kathalinamarie Posted January 28, 2006 #1 Share Posted January 28, 2006 I am taking my 9 year old niece on the Grandeur of the Seas in February. I am trying to cover all bases to make the trip as pleasant for her as possible. As I don't have children myself, I wanted to make sure that she will be occupied. I had thought about putting some kind of activity bag together for the 2 of us to play with in the hotel room before the cruise, maybe by the pool and before the flights leave the day of debarkation. Any ideas? Am I over thinking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ehpride Posted January 28, 2006 #2 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Silly putty :) I'm 21 and it can keep me busy for hours! Or something similar. If she's not responsible enough to not get it in the carpet and everything, definitely leave it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2boysmommy Posted January 28, 2006 #3 Share Posted January 28, 2006 Coloring/activity books are always good......she's 9 so coloring may be a bit too young for her. A deck of cards is good (go fish) too. Or you can always check out Toys-R-Us (or any store that sells toys) for portable car games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruisin' Chick Posted January 29, 2006 #4 Share Posted January 29, 2006 You may want to ask her parents what her interests are. It seems some kids at that age are into dolls and some aren't. Some love books by a specific author. If she's into arts and crafts, you can visit a craft store (we have Michael's here) and get some small kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merela Posted January 29, 2006 #5 Share Posted January 29, 2006 coloring and crayons may be too young for a 9YO. Maybe you can get her favorite book series...something she hasn't read before. Or, you can bring a portable DVD player and you two can see a movie together. I think a cheap digital camera maybe the thing for a 9YO girl so she can take her own photos for the cruise. My 6YO loves to take photos. She uses an old digital camera that we got 2 years ago. 9YO would probably love a snack/candy bag. Or you can think of a scavenger hunt list, so she can look for things in and around the hotel. All the things collected can go into her memory box/scrapbook after her cruise. You can ask her to help tag her bags prior to boarding. Reading the ship's brochure and cruising documents is fun too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cape Cruiser 2007 Posted January 30, 2006 #6 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Arts & crafts are great! There are some great craft kits out there-definetly ask mom what she likes! Magnetic travel games, how about a journal to record her trip? Bring pencils & colored pencils. Someone mentioned cards...Uno game. How about a small plastic bottle of bubbles? I always pack a travel bag. I have 5 yo son, 12 yo daughter. I pack things they havent seen (to surprise them!) Simple snacks like Gold fish, pretzels... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jilllofalltrades Posted January 30, 2006 #7 Share Posted January 30, 2006 At that age girls love to make things. For our daughter's tenth birthday she had a sleep over of ten girls. I bought a pack of beads and a spool of hemp twine. You can get instructions to make hemp necklaces and chokers. It's very easy. You just tie simple knots around a few beads. These are very popular jewelry and the girls stayed busy for quite a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onessa Posted January 30, 2006 #8 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Klutz Press has a series of books for travel which are great. Barnes and Noble, Target (book section), Michaels, all sorts of places carry them. They have titles especially for travel that have a variety of games, puzzels, activities with EVERYTHING packaged with them that you need to play. They have other titles for specific to quizes and crafts and other activites - my 10YO likes the "string games" books where you twist a circle of string around your hands to make figures (Klutz has at least three string game titles, other publishers also have them). Another cool title is their potholder loom. If your niece is into American Girl stuff - Pleasant Company publishes a variety of puzzle and activity game books as well. Hand-held video games are good - the discounters have a wide stock of relatively inexpensive single-game units. Tetris, Gem, etc. These titles are uni-gender, no violence, good puzzles, small enough to fit in the carryon, cheap enough to 'lose'. Just make certain that the unit allows you to turn the sound off. A set of colored pencils (look for self sharpening) and an unlined jounal so she can sketch and/or write. Much more 'grown up' than a coloring book. Mini Keychain versions of games - cadoo, twister, operation. They are "cute" (the 8-11 YO female set loves anything small!) and somewhat functional. Silly Putty and/or the party-sized small Play-doh can be fun. Books and some age appropriate magazines (American Girl Magazine, the Disney Channel magazine, etc.) Variety is the key - don't bring everything out at one time. Introduce new things throughout the trip - pack away the stuff that isn't working. Pack a few things in you day trip bags, bring a few to lunch/dinner sitting. Scavenger hunt lists are good. Doesn't have to necessarily be things that she physically collects. Since my DD was 3 we've made lists when we travel - one for each day (pre-reading I drew pictures of each item). Items can be related to what you will see that day (a union jack flag, a statue of a lion, a pink sea shell) as well as the more mundane (a LA Dodger's baseball cap, an orange purse, someone on crutches). Pack some surprises (visit the dollar store and check out the clearence areas in the discount stores) - bangle bracelets, a set of mini colored pencils, some cute shaped erasers - for prizes when you've found them all on a list. If all else fails, there is always the portable DVD player and some good chick flixs (anything with Hillary Duff, or Linsey Lohan!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathalinamarie Posted January 30, 2006 Author #9 Share Posted January 30, 2006 Wow! Thanks all for all the good ideas. I am working on several different ideas. The Claire's store at the mall had a bunch of clearance stuff (10 items for $5). I love the idea of using them for scavenger hunt prizes. I bought a clapping game book? I found a 10 in one magnetic game that is on my list of things to get. Keep the ideas coming, I am going to have quite the goodie/activity bag together by the end! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onessa Posted January 30, 2006 #10 Share Posted January 30, 2006 If your niece is going to miss any school and needs to make up homework while on the trip, make certain she has what she needs for that as well (books, assigments, paper, pencil, sharpener, erasor, calculator, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathalinamarie Posted January 31, 2006 Author #11 Share Posted January 31, 2006 Her school has the week of Mardi Gras off. That is why we chose that week to travel, so NO HOMEWORK!!!!! YEA!!!!! I would think homework on a vacation would really be a drag. Kathalina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lledman Posted February 1, 2006 #12 Share Posted February 1, 2006 I would think homework on a vacation would really be a drag. Last year on our trip to Disney, my son missed 3 days of school (not bad for a 8 day trip). He was only in first grade but every evening (or if he was too tired, the next morning before we went to the parks) we'd have him write in a journal where he went and what his favorite thing he did all day was then draw a picture to go along with it. While in the parks, it was his job to read and navigate the maps. If he wanted to see a show it was his responsibility to find the time and make sure we kept on schedule (he did have help with this) but he had soo much fun doing all of this that I don't think he even realized he was doing homework. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okiemom Posted February 1, 2006 #13 Share Posted February 1, 2006 My kids love playing cards. I know that WalMart sells Uno cards that are water proof! You could play at home or by the pool and not worry that they will get damaged. Also, Crayola has Color Wonder markers that only color on their special paper. Awesome idea for the bed or car! No mess. Also, snacks are good. Fruit chews, gum, skittles, teddy grahams, etc... Good Luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wardidaho Posted February 8, 2006 #14 Share Posted February 8, 2006 You might consider bringing a few basics for a manicure/pedicure and nail polish - that might be fun to do together in the hotel room ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kathalinamarie Posted February 8, 2006 Author #15 Share Posted February 8, 2006 I love the pedicure idea! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.