So, we are in Disney World today! No, I’m not typing this while we’re there. I prepared ahead for this week. In fact, we’ve been preparing for this week for a long time! We like to help our kids build anticipation for vacations. Today, I thought I would write about how to build excitement for vacations with kids. Here are various things we have done as a countdown to a big trip:
How to countdown before a big vacation
- Make corresponding crafts.
The Mickey/Minnie Mouse ears the kids made at camp the summer before our Disney trip.
So our big Disney trip is with my side of the family. We are all meeting in Orlando for a whole week of Mickey fun. In the summer, my mom and dad have what they term “Grammy and Gramps Camp,” during which they keep all the grandkids for 4-5 days. (Don’t worry, I usually go as a counselor. They aren’t all alone!) Last July, the kids made all Disney crafts at “Grammy and Gramps Camp.” Some of them are things they’ll be able to use at Disney (fun flip-flops, the mouse ears), and others were just to build anticipation (Disney-themed magnetic bookmarks). Fun variation: Instead of crafts, build anticipation with food. We also had individual Mickey Mouse pizzas (one individual pizza with small ear pizzas) one night. After camp, the kids were pumped for the trip!
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My daugter's countdown calendar for our cruise vacation, featuring water, our car driving, sunglasses, ice cream and more!
Make a countdown calendar. When we went to Disney the other time (three years ago), we went with my husband’s family. One hundred days out, I make a countdown calendar for each family and sent it to them. I found coloring book pages and line art cartoons of Disney characters (100 of them!), shrunk them down, and make rows of the characters on three different pages. The kids colored one in each day until they were all filled in. Fun variation: Have the kids make their own calendars. The kids (or I) will draw pictures of what we’ll be doing on vacation, then color one in each day.
- Make a countdown chain. I know, I think everyone knows about this one, but just in case! My son chose to do this as his countdown to our New Orleans trip over the summer. Make strips of construction paper — as many as you have days left. Make a chain by stapling or taping the chain links through each other. Take off a link every day. Fun variation: Make it educational. My sister’s sister-in-law (get that???) make a countdown chain for my sister and her husband before a trip they took to the Grand Canyon. The fun twist? On each link was printed an interesting fact about the Grand Canyon.
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The fun envelope that our Christmas itinerary came in! The kids were super excited to get this in the mail!
Send out a creative itinerary. Christmas with my husband’s family was spent in the Smokies this year. The theme (there’s always a theme…) was international Christmas. My sister-in-law made a detailed itinerary about all the fun places we would be visiting (we had different kinds of food for different countries, and played games to represent them). The kids got the itineraries in the mail about a week before we left, along with pretend tickets to all the places we would visit. (I’ll write a more detailed description of our international Christmas at a later date.) The itineraries came in large, fun, red envelopes. The kids sure were excited to get these in the mail. Fun variation: Make an e-itinerary, if you’re trying to save money. We have a fun itinerary for Disney, too, that my sister made, complete with photos of where we’ll be going each day. We got in in email just a few weeks ago. The pictures make it perfect for kids who can’t read yet!
- Send small countdown gifts. This was my mom’s mastermind for this trip! At significant intervals (100 days, 75 days, 50 days, 25 days), she sent packages to all the grandkids with small gifts that we can use on the trip. Once they got fun Disney cups, another time they all got Disney pajamas. Another fun idea! Fun variation: Send countdown emails with applicable pictures to print and color. Have a contest with various family members for the best-colored picture (adults, too!).
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