What’s a great thing to do with a child who just turned 5 years old the previous day and a second child who is 14 months old?  Hop a plane to New York City and experience The Big Apple!

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If traveling with little ones scares you, don’t let it!  Kids are resilient and can go with the flow, nap anywhere, and allow adults to still see and enjoy the sights, smells and sounds that abound!

Literature with Travels

To introduce the little ones to where they are heading, consider literature.  One we took with us was Good Night New York City by Adam Gamble, which was perfect for a five year old to practice her reading and the little one to look at pictures (or attempt to help with her teething, who knows!).  Topics such as Empire State building, skyscrapers, yellow cabs, Brooklyn Bridge, and Times Square are covered.  This series is easy to throw into a carryon bag with the other airplane essentials that are packed for a flight.

 

As a family, we believe incorporating literature into travels is important, and as an educator I can certainly vouch for that!  A trip to New York City is not complete without a visit to the public library.  Staying at Andaz 5th Avenue, we were the perfect location for a visit to the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building.  While no books were checked out, it was an excellent opportunity for our five-year-old to experience an amazing place!

Sightseeing

No trip to New  York City is complete without an experience on the Staten Island Ferry to view the Statue of Liberty.  While children may be too young to traverse the steps into the crown, getting to ride on the ferry and see it from a distance can suffice at any age.  Of course, if one is asleep when going by, that just means a return trip will be in order for the later years as well as an opportunity to earn that Junior Park Ranger badge!  

But be aware: when the sleepy one does awake, she may start contemplating her next move!  

 

Packing for Maneuverability

 

Once again, a variety of children’s slings are available for any type of travel and age, and can help save the sanity of carrying a stroller along.  Some are very foldable to fit in a back pocket (and wrap a child in your raincoat since an umbrella was too bulky to pack).  It certainly helps when you are visiting a former hotel you stayed in and going through the revolving door or turnstiles to board the subway.  I know we have definitely made the MostPerMile of the various slings and backpack carries we used with the girls over the years!

 

Staying Active

 

For the walkers, take a moment to enjoy watching them chase the pigeons.  It helps burn off

some energy and is part of the New York City experience, just like eating from a hot dog stand!  If there is not a park nearby, this is the next best thing!  With a family of varying ages, taking the time to slow down is just another way to help make the MostPerMile out of the adventure.  Don’t think kids aren’t learning in some sort of fashion by freeplay – sharing with them that pigeons are the first birds humans domesticated and one helped in WWI to save several hundred soldiers are learning experiences.  Luckily since pigeons can fly at speeds of up to 100 mph there is little chance your child will actually catch one, although they have a lot of fun trying and creating different sneaky strategies!

 

 

History

While our children will never understand the devastating moments and history-changing moments of the morning of 9/11, a visit to the Memorial even just the exterior can help explain to them why we go through the security procedures at an airport or cruise terminal that we do.  We pray they will never know the combination of fear and anger our generation faced, and that we instead are helping create a safer world for our children’s generation to explore and grow up in.  I can look back as a college student having the opportunity to see the Twin Towers on a trip where I was twirling a baton in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  When I compare it to flying over NYC and the entirely different world we live in now just a quarter-century later, it makes me want so much better for our children and their future so they can MakeTheMost of each and every day they are given here not only for their generation, but for future generations to come.  That is where we come in as parents, volunteer mentors, and adult role models for the current generation: not only are we setting up our own children to MakeTheMost in every way they can, but for their entire generation!