In a recent trip to the local library we went out of our way to peruse the travel section in case there were any new (to us) books on France or Paris. We found two books about traveling to Paris; one covering walks of Paris and the other a “First Trip” to Paris for kids. Jackpot.
One of our goals for this repeat trip back to Paris is to get closer to the neighborhoods. This includes the neighborhood cafe scene and weekly markets but also the “hidden” history that has taken place there. (“Hidden” in that one might miss it if you’re not looking for it.) And one of the biggest wins from our trip to Spain this spring was setting aside “green days” where we have nothing to do but play at a park, explore a new neighborhood, or just do something 100% for the kids. History and art welcome but not required.
We’ve previously underappreciated books like these. We had our Rick Steves, our itinerary, a museum pass, and a ton of snacks. What else do we need? Well, as the kids get older we see the value in really slowing down and enjoying just being somewhere with our family. These books wouldn’t be your only resource but if you find a fun bakery or a great park they are well worth a skim.
Walking a neighborhood
The Nat Geo book was handy because kids love to explore and walk around looking at buildings and bridges and go into every store they see. They seem to appreciate being able to make some of their own decisions and “lead the tour” of whatever street we’re on. Our secret is to do this not only on open days but also on the way to outdoor sights. Letting them “discover” Luxembourg gardens is a lot of fun. That ownership of the activity goes a long way to a) enjoying the experience at the time and b) maintaining that memory for a long time afterwards.
What is “kid friendly”?
Some traveling-with-kids books will focus on activities a family can do outside of the big must-see and -do sights. We are not proponents of this philosophy. Kids can love the Louvre. Kids can love the Colosseum. Granada’s Alhambra, even. With a little preparation and some context they can be just as interested in learning as the adults (sometimes more so!).
So we feel that kid-specific activities are in addition to as opposed to in place of marquee destination sights and activities. In fact, they are often paired well together. In Madrid this spring we purposefully let the kids air it out at the playground before touring the Royal Palace of Madrid. Royal palaces, castles, chateaus…huge old buildings full of fancy stuff, are not always the most interesting, especially for a 4 and 2 yr old.
Therefore this…
…can help with this:
True, it was close to nap time and thus they both fell asleep in their backpacks anyway, but we were able to take our time and walk through the palace without incident. And, it was super interesting and beautiful.
We plan on incorporating some of the places found in My First… book as it covers activities by arrondissement (city districts). Thanks to this book we have a fun climbing activity (see right image) along the Seine for before/after visiting the glorious d’Orsay museum.
One last benefit from books like this is that they are often great to look at. Thick glossy pages with rich colorful images. The kids can go through them and add a post-it note to anything that they want to add to the itinerary. Suggestions are always welcome(!), particularly early on, because they will be engaged and excited and when you talk to them about narrowing that list down, it’s a great opportunity for modeling decision-making behavior for them. (“We only have time for X. Which of these 3 activities should we do on this day?” “What makes this your favorite choice?” etc.
We’ll be adding a handful of possibilities we found in the books to our growing list over the coming weeks
Talk soon,
Dan & Betsy
Suggestions for big kids:
7+ – they can go to the library and find some books that are more focused on specific topics (Roman engineering, Impressionist art, Britain’s industrial revolution, etc.). DK Eyewitness makes some pretty slick books including travel books for destinations. Lots of diagrams and visual explanations.
10+ – young adult biographies are prevalent these days. The library should have many or order them on the cheap like we’ve done for nieces and nephews. The Who was… and What was… series are a great place to start. Julius Caesar. Da Vinci. Monet. D-Day. Pompeii. The Statue of Liberty.
13+ – any of the above or just like adults, just go straight to the DK series or anything with rich colorful photos and diagrams that make the sights come alive. Once they’ve found anything of interest, time for a trip to the library!