Storytelling with children

Reading aloud and sharing stories with your child is a great way to spend time together. Reading and storytelling also helps promote language, literacy and brain development.

Why reading is important for babies and young children

Sharing stories, talking and singing every day helps your child’s development.

You’re helping your child become familiar with sounds, words, language and the value of books. This all builds your child’s early literacy skills, helping her go on to read successfully later in life.

Reading stories sparks your child’s imagination, stimulates curiosity and helps with brain development. Interesting illustrations and word patterns – such as rhymes – can get your child talking about what he’s seeing and thinking, and help him understand the patterns of language.

Exploring stories also helps your child learn the difference between ‘real’ and ‘make-believe’ and might help develop her own ideas.

Reading or telling stories can also be safe ways to explore strong emotions, which can help your child understand change, as well as new or frightening events. Books about going to the dentist or hospital, starting at child care or making new friends will help your child learn about the world around him.

Sharing stories with your child doesn’t mean you have to read.

Just by looking at books with your child, you can be a great storyteller and a good model for using language and books. Your child will learn by watching you hold a book the right way and seeing how you move through the book by gently turning the pages.

Reading stories with children has benefits for grown-ups too. This special time together promotes bonding and helps to build your relationship, laying the groundwork for your child’s later social, communication and interpersonal skills.

20 tips for travelling with children

TAKE YOUR TIME

The greatest thing you can take – whether at the airport, sightseeing or getting from A to B – is extra time. Toddlers love to explore and don’t care for the time pressures of travel, so you’re more likely to all retain your cool if you factor the faffing, gawping, stalling, toilet stops and tantrums into your timeframe.

BOOK AHEAD

Whether you’re camping or staying in hotels, it pays to book ahead. Trying to retain the spontaneity of travel BC (Before Children) doesn’t pay off if you arrive at your destination to find you can’t bag a bed or pitch and have to hit the road again with tired, hungry toddlers melting down in the backseat.

GIVE THEM A CAMERA

Giving toddlers their own (robust, child-friendly) camera encourages them to observe their surroundings and focus on what interests them. You might be surprised at the results from their knee-high view. Amongst pictures of feet and wheels, my three-year-old has shot flowers, animals, helicopters, boats, rocks and rabbit poo.

BE PREPARED FOR THE CLIMATE

It’s simple advice, but children dressed comfortably for the weather and terrain will be happier in a new environment. With all the gear available, there’s no excuse for dressing toddlers in ski-suits four sizes too big, forgetting their gloves, or leaving them barefoot on a beach where sea urchins lurk.

50 best family holidays

The 50 best family holiday destinations

For parents, family travel is all about the three Ps: proximity, price and particulars.  You want a place that’s easy to get to, on a budget, with something for everyone.

Then, once you’ve found Nirvana (Buddhist heaven, not the band) the kids get older. They declare your perfect paradise to be “boring”. So, what next?

During the transition from toddlers to tweens, my own kids, Taj and Grace replaced Fiji with Los Angeles as their happiest holiday. (Although, frankly, I think they’d be happy going anywhere that has wi-fi…)  But every family is different. Some yearn for the country; for others, it’s the buzz of a big city.  Whatever your passion, there are ground rules: always aim for the dry season; try to book direct flights; and make sure the destination is age-appropriate.

As you can see, I’ve done the hard work for you (!), travelling the world to select the top 50 destinations for families, whatever your age range, interests, and abilities. Any place is good for multi-generational travel, but I’ve highlighted a handful which are ideal for all ages. And, yes, you can take your toddler to the Jemaa el-Fnaa in Morocco, but a kids’ club in the Pacific is infinitely more relaxing.

These terrific 20 (plus another 30 great family destinations elsewhere on these pages) are easy to get to (aside from Paris because, well, it’s PARIS), not too expensive, and extremely kid-friendly. So, in alphabetical order, here goes:

Tree Tops Adventure

Come and experience the iconic Australian bush like never before. Get up-close and personal with native Australian wildlife and magnificent Gum trees, as you climb, weave and fly through the tree tops on self-guided rope courses. Flex your adventurous spirit and test yourself mentally and physically with over 100 elevated obstacles with rope ladders, wobbly bridges, tunnels, cargo-nets and zip lines.

Short Information

Come and experience the iconic Australian bush like never from the view up above.

Planning Holidays with Kids

Holidays with kids are a great time for your family to catch up and enjoy time together. With realistic expectations and some extra planning, you’ll all get the most out of your family’s break from day-to-day routines.

Involving kids in holiday planning

Getting your children to help you plan your holiday can get them interested and excited. Their input can help you have a holiday that’s fun for everyone.

You could get some books from the library or find some websites about the places you’re going. This way your children can look at pictures and tell you what looks like fun. You could read or tell some stories from the place you’ll visit, or learn a few words of the language if you’re going overseas.

If your children are younger, you can come up with a basic plan and give them some options to choose from.

Although holidays are exciting, some kids do get nervous about the break from routine. Talking about holiday plans is also a good way to help them settle into the idea and reduce anxiety.

Accommodation tips

Here are some tips for choosing accommodation that will help make your stay away from home safe and stress free:

• If your budget allows, book a holiday house, hotel or rooms that allow family members to have some privacy. One bedroom for grown-ups and one for children can make sleeping arrangements easier to manage. And separate bedrooms mean you won’t keep the children awake. Even a room with a balcony or patio can give you some space when the children are asleep.
• Look for accommodation with a self-contained kitchen. Having the option of preparing some meals yourself can help you keep to a budget and have snacks handy for children.
• If you’re staying in a hotel, check where the nearest fire escape is, and ensure that it isn’t blocked.