Family Travel Tips: How to keep the kids entertained while on the move

As parents we all know how hard it is to keep children entertained on holidays.

You’ve found the perfect family-friendly accommodation, got your family travel insurance, packed for everyone and everything the kids could possibly fit into a bag is groaning at the seams, but there’s always a moment where one pipes up ‘I’m bored.’

Here’s our top 8 tips to keep them entertained while you’re on holiday:

1) I-Spy books are a great way to keep kids entertained if you’re travelling for long distances in the car or on a train. You can also play the classic I Spy game ("I spy with my little eye, something beginning with _____/ the colour of _____").


2) Audiobooks are great and easier to pack than a pile of kids’ books. Load up your iPod or tablet with all the favourites. There are many great free books available online here

3) Make your own ‘busy kit’ filled with paper, markers, stickers, quiet toys, puzzles and other little bits and bobs.

4) Create your own family story. Bring a stapled stack of paper with you and some crayons and write a bit of the story each. If your children are too young to write, get them to draw illustrations or make a comic book.

5) Bring some family-friendly films to watch and follow up with a quiz to make sure the kids concentrate. Ask them the questions once it’s over and provide a small prize for the winner.

6) Bring a Nintendo DS/ iPad. It may not be the most creative but there’s some great educational games on the DS and for iPad/iPhone that will keep your kids entertained. Also, most children’s TV shows have their own Apps and they’re usually really easy to use for kids from 18 months old.

7) Getting desperate? Try a bribery game! Mum or Dad sets a time limit (don’t make it too long) for how long we are going to keep quiet. Everyone who manages to go the whole time gets a reward. Use sparingly for maximum effectiveness.


8) Buy some disposable cameras and get the kids to take their own pictures while travelling to put in a journey scrapbook once you get back.


At Allianz Global Assistance, it’s our mission to help you on your journey and make it as stress-free as possible. Whether you’re looking for the best family holiday insurance or special cover for golf related travel, we’ve got the right insurance cover for you.

Do you have any other family travel tips to add to our list?

Top 5 Travel Planning Apps

At Allianz Global Assistance we’re here to help you on your journey and make it as stress-free as possible. So we’ve searched high and low to find the Top 5 Travel Planning Apps to make every aspect of your travels easier, so you return home with memories you’ll treasure forever.

1. MyTravel Checklist

As well as offering our wide range of travel insurance options - from family holiday insurance to annual travel insurance - we’ve also developed a free App to help you pack like a pro!

We all know that as amazing as the trip may be, the planning beforehand can be a stressful experience and our travel checklist app will help you get ready each time you pack for a trip.

You can install it straight onto your computer, tablet or smartphone and create and save customised packing lists for all of your upcoming trips—no matter where in the world you’re travelling.

You can email it, print it and save it so it can be accessed wherever you are in the world. It also gives you the ability to save multiple lists and suggests a list of essentials based on the variables you put into the widget.

Our travel checklist is perfect for the frequent traveller or even for the first time traveller and helps you concentrate on having a good time.

Get My Travel Checklist here


2. Skyscanner

Skyscanner is an incredibly popular flight comparison App. You can find the flight that suits your budget with millions of flights from over 1,000 airlines. Skyscanner allows you to filter searches by airlines, budget and flight times and displays prices in over 60 currencies. It too is a free App.

Find out more about the Skyscanner App here


3. City Maps 2Go

This App is an effective way to navigate yourself around unfamiliar cities, with information on everything from attractions to hotels.

Its best feature is the GPS tracking that works without the use of the Internet, helping you save money on all those expensive roaming charges!

Find out more about City Maps 2Go here


4. Touchnote

Putting a personal spin on the postcard, Touchnote is a great App that allows you to take holiday pictures and turn them instantly into postcards so you can send them to your friends and family.

Using a credit system it is a very reasonable way to send postcards from anywhere in the world.

Find out more about Touchnote here


5. World Lens

World Lens is one of the most useful up and coming travel Apps available.

For an instant translation, you hover your smartphone camera over the text you need translating and it will instantly translate it on the screen.

At the moment, it’s only available in limited languages but this is an innovative and very useful App to keep on your radar.

Find out more about World Lens here


Have you had experience using any of these Apps? Do you have any other favourite travel Apps to add to our list?

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the Allianz Global Assistance Travel Insurance Blog!

We will use this blog to share useful information and our top tips to help you make the most of your travels - whether it be with the family, for business or a golf or winter sport adventure.

For a number of years, the Allianz Global Assistance Group of companies has been providing support and assistance to travellers around the world. Every year, millions of customers turn to us for travel protection, help, and advice, so we thought we'd share our best advice and top travel tips through this blog.

So please keep checking back for all the latest travel tips from our travel insurance team and we look forward to sharing our thoughts with you in the very near future.