Top 10 Tips For Child Friendly Holidays Christmas

So you’ve taken the plunge and organized a family ‘get away from it all’ Christmas trip… but now you’re realising exactly what you will be ‘away from’ and are wondering how you’ll move the ‘family Christmas at home’ experience to another place!?

Here are our top 10 tips for family friendly holidays at Christmas, to make sure you all have a wonderfully relaxing trip…

1. Involve your kids in the experience. Get out a map and show them where you are going. Discuss how many miles you are travelling – just like Santa himself! Let your kids help pack their suitcases and even shop for Christmas gifts for family members with whom you’ll be holidaying.

2. Make sure they leave a note at home letting Santa know of their temporary location so he can be sure to find them on Christmas Eve. If Santa will be unable to hop down a chimney, let the kids leave suggestions as to an alternative method for their delivery. And of course, remember to leave out a little tipple and a mince pie (or maybe a local equivalent!) at your journey’s end. He’s sure to need a snack after the extra trip from your house!

3. Find out whether the larger online retailers deliver to your destination. You can even get deliveries gift wrapped. Make sure you plan for how you’ll transport them home! Perhaps try to keep a spare case or fold away bag empty and keep the family’s luggage down (at least you won’t usually need swimming gear at this time of year!) Try to plan presents that are small and lightweight to pack.

4. If you can’t transport all the gifts, discuss how children in Europe are given theirs on Epiphany instead. Perhaps Santa will accommodate your plans and leave smaller than normal presents, or maybe leave some but with a note that there are still some more surprises waiting at home under the tree.

5. Ensure you create the same ‘Christmassy’ atmosphere they’ve left behind when you arrive – most properties will provide a tree, decorations, etc for holiday guests.

6. Take some CDs of Christmas songs and stories along for the journey to keep the festive spirit alive en route.

7. Check out the local Christmas markets or plan to visit a theme park that opens during the holiday season. Train rides, tours of lights and visits to see Santa are some of the things you can expect to find no matter where you go on baby friendly holidays at Christmas.

8. Pack a small bag of supplies for your tots to decorate your holiday home. Or pop to the local supermarket on arrival to stock up on the makings of some Christmas biscuits or mince pies (though you may need to pack a jar of mincemeat from home!)

9. Before your trip, read about how children celebrate Christmas in other countries.You can perhaps introduce some new traditions during your child friendly holidays, to take home with you for future Christmases.

10. Enjoy relaxing away from your home environment – no racing around visiting family and friends, no sale shopping, no ‘let’s use the time off to decorate the house’ – just chill out and spend time as a family!