Travel Planning Printables for Kids and Families

As a family travel advocate, I’m a big proponent of getting the entire family involved in vacation planning. Of course, the level of involvement needs to be age-appropriate, but I’ve found that involving the kids allows them to take some ownership, helps experiences resonate more, and gets everyone “on board.”

Knowing how to start getting your kids involved in vacation planning can be the tricky part. After all, they don’t know what they don’t know and don’t necessarily have the research skills to figure things out on their own. To help, I’ve put together a set of travel planning printables for kids.

In addition to keeping the kids busy and involved in vacation planning, these can also support homeschooling initiatives in geography and social studies. So if you are looking for a vacation planner printables for kids, be sure to read through to the end.

Travel Planning PRintables for Kids

Give your kids the following assignment. You can use the downloadable worksheets at the end of this post to make it an “official” feeling assignment.

Here is your assignment:

1. Choose three destinations that you would like to visit. These can be cities, national parks, states, or countries. If you are having trouble coming up with ideas for three places, browse the Internet and YouTube (with parental supervision if necessary) to look for things like:
   • Best vacations with kids / Best vacations with teens
   • Best family vacation destinations
   • Where to go in (add the current year)
2. Research these destinations using Google, Pinterest, YouTube, and/or Instagram to answer the following questions. Try to use blogs or articles from real people/families in your research to get the “real” sense of the place.
   • List three interesting facts about this destination that you didn’t already know and that make you want to visit. Search for things like “things to know about…, interesting facts about…, or visit the tourism website for that destination.
   • What is the best time to visit? Search “best time to visit xyz”, or “best time of year to visit xyz”.
   • How long should you stay? Search “how many days should you spend in xyz”.
   • What are the top five things that YOU want to do there? Be sure to list opening days and times, as well as ticket prices if applicable. Search “things to do in xyz”, “things to do with kids in xyz”, “xyz itinerary” and read the articles to find things that interest you.
   • Find three restaurants that YOU would want to try. Search “where to eat in xyz”, “best restaurants in xyz”, “family-friendly restaurants in xyz” — read the articles and then click on the restaurant website to check out the menus.
   • BONUS for teens: create a Google Map that shows the attractions and sights that you are interested in visiting.
     • Open Google Maps and search for the destination
     • Search for each attraction and “save” or “star” each location
     • Zoom out and get a sense of where everything is located.
   • Double bonus for teens: create a daily itinerary for your trip. Look at the location of each attraction and how long you want to spend at each, as well as the days/hours it is open. Use this information and the map you created to build out a day-by-day itinerary for your future trip.
3. Fill out the attached downloadable worksheets to present to your parents.
4. Schedule a time to present your findings to your parent(s). You can use these worksheets or create a presentation on Google Slides, record a video, etc. Remember, you need to present all the options but then make sure you pick a favorite!

You may want to start them off with a list of your favorite family travel blogs to use as resources. I highly encourage using these as resources since you are getting real advice from real people.

Download your Vacation Planner Worksheets

There are three worksheets to be downloaded including: instructions, Vacation Planner for kids, and an optional Vacation Planner for teens.