Important Lessons Your Kids Can Learn Through Travel
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Travel
There has always been a prevailing attitude when it comes to travelling with kids. Put the big adventures and the extended trips to Asia on hold until the kids are a bit older is the common message. While they're still in primary school, stay close to home where it's safe and familiar. But is swapping the big soul-searching trips of old for a visit to their grandparents really the best thing for your children?
If you're the adventurous type, why not take your kids on that next big adventure? You have the long summer holidays to fill, after all, and it could have a really positive effect on their personal development. Here are the most important lessons that kids can learn through travel. Props to Theodora at Escape Artistes for the inspiration.
Lesson 1: How to be open-minded
A trip to a far-off land is all about new experiences, whether it's trying new foods, meeting new people or seeing new places. This teaches kids that life is full of surprises and that the unknown is something to be excited about rather than scared of. I can't think of a more important lesson to take with them into adulthood than being open-minded and flexible.
Lesson 2: How to be patient
Your travels are bound to include plenty of time on the road, long-haul flights and sweltering six-hour bus rides. Your kids probably won't have their usual iPads and games with them to keep them entertained, but this won't matter. You enter a Zen-like state while travelling, where time doesn't matter as much as it did back home. The same will happen to your child, and you may not recognise the patient little person sitting beside you.
Lesson 3: How to communicate with other people
Your children are probably quite used to dealing with the same small circle of people: family, friends and teachers. Travel takes them out of their comfort zone and puts them in touch with a whole range of people from different cultures who speak different languages. Learning how to interact with these people, even without the aid of a common language, is one of the beauties of travel.
Lesson 4: How to appreciate what you have
Taking a trip to the other side of the world will give your kids a sense of how privileged they are in the UK. It will show them that not everyone in the world has the things that they take for granted, like running water, three meals a day and electricity. Awareness of this gap between the haves and have-nots may be enough to encourage them to be more appreciative back at home, even if it’s just little things like not leaving any food on their plate.
Lesson 5: How stuff works
How do volcanoes work? Why are there pyramids in Egypt? Questions like these are so much easier to answer if you've stood in the crater of one or visited Egypt for yourself. Your kids will be more engaged by topics at school if they have actually experienced them first-hand, rather than just read about them in a book or searched Google Images. This may help them to get better grades in subjects like geography and history, which will take on a whole new meaning.
So there you go, those are some important lessons that kids can learn through travel. You can compare family-friendly hotels around the world with HotelClub.com. Travelling with kids may involve stepping out of your comfort zone and thinking outside the box, but the educational benefits could be well worth it.
If you're the adventurous type, why not take your kids on that next big adventure? You have the long summer holidays to fill, after all, and it could have a really positive effect on their personal development. Here are the most important lessons that kids can learn through travel. Props to Theodora at Escape Artistes for the inspiration.
Lesson 1: How to be open-minded
A trip to a far-off land is all about new experiences, whether it's trying new foods, meeting new people or seeing new places. This teaches kids that life is full of surprises and that the unknown is something to be excited about rather than scared of. I can't think of a more important lesson to take with them into adulthood than being open-minded and flexible.
Lesson 2: How to be patient
Your travels are bound to include plenty of time on the road, long-haul flights and sweltering six-hour bus rides. Your kids probably won't have their usual iPads and games with them to keep them entertained, but this won't matter. You enter a Zen-like state while travelling, where time doesn't matter as much as it did back home. The same will happen to your child, and you may not recognise the patient little person sitting beside you.
Lesson 3: How to communicate with other people
Your children are probably quite used to dealing with the same small circle of people: family, friends and teachers. Travel takes them out of their comfort zone and puts them in touch with a whole range of people from different cultures who speak different languages. Learning how to interact with these people, even without the aid of a common language, is one of the beauties of travel.
Lesson 4: How to appreciate what you have
Taking a trip to the other side of the world will give your kids a sense of how privileged they are in the UK. It will show them that not everyone in the world has the things that they take for granted, like running water, three meals a day and electricity. Awareness of this gap between the haves and have-nots may be enough to encourage them to be more appreciative back at home, even if it’s just little things like not leaving any food on their plate.
Lesson 5: How stuff works
How do volcanoes work? Why are there pyramids in Egypt? Questions like these are so much easier to answer if you've stood in the crater of one or visited Egypt for yourself. Your kids will be more engaged by topics at school if they have actually experienced them first-hand, rather than just read about them in a book or searched Google Images. This may help them to get better grades in subjects like geography and history, which will take on a whole new meaning.
So there you go, those are some important lessons that kids can learn through travel. You can compare family-friendly hotels around the world with HotelClub.com. Travelling with kids may involve stepping out of your comfort zone and thinking outside the box, but the educational benefits could be well worth it.
