How to Plan Adventures for You and Your Toddler
Does going on an adventure with your toddler seem like a big to-do, so you typically stay close to home doing the same activities over and over again?
I’m here to tell you that taking your little one on these adventures helps to expose them to things outside of their home-base bubble, builds up their tolerance for traveling, are a great way to make memories, and are fun for everyone.
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Finding Family-Friendly Adventures
Start with your favorite search engines like Google, Pinterest, and your friends and family, or social media to get ideas of different types of adventures.
Investigate these options and try to find ones that are family-friendly places to travel to. Try to find ones that are shorter distances at first and extend them out as you tackle those.
Chances are that you’ll find several options within driving distance of anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours that can provide a fun filled day of adventure.
I found a very beautiful place featured on an Instagram reel that was within 2 hours driving distance from my home called Rock City Gardens in Lookout Mountain, TN.
It had beautiful nature and hiking trails, fairy tale themed caverns, amazing views, and it was dog-friendly as well, so we were able to bring our pup.
Invite Others to Join Your Adventure
Doing things with others you love just adds to the fun and you get to share those experiences. It doesn’t have to be a big group because that can be a lot to coordinate.
Instead, maybe invite another family or some friends to join. It also doesn’t hurt to have some extra hands, eyes, support, etc., when your adventure involves a toddler.
My sister, my friend, her daughter and their pup joined our venture to Rock City Gardens. It made the trip that much more special to have them with us.
You can always plan trips for just you and your kiddo, but I would suggest to try and keep the adventures within an hour drive.
It can become a little overwhelming at times when you don’t have others with you to assist and that way if you need to make a hasty exit, you’re not too far from home.
Plan Ahead
The key to making these adventures successful is to plan ahead. Start thinking about the journey there and back, what the weather will be like, what the food situation looks like, and what will make your adventure more convenient.
Consider the following:
- – Your child’s schedule (eating, naps, etc)
- – The environment you’re going to
- – The weather
- – What you’ll need logistically and what the place allows (stroller, baby carrier, dog-friendly, etc)
- – What your child typically needs throughout the day (diapers, wipes, snacks, etc)
- – The travel time and how you’ll keep your little one entertained during this time (if need be)
- – Meal planning
For our most recent excursion I knew we’d be in the car for a couple hours there and back. In anticipation of this, I packed activities in this organizer that hangs off the back of my passenger seat in front of my son’s car seat.
That way he could have different things to keep him entertained. I also brought the iPad as a backup so we could distract him with a movie or interactive activity if we got desperate.
I made sure the diaper bag was stocked with extra clothes, diapers, wipes, snacks, and his sippy cup. I also packed a silicone bib since we planned to stop at a restaurant for a quick meal before we headed back home.
We made sure the restaurant was dog-friendly beforehand as well so we would be able to dine out with them.
I checked their website to see if it was a stroller-friendly environment. Parts of the park were not, but they had an area designated for parking your stroller while you explored the parts that they couldn’t go.
Since there were trails and caverns to navigate through, I brought my baby carrier as well so my son could still enjoy seeing all the beautiful things while strapped to my back.
I love my baby carrier. It’s very comfortable and supports his weight well without causing strain on my back (my kiddo is about 30lbs, so that’s an impressive feat).
The weather called for a sunny day in the 80s, so I made sure we packed the sunscreen and his bucket hat. I also got this very handy dual water bottle and collapsible water bowls for the pups.
I packed a cooler with extra water for us humans, along with more snacks, and lunch for my son in this awesome Bento Box in case he got hungry for more than goldfish or fruit pouches.
Mommy’s purse, for the most part, has been my cross-body bag that holds my things and acts like a miniature diaper bag. That way I don’t have to haul around the big one everywhere and can keep it stored in the car for backups.
When I went to go and purchase the tickets, it requested an arrival time to be selected. I wanted to make sure that I planned the timing right to keep him on schedule as much as possible.
I factored in the time to drive there, a little cushion in case we ran into any traffic, what time he’d be finishing breakfast, and an estimate on the time it would take us to actually get everything loaded up and out the door.
I ended up planning it perfectly. We showed up with 5 minutes to spare.
Don’t Forget to Document
You’re making memories here! You’ll want to document your adventures to look back on them later, share them on your social media to inspire others to try them out, print up some of the images to frame or add to your scrapbook, family photo album, etc.
I’m planning on starting an adventure book to fill with all of our travels together. It will be a fun project for us to work on together throughout the years.
Learn From Your Experiences
Chances are that there will be some figurative bumps in the road on your travels. These are great learning experiences for you to plan ahead for next time or prepare accordingly when strategizing your next adventure.
And sometimes they are inconvenient at the time, but make great stories for later on. Try and find the lesson or silver-lining and don’t let these setbacks discourage you from planning more excursions.
Cheers, Warriors!
I hope you enjoyed reading this post and found it entertaining, educational, inspiring—hopefully, all three. Please be sure to leave any comments or questions you have in the Comments section below.
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