Are you stuck at home, yet yearning to be exploring the world with your children? We understand! Ever since our kids were babies we have loved travelling with them. It’s been a high priority for us, but even after we’ve been exploring we have mainly had a home base to come back to. But the love and yearning for travel doesn’t stop when we’re at home.
How We Encourage ‘Travel Play’
1. Role Play
Our kids love role-playing going on holidays, setting up their hotel room, going on outings, road trips, plane trips, etc. The only limit is their imagination! Our favourite is train journeys (see more info below). Some items to set up Travel Role Play:
- Small play suitcase and bags
- Pretend passports and stamps
- Travel diary
- Maps
- Binoculars
- Dress up clothes (winter clothes like beanies, jackets and gloves for cold locations and summer clothes like hat, swimmers and sunglasses for warm locations)
Train Journeys
As I said, this is our kids absolute favourite and has not grown old even after years of playing it! Nowadays the kids usually instigate the play, but when they were younger I would set it up for them. They choose where they want to travel to, and I search for a train journey on Youtube for this location. For example,they want to travel to Switzerland in the wintertime, so I find a snowy Swiss train journey on Youtube. Ideally, I find a clip without speaking and from the train driver’s POV.They start by packing their suitcases, dressing in play clothes for the location and get their ‘kids’ (dolls) ready. They make their own train tickets and I stamp or holepunch them, then they set up in the ‘train’ (couch in front of the TV), ready to go on the train journey. I set up the clock to show what time the train is departing and blow a train whistle when it’s leaving. The kids sit on the couch watching the Youtube clip as the train journeys through the countryside, through tunnels and past villages. It is a real treat! Halfway through I serve them a snack on a tray, just as they would in a real train. They love it. Some items to set up Train Journeys:
- Small play suitcase and bags
- Handmade train ticket and holepunch/stamp
- Travel whistle
- Clock
- TV/Youtube
- Plate/snack tray
2. Multi-Cultural Dolls
I love teaching our kids about different cultures, which is a lot easier to do when travelling, but you can do this at home by offering multi-cultural dolls to play with. We even had some dolls in traditional dress, which was great for learning about different cultures and their traditions. Exposing our kids to this promotes inclusiveness and acceptance, which are great values to promote at home before they even start travelling!
3. World Globe or Map
We have always had a globe handy for our children to look at, promoting curiosity in the outside world. I love the Fisher-Price interactive globe, which sings songs, says ‘hello’ in different languages and has cute animal pictures for kids to enjoy. As they get older, you could continue with an interactive globe like the one from Leap Frog, which features more comprehensive information about countries around the world. Hanging a world map on the wall also stimulates exploration and questioning about the world we live in. It’s handy to refer to when talking about different locations and familiarising children with the geography of our planet.
4. Read Books from Around the World
One of my favourite books when I was a child was ‘Come over to my house’, it was about all the different houses that we live in around the world and it carried the message that all kids are the same no matter where they live. I still read this book to my children today. Since then, there are so many books from around the world, showing that we are all diverse but alike. Just search for books about the world and you will see a heap come up! My love for travelling with my kids inspired my soon-to-be-released book, ‘The Travelling Stone’, a story about a magical stone that transports two children around the world. For more info, The Travelling Stone Books website or purchase on Amazon now.
5. Play Boardgames with a Travel Theme
There’s nothing better than gathering the family together for a good boardgame. As our children have grown, we enjoy playing boardgames with a travelling theme. This gets us all in the excitement of travel and exploration, and also helps with building knowledge on the world. Our favourties are Ticket to Ride, Trivial Pursuit- Travel Edition and Travel Monopoly.
There you have it! Of course, nothing beats the experience of travelling, but if the past few years have taught us anything, it’s to be creative and resourceful. I hope you find these ways to bring travel into your home inspiring. Drop us a comment below to tell us which one your child enjoys most.