Vacation Survival Kit: Gadgets & Apps to Keep the Kids Happy (and You from Pulling Your Hair Out)

While family vacations are supposedly fun and relaxing, sometimes keeping the kids entertained can turn out to be a full-time job. Therefore, here are some must-have gadgets and apps that will keep your little ones engaged and happy while you enjoy your vacation. Explore some of the available technology tools for tiny travelers below.

Tech Tools for Tiny Travelers

First up, let’s talk about tablets. While screen time should be balanced with other activities to spark your child’s imagination, having a tablet loaded with educational games, e-books, and age-appropriate apps can be incredibly helpful. Look for models with strong parental controls and durable cases to withstand inevitable drops and spills.

With apps, you can have a thousand and one choices to entertain and educate your kid. All of it from Duolingo for learning languages-good enough for international travel!-to NASA’s Space Place for the space travel enthusiasts, all the way to Toca Boca’s suite of creative play apps and so much more. Don’t forget some offline games and activities just in case, too!

For the creatively crafty, consider including a digital drawing tablet. The greatest virtue of the portability of these devices is that they offer kids a way to be creative without making a mess like typical art supplies. Many of the models come complete with pressure-sensitive pens and a range of digital brushes and colours, offering countless possibilities for creative exploration. And of course, no paints, markers or crayons to pack or clean up.

Audiobooks and podcasts also make it entertaining while saving the eyes of little ones from screen time. Services like Audible offer thousands of audiobooks for kids. “Wow in the World” and “Stories Podcast” will provide great educational and entertainment content for your young listeners. Don’t forget to pack extra headphones for little ones to avoid disturbing other passengers or family members.

A major fear of parents who embark on a cruise is how the kids would be entertained on those days at sea. Though, if you approach and equip with the right tools, a day at sea can be the highlight of your cruise. Most ships have fantastic kids’ clubs, complete with age-appropriate activities. Still, it would be handy to have some extras for rainy days or unexpected downtime. Portable board games, card games, or even a magic kit can provide hours of entertainment in your cabin or on deck.

In case you are planning a beach trip or any other adventure that involves a lot of outdoor activities, waterproof cameras for kids are fantastic stimulation for kids to explore and be creative. Rugged devices enable kids to capture their memories without being afraid of damaging expensive equipment. Many even come with inbuilt games and filters, adding another layer of fun to it.

For nighttime, a small nightlight or projector may be the best solution for nighttime fears brought on by unfamiliar surroundings. You can get one of those that project stars or other calming images onto the ceiling to create a soothing atmosphere for your children to sleep in.

Find the Perfect Balance

The secret of a good family vacation is balance: these gizmos and apps can be wonderfully useful, but they are no replacement for real experiences or interaction with the family. Use them as tools to enhance your trip, not as babysitters, and encourage the kids to look up from their screens and engage with their surroundings. With little preparation and the right tools in a vacation survival kit, the kids will keep their happiness levels up, and you can simply refrain from pulling your hair out. This is more time and energy for what really matters: enjoying quality time together and creating those precious family moments that you will cherish for years.