Things I Learned From Traveling with My Six Year Old

Last Month I traveled alone with my six-year-old son, the Mouse, to Washington DC. The trip was a success for a number of reasons, and we had a fantastic time, but there were definitely a few things I learned about what to, and what not to do while traveling with an elementary-aged kiddo.

1. Explain the process - I know it seems like a really fun idea to surprise your kiddo at the last minute, but make sure you think about whether this big an ordeal is something that they’ll be able to process and deal with in a short amount of time. The Mouse is like me, and he needs time to think about things and prepare – so I knew that surprising him on the way to the airport would not have been such a great idea.

2. Let them help plan - We told the Mouse about 2 weeks before we left about the trip, and presented him with his own small suitcase and a few books about DC. The books were great for him to have, because we were able to walk through all the sites and let him think about where he wanted to go and what he wanted to see. Obviously, I picked out most of the spots we would visit, but this let him feel like he was part of the process as well.

3. Embrace the tablet for travel - We have an iPad, and I purposefully took it away about one week out and didn’t let either of the kids use it. I deleted all the unnecessary apps, and downloaded a new movie and brand new apps/games for him to play. This basically turned our tablet into a brand new machine (to him), and he had PLENTY to keep him occupied. I chose a few learning apps, a drawing/art app, and 2 games that were completely mindless but that I knew he would love. He used this thing pretty much constantly in the airports, on the plane, and even in the hotel room in the evenings.

4. Don’t let him pack - Repeat after me, “do not let your small child pack their own bags”. The Mouse had his small rolling suitcase for his clothes, and his school backpack with activities for the plane rides – and I packed both. It was made very clear to him that he was responsible for carrying his own things (since we weren’t checking bags), and there was no way I was going to let him weigh himself down with unnecessary stuff. You can check out what we packed here.

5. Let his feet dictate (most of) the schedule - Don’t get me wrong, we had a very busy couple of days in DC and the Mouse was a trooper, but we *could* have done way more if, say, he wasn’t six years old. But what’s more important – seeing every single thing in your destination city with a worn out, crank of a kid? Or actually getting to enjoy the sights that his feet and attention span can handle? The crankiness can also be helped if (as I mentioned earlier) you make sure your kiddo knows what the day’s schedule is, and has a clear picture of where you’re going and why.

6. Plan down time - Even if your kiddo is able to keep up throughout the day, make sure to plan in some down time as well. One of the great things about visiting DC in October was the amazing weather – and you had better believe we took advantage of being out on the National Mall in perfect 65* temps. Stopping to let him sit on the Mall with his new airplane toy, coming back to hotel for an hour of cartoons or iPad before dinner – these little ‘breaks’ were key so that we didn’t overdo it.

7. Let them document - I’m not sure that this step applies to every kiddo, or just the kiddo of a blogger, but the Mouse was very keen to keep his own journal and write about what he saw and did. He spent a few minutes each evening, as well as time on the flight home, writing about and drawing the things he enjoyed seeing and learning about in Washington DC. He also really loved borrowing my iPhone and taking photos and video of different exhibits in the museum. Several photos in the post were taken by him (and then edited by me).

All in all, we had a great trip. Six years old is a really neat age – they’re old enough to really start doing fun things with, but they’re still young enough where it’s still ‘cool’ to be with mom and hold her hand on the subway. I plan on a fun ‘mommy & me’ trip with the Froggy when he is six as well (he’s currently 3.5) – but where we go will be dictated by what he’s interested in and enjoys.

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