4 Travel Safety Tips to Teach Your Kids
Whether you've got teenagers who are eager to explore new places or young children who are happy to hang out all day at the hotel pool, travel can be very beneficial to your kids. It helps open their eyes to the world, allows them to stretch their creativity and spark curiosity — and it brings your family closer together.
Traveling with kids of any age, however, can be a nerve-wracking experience. To help set your own mind at ease and start preparing your little travelers about how to stay safe on their own adventures one day, start teaching your kids how to stay safe while on the go. Here are four travel safety tips you should be teaching your kids.
1. Wait Until Your Home to Post Pictures on Social Media
With kids today becoming more familiar with technology at a younger age, it's increasingly important to teach your children about the dangers of social media. One important safety tip to teach them is to keep their travel plans, or where they plan to be at any given time, off of social media.
Announcing holiday plans on any social media site lets criminals know that your home is empty. Teach your kids that while it's fine to post pictures about their vacation, they should always wait until they're back home to do so.
2. Leave Your Home Safe
Simply keeping your travel plans off the web isn't enough to protect your home while you're away. Even though your little ones are a long way off from having to look after their own home, it's never a bad idea to start teaching them how to be responsible and safe. Plus, there are plenty of things that your kids can help with to get your home ready for your next vacation.
Let your kids help you unplug all of the electronics in your home. Show them how you check to make sure that the windows and doors in your home are locked. You can even show older kids how you keep an eye on your home with a security camera system, that way you always know who is coming and going from your home while you're away.
3. Who Is Okay to Ask for Help
Kids of all ages should understand the difference between strangers and those who might be able to help them if they get lost or separated from you while traveling. While police officers are obvious choices, they aren't always around when something goes wrong. If they are in a shopping mall, finding a store clerk behind a cash register guarantees that your little ones don't confuse someone shopping with someone working. In parks and other areas, finding a mom with kids of her own is your child's best chance of getting help.
4. Memorize Travel Plans
Some travel safety tips help your kids prepare for future travel of their own, but others help you keep your kids safe during your vacation right now, while they are still young. If your children are old enough, make sure that they always know the name of where they are staying. That way if they ever get separated from you, they'll be able to let authorities know where they're staying. If your kids are too young to memorize hotel names, focus on making sure that they know their name, your name and the cell phone number of at least one parent.
Teaching Your Kids About Safe Travel
Whether your little ones are only old enough to memorize their own last name and your cell-phone number, or you have teens who are ready to learn how to be on their own in just a few years, these safety tips can help you equip them with the skills they need to stay safe.
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