We love having things around our house that help bring back memories from our travels. One type of collection that is easy to start and keep up with is destination magnets. Almost everywhere we have gone, we have found lots of magnets to choose from. These collections belong to the kids, and we let each of them choose a magnet for each of the places we visit. You can start your memory collections at any time. If your kids are too young to choose for themselves, just pick them out yourself & stash them away until they are older. If you have traveled to lots of places and haven’t started a collection yet, that’s OK too. It’s never too late to start!
I like to write their initial (so we don’t get them mixed up) and the year on the back of each magnet. As time goes by, it’s so easy to forget what year we went to each of these places!
The red and black circle magnet boards are wall mounted on my son’s bedroom wall. The red ones were purchase at shopping portals to see which has the best payout at the time of your purchase.
My daughter’s magnet boards were purchased at IKEA. They are the SPONTAN magnetic boards in the white color. Luckily they fit perfectly on the sides of her shelves that surround her desk area (desk top and legs also from IKEA).
One thing to note: There can be some concern with young kids and swallowing magnets, so if your kids are at that age, you might want to stash their magnet collections away until they are old enough to have them displayed without trying to eat them.
In most of the National Parks we have visited, the kids have participated in the Junior Ranger program, which I highly recommend. When you arrive at the National Park Visitor’s Center, ask someone where you can get the information about the Junior Rangers. They will give you a booklet to complete, with all of the tasks that need to be accomplished before returning to a Visitor’s Center and claiming your badge (free souvenir…score!). The kids may be asked to raise their hands and repeat after the Ranger (hint: this is a cute photo op).
I will happily force encourage my kids to participate in these programs because I learned so much more than I would have if they hadn’t. The booklets will give you information about the local plants and animals, and fun facts about the parks. I have found these to be more useful than many of the guidebooks I have read! Because of these programs, we participated in Ranger-led hikes, watched informative films, listened to Ranger talks (who knew dolphins aren’t actually smiling?!?!), and learned about native cultures and traditions.
Plus it is just really nice family bonding time, and who can argue with that?
According to their website:
“There are currently over 200 Junior Ranger Programs in the National Park Service. In each of these parks, kids interview Rangers, complete games, and answer questions about the park and the National Park Service. At the end of their experience in the park, they are sworn in as Junior Rangers and receive a special certificate and official Junior Ranger badge.”
This is yet another example of how travel can be both educational and fun. At times the kids didn’t even realize that they were learning something! I love relaxing days on the beach as much as the next vacationer, but I also try building in some educational travel on our trips, especially on a long vacation. I’m not going to pretend that the kids always go with the travel flow as much as I want them to, but the Junior Ranger program is one that we generally all agree is very worthwhile.
