With news lately of parents being fined for taking children out of school during term time to go on holiday, and MPs debating high season holiday prices, it naturally follows to ask the question: Are holidays educational? And should they be?
At base, the important thing is to spend time as a family — something difficult to do as we all get increasingly busy. But in my experience holidays — which involve exploring, seeing new places, trying new foods, doing new things — are inherently educational, for grown-ups and kids.
At BritMums, we’re running the #Wales4Kids Linky Challenge, asking bloggers what their children learn on holiday, and giving away a luxury family break in Wales worth £1,000 from the Rare Hideaways collection. Naturally, I can’t win the holiday but it’s an interesting topic and Wales is the perfect place for a fun-filled family break. (You can enter the Challenge yourself but blogging about what your kids learn on holiday.)
To find out what has stuck in my daughter’s mind from our travels, I asked her what she has learned on holiday. I thought she would mentions things such as:
Learning about installation art at the Cadillac Ranch…
This installation is a landmark in the Texas panhandle, and the best thing is you can walk right up to it, climb on the cars, even spray paint them yourself. Very hands-on and it spurred a conversation about art with the kids.
Learning about street art in New York City…
We toured Bushwick with the excellent guides Levys’ Unique New York. They are full of information and have loads of full-on Noo Yoik personality. We learned about the development of street art in Brooklyn, heard about the artists and even saw some of them at work.
My husband thought the educational highlights would be:
Challenging themselves on a climb up Wheeler Peak…
It’s the highest peak in New Mexico. The walk up is steep, and we had to stop several times to catch our breath, but it was worth it to reach the lake, have lunch and feed the chipmunks.
Learning how to fish in the ocean…
Hours of fun, this activity. Several fish caught, all released and throwing techniques were perfected.
But funny enough, none of these were the things my daughter mentioned first. What sprung to mind for her was:
Riding a camel in Dubai. Funny enough, we hadn’t done that before.
In addition to riding a camel, she was also very impressed with getting her first henna tattoo, holding a falcon and going on a 4×4 drive in the dunes. Stunning, exciting and utterly different.
Learning about Niagara Falls, and the daredevil acts associated with it.
We could have stood for an hour at the side of the falls and just watched the water flowing over it.
I felt particularly excited that she also talked about visiting the Science Spectrum in my hometown, a place where we learned how to build circuits, what the physics of bubbles are, and where she loves to go every time we’re back there.
It was just a reminder of how much we all learn on holiday, and that children can learn a lot on exotic foreign trips, but also on holidays closer to home. The more I think about it, the more I think not only should holidays be educational but that for the most part they are.
Take part in the #Wales4Kids Linky Challenge, share what your kids learn on holiday and you could win a luxury getaway in Wales!
I enjoyed reading about and seeing some of your family learning adventures. Love the art and have always wanted to visit Niagara Falls. It is lovely to look back at these memories we are making for our children.
I often wonder what they will remember. My mother is always amazed at what I do (and don’t recall) now.
Are you riding a camel? How cool!
I *did* ride a camel. Not very comfortable but nice to say you’ve done it. More impressive was the falcon they had on a glove that would circle back and land on your arm. Truly majestic bird.
I want this holiday!! It looks like alot of fun yet educational – there’s an art (not sure Ive mastered it) to making something educational and fun!
I think my son found Niagara Falls fascinating too. We loved the boat ride and, yes, hearing all the stories.
I didn’t get round to entering for this competition which is a real pity as Wales is on our list for a visit, maybe in the summer. Great reading everyone’s holiday memories though.
I could have stood for ages just watching the water flow at Niagara. Thanks for commenting.
It’s really interesting to hear your family’s different memories of what they’ve learnt on holiday. Kids always seem to focus on completely different things to their parents. I love the look of the Cadillac Ranch – fantastic!
Gretta, the Cadillac Ranch is a classic Texas destination, commissioned by a Texas millionaire from an artist. It really *is* interactive. My kids were going out of their minds realising that they could actually spray paint on the cards themselves.
Our holidays with our kids have always been so educational, for all of us, and being in a bilingual, bicultural family, whenever we spend holidays with our French family they become doubly educational as our kids learn who they are and where they are from.