If your family is desperate for a holiday, then learning experiences are low on your priority list. You’re probably looking for sun, relaxation, and some good service. However, holidays are a great chance to broaden your children’s minds, and educational holidays can make your kids more intellectually curious!
Educational experiences can also add something unexpected to your itinerary. A detour through a museum can help your kids discover a new passion and will be something you remember for years to come.
Here are a few ways you can focus on learning experiences while traveling with your family.
STEM Inspiration
There are many great benefits of getting your kids into STEM. Children learn life crucial skills like problem-solving and decision making and are taught how to find and evaluate reputable evidence. This is increasingly important, as industries like computer science look set to expand in the coming years, and many of our current problems require creative, technology-driven solutions.
Interactive museums can help inspire your kids to get into STEM. Museums give kids hands-on experience with all manner of complicated ideas and utilize kinesthetic learning to further develop the skills children learn in science or math classes.
If you want to help your child engage in experiential learning, you should consider looking ahead at what’s on offer at the museums in the area. Some museums will gamify their content and have worked hard to create displays that engage the audience (while, unfortunately, others are still stuck in the past with never-ending glass display cabinets)
You don’t have to visit a museum to get your children inspired about STEM. Simply going for a walk in nature will engage children and open up their ideas about the natural world. Alternatively, if your kids would benefit from more stimulation, you could book tours of the area that you’re holidaying in and expert guides will bring the local area to life.
Outdoor Appreciation
We all know about climate change and the harm humans have done to ecosystems. You can help your children understand the value of nature by taking them outdoors to help them connect with the environment. This will give them first-hand experience in nature and will help them become climate-conscious global citizens.
Before you go backpacking into the Alps, you should be aware of the potential dangers involved in camping. To navigate these dangers, you should first build experience by camping with experienced guides. Once you feel comfortable leading your own troop into the forest, be sure to follow these tips:
- Always stay together
- Bring extra water
- Avoid bodies of water
- Wear Sunscreen
- Give Everyone an Emergency Whistle
- Respect Wildlife
- Dress Appropriately
Every ecosystem will require you to take different precautions. If your family trip takes you to the Rocky Mountains, then you’ll need to plan for dangerous animals. If a few days in the Forest of Dean is in the plans, then you just need to bring enough wet-weather gear.
Teach Through Tech
Even if you aren’t a geologist or an astronomer, you can still teach your children about rock formations and the night sky — you just have to use some technology to help. There are loads of free educational resources you can utilize, like graphic organizers and nature checklists which use apps to help organize your children’s discoveries.
Before you even leave, you can use your smart home features to get younger children excited about the tech they will use in interactive museums and while on the road. You can even have them do things like check in on your home through cameras and smart monitors, as this will show them the power tech can have in our lives.
Getting on the Road
Travelling with your loved ones creates lasting memories and provides families with a chance to get their children motivated about learning. Whether you’re flying off to France or driving down to Devon, consider making the trip into a learning experience by incorporating some education into your travel itinerary.
