Christmas presents for kids who love to explore
OK, there’s not that much travel going on right now. But that doesn’t mean you can’t inspire your kids with ideas for after lockdown travel bans. We’ve compiled a list of great Christmas gifts for curious, exploring kids who want to learn more about the world.
Binoculars
One of the great skills for those who travel is to learn to notice what’s around you. Luckily you don't need to wait for an exotic destiantion to get started. There’s lots to see from your window. Binoculars really hone observation skills for kids, and there are great options: colourful and simple for toddlers through to the high resolution pairs for older and more experienced investigators. You could try and get them started identifying birds in the park or following the action at a siblings football match or race. If you’re a homeschooler/home educator there are loads of educational activities to be tried involving binoculars.
Nature watching guide
Once you’ve introduced kids to watching and observing around them, get them collecting. Do you remember i-Spy books? They’re still available, undated and just as much fun. There’s a great guide to birdwatching on the RSPB website and then i-spy garden birds, creepy-crawlies and many others. And once their knowledge and confidence grows how about taking part in the RSPB Garden Bird watch or a Butterfly count? The observations made from our parks and gardens provide vital information for conservation projects.
A globe
Understanding where countries are and how they relate to other countries, regions and continents takes time and can be wonderful fun. There are inflatable globes (a globe and a ball….perfect combination), illuminated globes, scratch off globes and even the amazing and elaborate globes which you might find in a stately home or museum. From exploring the globe you can move to capital cities, look at which animals live where and imagine journeys you might take together. Perfect for mini geographers!
Travel diary
Encourage the kids to keep a record of a journey and gather together memories and information about what they’ve seen - even if it’s a small journey like a walk or trip to grandma’s house. There are options available to buy, but it’s also possible to make your own travel scrapbook - some coloured pens, a blank scrapbook, some glue, scissors and some ideas is all they need.
Maybe keep track each day, leave space for a photo or two, collect up tickets for the bus or sugar cube wrappers, a few coins. Lots of tourist information centres have leaflets which can be cut up and stuck in. A career as a travel writer or photojournalist can start from this sort of project and memories of a fun trip to an exciting new place or even to see a grandparent can be cherished.
Even if kids can’t travel right now, they can practice by tracking their everyday life - a true explorer sees the adventure in everything!
Head torch
All good travelers know to be prepared with a torch - for arriving late at night in a new destination, for searching for the key you dropped or investigating an unfamiliar noise. A torch is essential for any camping trip and a head torch leaves both hands free. And many of us remember that torch we used to read under the covers when the lights have been turned off!
You can find funny, cute headtorches, or slightly more professional ones.
Games
Travel often involves long waits - at airports and bus terminals, on trains, when the TV or internet doesn't work. Ironically, COVID lockdowns also involve long waits - you can double up! Small travel-friendly games are essential and keep kids from getting restless and bored (never a good combination) when there isn't an option to run around and play more actively.
Lots of games have a travel version which is smaller and more portable. But make sure to examine them closely - anything with lots of small pieces which can roll off or get lost is a bad idea. A pack of playing cards is a great option - there are even wipe-able ones and a great family standby is Uno - lots of fun but simple enough to include the youngest family member in the game.
These travel quiz cards from Stanford’s are a great option for travel-mad kids and parents!
Map book
Like a globe, an atlas is a reference resource, a place of dreams about future journeys and a way to remember that last trip when you’re at home and want to relive the fun you had. So many to choose from and some have a specific focus - animals, amazing buildings, sports venues - match the map to your children’s interest.
We’ve made a little list of our favourites:
This gorgeous wall map covered in animals of the world
We use this book ourselves, to get us inspired for different workbooks. Each country is beautifully illustrated and thought out.
How about a jigsaw map? Usborne make puzzles for all sorts of countries - the UK, Japan, Europe…
Some DTK workbooks
The perfect stocking fillers - these workbooks will help kids explore the world through activities and puzzles, while giving parents a well deserved Christmas rest. The workbooks are available as individual countries, a pack of 10 regular workbooks, or a triple pack of Jumbo workbooks.
We also sell interactive maps - each country on the map is accompanied by a white square so kids can tick off when they’ve travelled there or completed that workbook. The map is perfect if you’re planning on continuing with DTK in the New Year. By the end of 2021 we’ll have travelled to 28 different countries (plus a few extra) on the map.
Workbooks are available as printed versions or as PDF downloads which you can print yourself. Please note: we are only selling these workbooks until the end of December, so if you’re interested, don’t wait too long! From January we’ll be switching to DTK 2.0 - a blended digital/printable format.
Water Bottle
Its important to keep hydrated wherever you travel and brilliant training for kids to carry their own water. It helps them learn how much they need to drink to keep healthy. We’d like to encourage all kids to avoid single-use plastics and a reusable water bottle is the ideal way to do that. There are so many to choose from but there are definitely some fun options here.