When planning a vacation that involves kids between 8 and 12 you have to keep in mind that it may just be a little too early to spend several days at a theme park. Kids that young may be too afraid of the bigger, scarier rides that mean nothing but fun to you. Even if you think you know your little 10 year old better than your friends know their rugrats, be prepared for a sudden display of abject fear. That’s just one tip for vacationing with kids between 8 and 12, but it’s a biggie. The other tips are less broadly based and certainly may not apply in every case, but it is worth taking notice.
Check Out the Dining Situation
America has become a homogenized entity in which nearly every street in the country looks exactly like every other street. Familiarity breeds convenience, but it’s your vacation, too, so don’t be satisfied with the contemptible. You didn’t plan this thing for six months and travel halfway across the country just so you could feast on the meat eaters from Pizza Hut and send back your 12 year old’s double hamburger at Wendy’s because they put cheese on it when you very specifically told them not to. When planning a vacation in which you will be towing around some kids between 8 and 12, be sure to check out the nearby restaurants. Try to find something unique to the city that will appeal to kids. Even if it means putting in some extra driving miles, it will be worth it to take the kids to that cool restaurant where all the servers are dressed like zombies. It’s an experience they won’t forget and it gets you away from the humdrum of fast food convenience.
Look for the Weird and Cheesy
Sure, you will enjoy spending half a day at the museum where you get the chance to see an actual Leonardo Da Vinci, but look around for something kind of weird and cheesy for kids around 10 to enjoy. RoadsideAmerica.com is a web site overflowing with the retro kinds of old school attractions that used to make up a vacation with kids in America before Disney and Six Flags took over management. Birmingham, Alabama not only has a 56 foot tall iron statue of the god Vulcan, but a replica of the Statue of Liberty. You are going to have to spend two days getting through Texas anyway, why not route your trip so that younger kids can enjoy the Cadillac Ranch or a museum that teaches kids everything they will ever need to know about barbed wire. Who knows, one of those little nuggets of information may mean the difference between going home with $2,000 and coming back as the Jeopardy returning champ some day. A trip to the Pacific Northwest can offer the kids a trip to a museum of 10,000 toys in Portland or the Mystery Vortex in Gold Hill.
Eschew the Junk Food Snacks in the Car
Taking kids between 8 and 12 on a long trip on a car to our vacation destination poises a series of problems. You can make the bulk of those problems more manageable by doing just one thing: limiting junk food. Caffeinated drinks will only increase the anxiety of being in the car for so long with so much longer yet to go. Sugar and fat content as well as certain seasonings can contribute to stomach problems that may result either in calls for a bathroom stop every half hour or having to stop for a longer period of time in order to clean up what came out the other end. The lack of proper nutrients can cause kids to get fatigued early and irritable often so load them up with nutrient-rich fruits and veggie snacks.
Do the Research on Where You’re Headed
Okay, even if your vacation centerpiece is Atlanta, Georgia, for instance, so you can visit Six Flags over Georgia, Stone Mountain and the Aquarium of the Americas, that doesn’t mean you can include some other less known Georgia vacation destinations into your plans. Sit down and map out the route that exists between your house and your major destinations and then spend a few hours looking for interesting things to see and do along the way that would appeal specifically to kids between 8 and 12. Sticking with Georgia for this example could mean such things as catching Callaway Gardens Fantasy in Light Christmas extravaganza when visiting in December or stopping off to pan for gold at Dahlonega any time. Kids of that age may also be more likely to enjoy the fall hayrides offered at Burt’s Farm than they will the scarier entertainment that awaits at Six Flags theme park.