Reaching your chosen destination can be the most challenging part of the holiday when you travel with little ones who expect the fun to start as soon as they walk out of the front door!
If you want to make the journey as effortless as possible, choose Eurostar - it makes travelling with kids, child’s play. Eurostar’s quick check-in, short journey times and spacious carriages make it a relaxing and memorable experience for adults and children alike. Kids can play with their toys, watch the changing scenery and refuel on the healthy, organic snacks at the bar-buffet. It is a really child-friendly way to travel and makes taking kids on holiday easy… And even fun!
To keep little minds entertained and amused, LeapFrog® Toys and its expert Developmental Child Psychologist, Dr Janine Spencer, have teamed up with Eurostar to offer parents some handy pointers on how to get the family holiday off to a happy start.
“All parents will know how difficult it is to entertain and hold a child’s attention for any period of time, let alone when travelling. So why not take advantage of this down-time and plan a selection of activities that get children flexing their brains?” asks Dr Janine Spencer, Developmental Child Psychologist.
Dr Janine Spencer’s pointers for stress-free travel:
Pack a map or mini-atlas and let the children play navigator as they track the journey from England to France - it could improve the whole family’s map reading skills!
The traditional game of 'I spy’ is ideal for train travel, but to keep it interesting change to playing it in French once you’ve crossed the Channel.
Have some extra games up your sleeve to prevent cries of “Are we there yet?” Make a list of sights you might see along the way and award points for the first person to spot them, or introduce the flag game and test everyone’s knowledge of flags across the world.
Visiting a different country is a great opportunity to introduce your kids to a new language. LeapFrog’s two cuddly pals, Learning Friends™ Tad and Lily, are ideal travelling companions as they sing songs to introduce colours and counting in both English and French - who knows you might even learn something new too!
Supply pads and crayons and let your kids get creative. Encourage them to draw pictures of the sights they see from the train window. Remember to stick to crayons or coloured pencils to avoid any accidents with ink.
Make the magic of books last longer with the interactive fun of a LeapFrog LeapPad® Learning System. The new slim-line Learn & Go LeapPad® Learning System is particularly good for car and train travel, keeping little ones entertained for hours not minutes. A portable interactive base brings LeapPad books to life with talking voices, characters, silly sounds and exciting games - it even comes with its own child-friendly headphones, so the rest of the car or train doesn't have to play along. Check out all the different titles and LeapPad Learning Systems available to find the right ones to suit your children.
Pack a personal CD player and plenty of music for your children to sing along to.
Finally, don’t forget their favourite cuddly toy for guaranteed holiday harmony.
For more information on top toys to make travelling as easy as ABC this summer, or to purchase toys in both English or French log on to www.leapfroguk.com to find out more..
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