30 June 2012

Summer Travel Packing List For Little Girls

image by kalanicut

I'm doing a little weekend bonus post. I can't take that mantle picture being front and center anymore. haa. I have been on the go the past three days making the most of the summer days with family and friends, which is how it should be anyway. I'll fix the photo later.

The Bug is getting more and more self-sufficient every day, including being able to read a lot of basic words. I thought it would be fun to create a travel packing list for her, so that she can have more independence when packing for family trips. Cutting my workload a bit is not a bad side benefit, right? We end up traveling fairly frequently and even when they are just short weekend trips, we still have to pack all the basics.

We have test driven this list once and it works for us. She loved it and had so much fun carrying around her list and crossing off the things that were in her suitcase. And it really did make the entire process more fun for me too. I am usually in her room in the middle of the night while she's asleep going through her clothes. It's nice for me to have that list too so I don't forget things she needs. She gave me the business a few weeks ago when I forgot to pack a bag of small plastic animals for her on a trip. I have been reminded of that several times.

Since packing for family travel can be such a lot of work for moms, I thought I would share this with you readers - in hopes to lighten your work loads a bit. You might want to create your own personalized chart or you can print out this chart and use it yourself. If you decide to DIY your own, know that I did this in a word processing doc using basic clip art and it was super easy. I saved it as a word doc so I can edit it later and as a PDF file so that I had a copy that would be more permanent.

I used pictures so kids who can't read know what to pack and how many of each item. Five images of shirts equals five shirts to pack, three images of socks means pack three pairs of socks, and so on. I also included the words next to the pictures so that kids who are learning to read can get to know the words. On this list is everything for the suitcase, the carry-on backpack and even stuffed animals, blanket, small toys, water and snacks. This list is based on needs for a basic week-long trip but is geared more to summer. I play with the number of bottoms and tops, but I thought I would include everything on the chart, then we can cut down the number we pack as needed.

To download the packing list, go to my facebook page kalanicut in the photo section where you can open the file and print it from there. If you use it, let me know how it works for you. I will definitely be updating it as I go along to better suit our needs and catch things I might've left out. If you have any problems or frustrations getting the file to print or download, email me and I will get you taken care of lickety split.

You might also enjoy other packing posts including an always ready toiletries kit. If you have kiddos who'll be packing up to head off to university in a few weeks, here's a great post on practical gifts perfect for college kids. Hope you are having a great weekend!

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