FWIW, I’ve tried to be active. It’s just harder. My kids are athletic so not fat and lazy, but city days taking subways, stairs, etc. all day are not easy on them. Kinda like Disney, where you walk 6-8 miles. They get tired and can’t do nearly as much as adults for sure so I just had to routinely be patient, buy a lot more snacks to motivate them and keep them happy, and often change plans because we were too slow or tired or whatever.

I find it also helps to plan your day with their motivation in mind when possible. Don’t do that thing they want mid day, save it for the end so they have some motivation.

But also the winter dark at 5 and not 9:30 really comes into play. Museums and most of everything else shuts down at 5ish so after that you are really limited to what can be done that day at night with kids.

This post was edited on 1/14/24 at 8:42 am

1 ...

Report Post

Posted by BlackenedOut

The Big Sleazy

Member since Feb 2011

5828 posts

Posted on 1/14/24 at 7:32 am to baldona

YMMV, but the single best motivator we’ve used to get our kids to walk just a little further is the promise of ice cream at the end of the walk/museum/church visit. Kids get ice cream at say 3; parents have a beer or glass of wine. All is right in the world.

ETA: To OP another tip for your kids especially at their age. Before the trip tell them they get a point for certain things. For instance in Venice you got a point if you spotted a lion. Get a point for trying new foods, finding something in a museum, etc…
“If” they get enough points there is a really cool toy store they go to on the last day of the trip and pick out something cool. We still do this with our kids and what’s really cool is they remember how they got the points more than the toys years later.

This post was edited on 1/14/24 at 7:37 am

1 ...

Report Post

Travel Board - Replies to Post

Return To Board

Page 1

Return To Board