Travel educational for kids is my new personality because i’m too cheap for private school but too extra for “we just looked at stuff.” hi it’s me, the mom who turned the colosseum into a pokemon battle arena so my kid would care about gladiators. these are the hacks that actually worked and didn’t make my children disown me.
the time i accidentally made my kid a history nerd in rome
day 2 in rome my 7yo whined “this is boring” at the forum. i panicked and said “dude this is where pokemon trainers used to battle with actual lions.” ten minutes later he’s narrating which emperor would’ve had charizard and i’m taking notes like i’m at a TED talk. we now own a 40-page “roman pokemon guide” he wrote on the flight home. accidental win.
the actual sneaky ways i make travel educational for kids
- scavenger hunts are god-tier print pictures of stuff you’ll see (statue of david’s hand, a red phone booth, a windmill). first one to spot 10 wins gelato. they learn landmarks and i get 20 minutes of silence.
- let them be the tour guide give them the kids’ audio guide or a laminated map and a sharpie. my daughter led us through the louvre pointing out “the lady with no arms” (venus de milo) and “the tiny crying painting” (mona lisa). she now corrects strangers.
- currency = sneaky math “you have 10 euros. croissant is 3. how many can you buy?” suddenly they’re doing subtraction in three countries and think they’re just buying pastries.
- pokemon cards / trading cards for everything roman emperors? got cards with their faces and “attack points” based on how many countries they conquered. dinosaurs at the natural history museum in london? same thing. my kids have a full “european dictator” deck now. don’t judge me.
- postcards home to the dog they have to write three facts about where we are or the dog “won’t get mail.” works every single time. we now have a 47-postcard letter to our labrador about belgium waffles.
stuff that backfired hard travel education
- tried to make the anne frank house travel educational with a 5yo. bad idea. very bad.
- thought the catacombs in paris would be “cool skeletons.” cue nightmares for six months.
- my kid asked a british museum guard if the elgin marbles were stolen. guard agreed. i died.
the golden rules i now live by travel educational
- max one “learning thing” per day. then beach/gelato/playground bribery
- never say the word “educational.” call it “secret missions”
- let them take the photos. their iphone rolls are 90% floors and snacks but they remember everything
- if they hate it, abort mission. forced learning is just vacation torture
next up currently plotting iceland where volcanoes = actual pokemon gyms in my son’s brain.
anyway if you want to make travel education for kids without them hating your guts, just lie a little. turn everything into a game, bribe with sugar, and pretend you’re not secretly raising tiny nerds.
