25 Best Ways to Travel with Children

1 | Don't Leave Home Without

Wipes, baggies, rubber bands, a roll of electrical tape, #allofthechargers. And you should definitely bone up on the 30 Airport Secrets Only Insiders Know.

2 | Free Your Digits

Moments of peak frustration happen when your responsibilities out-number your hands. Delegate as much as you can away from your toddler-wrangling fingers: use ear buds for your phone, a backpack for your carry-on, your brain for remembering the gate, boarding time, and seat assignments.

3 | Power Ranking: Know the 5 Best Ways to Occupy Your Kids in the Car

5. Favorite movie on loop

4. Snacks on loop

3. Drive at night

2. Apps

1. Free their data!

4 | Power Rankings: The 5 Worst Ways to Occupy Your Kids in the Car

5. Clay

4. Expecting them to appreciate your rendition of "Margaritaville"

3. The license plate game

2.Unlimited questions from you

1. Unlimited liquids for them

5 | Simple > Grand

One time, after a multi-day trip to Disney World, my wife and I asked our boys what their favorite part of the trip was. Their answer: The big escalator in the hotel. Kids don't need elaborate and expensive entertainment to have fun, and you don't need to feel pressure to make every hour a gargantuan experience. They can be happy with hotel pools and subway rides.

6 | Find the Teaching Moments

Travel is the perfect time to teach how and when to not talk to strangers—and how and when you should.

7 | Child Truth 1

Excursions that involve looking at/touching/swimming with animals are better than excursions that involve monuments. And consider avoiding the 15 Most Haunted Places in America altogether.

8 | Child Truth 2

The triumvirate of tantrum-triggers—hunger, fatigue, boredom—are formidable foes. Your vacation success hinges on your ability to outsmart them before they attack.

9 | Child Truth 3

They'll remember—this one time—you let them jump on the bed.*

* Be the spotter

10 | Make Them Assistants, Not Always Tagalongs

At their core, children are mini-Sherlocks. They want to have some kind of quest, which means you can make every outing one. "Help me find" 3^rd Street, or Gate B9, or a pizza place" will go a long way in keeping their minds going while you are. And if you're looking for some amazing travel #inspo, here are the 10 Most Stunning American Resorts Under $150-a-Night.

11 | See the Light

In her blog Suitcases and Sippy Cups, Jessica Bowers, writes that one of the best come-in-handy items that can turn into a toy is a mini-flashlight. For hotel rooms, you can use it to play "I Spy" or make shadow animals.

12 | Rules for Souvenirs for the Kids

1.Give them a budget for the trip so they can make choices about what's really important.

2. Make at least one of souvenir something small that they can collect everywhere you go (keychains, postcards). Even if they go in a box after every trip, it'll be one place (other than Instagram) where they can rewind their life a bit as they get older.

3. Maybe read this if your tween wants a shot glass.

13 | Wait Just a Minute

A long line shouldn't always be a deterrent to not do something, as long as you're not spending more time waiting than doing. Studies show that children who are more patient have better outcomes as adults. And if you need to relax during your trip, check out The Best Way to Do Yoga on an Airplane. 

14 | Less is More

Instead of filling the day with everything you can do, pick one big thing you all want to do. Then down-shift. Misery quickly comes when you treat your vacation schedule like a work one. And for more amazing parenting advice, here are the 40 Parenting Hacks for Raising an Amazing Kid.

15 | Do Not Bring

Their favorite blanket or stuffed animal. It. Will. Get. Lost.

16 | Do Not Let Them Touch

All the elevator buttons.

17 | Treat Them Like a Piece of Luggage

If you have small kids and will be in crowded areas, attach your cell number to them: A tag on their wrist, or even with a marker on their arm.

18 | Just Sayin'

Nobody will judge you if you want to make sure you, too, have a "sippy cup" on hand with "mommy's juice" or "daddy's milk."

19 | Include Them in On the Prep

As you're gathering up everything you need to bring, take some time and let them choose a few things they "need," too. It could be stuff from the dollar store, new socks, really anything that helps them share in the build-up of the excitement trip.

20 | If You're an A+ Organizer (or Know You Should Be)

Packing cubes are worth it.

21 | Plan a Variety Show

A high-quality itinerary should be like a high-quality playlist: You don't want to hear the same song over and over, and maybe you don't want to do the same kind of thing over and over. Depending on where you're going, you'll keep your kids (and yourself) most engaged by mixing it up between nature, attractions, structured events, unstructured ones, walking, taking buses, go time, down time.

22 | Patrol the Legs

Most of your fellow passengers will tolerate and sympathize about a crying baby. They will not do the same about a tyke who kicks the seat.

23 | Empower Them

Jason Greene, founder of One Good Dad, encourages his kids to order food in the native language when they travel internationally. It's an opportunity, he says, to teach them how to think independently, how to navigate unfamiliar situations, and to try new things—all life skills that they'll use in the future.

24 | You're Welcome

Chicken fingers in Spanish: Pollo empanizado y frito.

25 | In the End, This Matters Most

The most comfortable place for their head is up against your shoulder. For more parenting tips, check out The 30 Funniest Pieces of Celebrity Parenting Advice.

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