How to Make Your Next Family Holiday an Adventure

Family holidays are supposed to be fun, but all too often they become very stressful experiences for everyone involved. If you'd like your next family holiday to be one that provides you all with great memories, there are things you need to bear in mind.

Holidays can also be a chance for your children to improve their social skills, understand and adapt to different environments, learn about new cultures and the world we live in. Here are some tips to make your next family holiday an adventure.

• Choose Appropriate Accommodation

When you have a family to look after, going abroad can seem like an issue and a cause of stress. Luckily, there are many ways to lessen the strain of taking your kids on holiday, with one of the best ways being to book appropriate accommodation that is suited to your needs. For instance, look towards family villa holidays. This is because you get many benefits, such as privacy, security, and comfort no hotel or hostel can offer. You can feed your children whenever, wherever; you can also head to the pool without any worries about other tourists.

• Enjoy a Digital Detox

A holiday should be something different from the usual routine, so what better reason to encourage your children to leave their digital devices at home? If they're not ready for such an extreme sacrifice, try to limit screen time to a minimum. If you lead by example and keep your device just for emergencies, you'll find different ways to keep yourselves entertained as a family group. Slip a pack of cards into your suitcase and enjoy playing some of your favourite family card games, for example.

• Experience Nature

There are lots of ways you can encourage your child's curiosity about the natural world. If you're near the coast, go rock pool exploring. There may be National Parks near to where you're staying so pack some lunch and see what you can find. You may be lucky enough to find snorkelling, swimming, or surfing lessons on offer.

• Experience Different Food

Hopefully, your children aren't fussy eaters because travelling provides lots of opportunities for trying different food. Remove them from their usual routine of burgers and fries or spaghetti Bolognese, and they'll learn that eating new foods can be exciting. You'll find many restaurants offer a kids menu, but this tends to be something fried and covered in breadcrumbs, together with a plate of chips and a side serving of ketchup. If you're feeling brave enough, why not ask the restaurant for something from the adult's menu, just in a smaller portion? That being said, if your kids aren't up for the challenge of trying different food don't give them too much grief about it. You are on holiday, after all.

• Encourage Your Kids to Write a Journal

A great way to help your kids remember their holiday is to encourage them to write a journal. It will help them reflect on their experiences and be something you can use when you get home and want to remember some of the fun things you've done. If you're not very artistic yourself, there are downloadable travel journals that can be printed out and brought along on the trip.

• Let Your Kids Help Organise the Trip

It's possible to encourage your child's personal growth by allowing them to make some of the decisions when you're on holiday. Being bombarded with educational experiences can become very overwhelming, and they might appreciate some time off to do something they want to do. There are many age-appropriate options to choose from, wherever you might be staying, so make sure you choose some attractions that will suit everyone.

• Talk About What You've Done

When you think back to your own childhood, what do you remember most of all? It's probably your family holidays more than anything else. You're only going to remember snippets of your holidays though. A good way to help your children form more memories of their own holidays is to talk about what you've all been doing at the end of each day. It could be when you're all sat together eating dinner, or part of the bedtime chat. Talk to your children about where they've been, what they've seen, the different foods they've tasted, and who they might have talked to during the day. If you take the time to talk about these things, they're more likely to remember them in the future.