas to share!

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