With years of experience of preparing for trips, vacations and different kind of traveling forms with the whole family and having two incredibly curious and insatiable boys I just learn from mistakes and come to the championship in packing my bags. Master of packing up!

How do I decide what is important and why do I take an extra entertainment trolley only for kids’ toys, books and other ‘very, VERY important and irreplaceable’ gadgets they definitely will need during trips.

good books

A selection of USBORNE books will do as they are well illustrated to captivate smaller children and with curiosities that can be read by older kids. 

something for little ones, flip a flap always wins.

If you run out of space and you need something light but super-captivating:

blocks

It can be a few classic LEGOs or just a random construction set.

If you search for something in a duty-free shop in an airport go for a small box: LEGO Creator 3 in 1 or LEGO Classic Bricks

some comic books

Funny, colorful, light ( if paperback and not hardcover) and just great to exercise reading skills. For a toddler – hilariously creative new vocabulary search and storytelling activity.

‘Elephant and Piggy’ wins the prize for the best comic books for young children. My boys love the stories and the drawings by Mo Willems. Extraordinary!

games

Nintendo Switch has this power. Not only has a big touch-screen as a display. It connects to the tv and you can play also in teams! We went for a Captain Toad and Donkey Kong. 

An idea just to don’t get stuck and avoid extra meltdowns and frustration in case of loss – buy digital versions if possible. This option gives you a great chance to skip game card search and enjoy your relaxing time whenever your destination is planned to be.

iPad

You can believe me or not, there is a great and fresh world out of the gaming zone. Escaping from junky gaming apps there are some great ideas for playing and learning at the same time. Our school uses learning platforms for math and English and it turned remarkable as it fabulously meets our (special) learning needs.

Mathletics is one of the option. It’s all about mathematics.

Spelldrome is all about spelling and independent learning.

IXL for both math and English.

Maths Chase for times tables testing.

movies

Not to mention that sometimes a break is needed. For your kids, for you, for someone who is just too loose that peace of mind that it’s worth its weight in gold. And as you already planned to pack your iPad in and you have a Netflix subscription, before you leave – download! You don’t need any internet connection to watch downloaded stuff and it’s just glorous!

Movies and TV shows that expire from your device in less than 7 days will display how much time is left in the “My Downloads” Netflix’s app. There is a hand directly from the Netflix help center.

power!

if you plan to take your gadgets and electronic devices with you, probably this item is the most important and precious in the whole luggage. Power bank. Or better-powerbanks. We got several different variants. That classic one, rechargeable by just putting the plug into the socket

high capacity, heavy as hell but really fast:

or the smaller, pocket version:

And if you are going on a vacation with a lot of sun, I highly recommend the solar power bank!

There are still a lot of stuff I always pack and never use but only training makes perfect!