Helpful Holiday Apps and Gadgets for Travel
By now most of you have packed up and left NYC over your winter break. If you’ve already traveled to your destination, perhaps you’ve discovered the particular joys of traveling with small children. If you haven’t left yet, here’s a sneak peak: on a non-stop flight to Japan from NYC years ago, I watched a family of 4 do their best over the lengthy flight. By the end of the 10 hour+ journey, there were gold fish crackers smashed to pieces, crayons rolling around the floor, juice boxes spilled, puzzle pieces lost, one dad frantically searching a backpack and two small, crying children.
Point of story? Regardless how hard you try all you can do is prepare yourself and your children for some hours where they are going to need to be chill. Easier said then done, I know, however here are some tips dedicated to families traveling with small and/or active children. Most importantly there are suggestions to help you maintain a bit of your sanity:
- Remember that young kids often have no context or experience with travel. If you have time, read books, play and pretend you’re going to the airport. If you’re waiting at the airport as you read this, you can go over what will happen next (We’re going to walk that way and wait some more. Let’s count all the lines we walk over from here to there).
- If your kids are familiar with tablets or iPads, be sure to load up on new games that are easy enough for them to navigate. My favorites:
Astropolo: an award winning app with animation and paper construction.
Dr. Panda’s Airport: 10 mini games devoted to airport activities.
Duckie Deck Collection: for the very young traveler (18 months + up).
- Last but not least, grab these portable games/toys before you leave your home:
Thanks as always for reading. Happy Holidays everyone. Safe travels and see you in 2016!
Vanessa D’Auria is a licensed speech-language pathologist providing home-based services in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. For more information about Vanessa, visit speechtherapyvanessadauria.com or to ask speech/language questions, email directly at speechtherapynyc@gmail.com.
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