Traveling For Thanksgiving - Keeping Kids Busy
By Rick Chapo, Fri Dec 9th

Thanksgiving is a time for gathering the family, but how do youkeep kids interested while in the car or sitting in airports?Have them keep journals.

Thanksgiving Travel

Nothing beats getting your extended family together forThanksgiving. It is a great time to catch up and laugh about oldtimes. The only aggravating thing, of course, is actuallytraveling to meet up. There are already stories of travelnightmares in the news two days before Thanksgiving. This can beparticularly troubling if you have kids who become easily bored.

In these days of the Internet and video games, the average childseems to have an attention span of about 30 seconds. If aglassy-eyed child killing things on a screen is not your idea ofgood thing, what alternatives do you have? Giving your child awriting journal is a great way to keep them busy withoutresorting to violent video games.

For many kids, the only way to truly get their attention on athanksgiving trip is to get them involved. The best method fordoing this is to give them a journal and ask them to keep noteson everything they seem. At the end of the day, they should beencouraged to write a journal entry about what happened duringthe day. It will give them an outlet for their thoughts, promotegood writing skills and preserve family experiences they wouldotherwise forget with time.

A good journal for kids will combine a number ofcharacteristics. First, it should be compact. Second, it shouldhave a case to protect it from rain, spills and just becausekids will be kids. Third, the journal should contain blank areasfor notes, doodles and so on. Finally, the journal shouldcontain cue spaces to remind children to pay attention tocertain things and write them down. Cues should include:

1. Who went on the family vacation,

2. Places visited and why they are important,

3. The most memorable experience each day,

4. New friends made and contact information for them,

5. Which family members were present, and

6. Impressions.

As time passes, the journals will remind yourkids of past trips. Memories fade with time, even for kids. Bykeeping a journal,

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kids will open their eyes to things aroundthem, enhancing your Thanksgiving family gathering. Hopefully,it will also keep them busy and away from video games.

About the author:Rick Chapo is with http://www.nomadjournals.com - makers ofwriting journals. Travel journals are great travel accessoriesand travel gifts for student travel, andadventure travel. Visit http://www.nomadjournaltrips.com formore travel articles, travelogues and travel stories.