Top 10 tips for travelling with children

Photo: Kids don't need much to be able to have fun on holidays / Courtesy Tharik Hussain

Muslims love a large family, and increasingly, they also love travelling. But the thought of dragging fidgety Ahmed, sulky Abdullah and moody Mouina half way across the globe for two weeks just makes parents want to curl up in a ball and go back to bed. But is it really always the children’s fault? After all, kids will be kids, and maybe it’s the grown-ups who need to change the way they do things. Here are ten simple tips to making a trip easier for the kids as well as the adults.

1. PLAN FOR CHILDREN

Really plan for the kids. Their needs shouldn’t be an afterthought. They will be kids throughout this holiday. That means refusing to sit still for eight hours on a plane, not eating weird foreign food, and moaning that it’s too hot. That’s what kids do. So as the grown-up, stop whining and plan for these things! Too many parents go away with their kids expecting them to just behave without realising that a holiday abroad effectively turns the child’s normality upside down—so be ready for that!