My husband and I love exploring cute and charming towns. If it’s just him and me, we can walk around for hours, admiring beautiful buildings, perusing local shops and galleries, enjoying vibrant landscaping, eating and drinking at fun restaurants, and so on. However, realistically, about 90% of the time we travel, we bring along our two young daughters. And let me tell you – a two year old and four year old couldn’t care less how adorable a downtown street is or how beautiful the view is of the bay.
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So when we made plans to go to Martha’s Vineyard, I was determined to get the best of both worlds – entertainment for the kids and sightseeing for us parents. After looking online for things to do on the Vineyard, the best idea struck me:
A SCAVENGER HUNT!
I popped onto Canva.com (I love Canva, so easy to use for basically everything. Check it out for free here) and pulled together a quick and easy scavenger hunt for the girls to do while we walked around Oak Bluffs. I included things that I knew they loved (like ice cream and flowers) and unique items found in specific areas of town that I wanted to visit (such a pink cottages). It was Pink & Green weekend while we were on the island, so I gave it a pink and green theme, printed it out, and voila! Good to go!
We were staying in Oak Bluffs, so after checking into our hotel and freshening up, we were off! When the girls found something on the list, they would stop and take a photo (they received these great kids cameras for Christmas). They were so excited each time they found something new! And I love that they may actually have photos of fun moments from our trip…. instead of the blurry feet and really bad closeups that they usually take. 😂
Don’t have kids cameras? No worries! Try checking each item off the list with a pen or marker, or a fun stamp if you have one. Stickers would work great too! Maybe instead of your kiddo taking the photo, you can capture a shot of him/her with the item. The options are endless.
The best part of this idea is that it’s totally customizable to each trip and your specific children. I kept mine short and simple because my kids are so young and that’s all their attention span can handle. But the older your kids are, the trickier and more detailed you can make it.
Do you travel with your kids? How do you keep them entertained while on vacation? Comment below – we’d love to know!
Jacqueline ♥