Why parents should spend less money on toys & take more family Vacations and Benefits of Taking Family Vacations

Are you planning a family holiday? If not, you might consider booking one.

Family trips are not just for fun; they can also be important for your children’s emotional growth.

In fact, recent studies show that family trips have a profound and lasting impact on children’s overall happiness and well-being.

Studies published in the Journal of Commercial Research have found that experiential gifts (such as holiday or outing gifts) have a more profound impact on the quality of life for your kids than material gifts. 

Why is this so?

For the first reason, spending time in a new place is crucial for a child’s brain growth. Going to a new place or doing a new activity helps develop parts of the brain involved in everything from stress management to better learning.

In fact, children who go on holiday come back to school with higher grades in reading, general knowledge, and maths than their peers who don’t. (And no, it doesn’t really matter where they go. It could be Missouri, Paris, France or Branson.)

Researchers also argue that vacations are beneficial in the moment and in the long run because they help create lasting and positive memories.

A study conducted in the UK found that most people chose childhood family holidays as their favorite memory, prompting researchers to dub these experiences as ‘lucky anchors.’

In other words, a family holiday lasts long after it has faded. They also become part of the fabric of our lives, identity, and worldview.

Moreover, holidays are useful even before they arise because waiting for an event and planning a trip altogether can be a good bonding exercise.

It can even help children learn about saving money and financial planning (for example, if you have a savings bank, where the family saves money throughout the year to pay for special extras like souvenirs and ice cream when they travel).

It’s good for parents too. Other research shows that experiential shopping also makes adults happier about material things.

In other words, even if you may get more use out of it, that big-screen TV offers less pleasure than a beach holiday, at least according to these findings.

The same goes for more toys for children. Instead of spending a fortune on a year’s worth of ‘Paw Patrol’ toys, parenting experts agree that you should save up and go on a family holiday: you’ll all be happier, calmer, and wiser for the experience.

Plus, it can be great fun to surprise your kids with a family trip! Just look at how those parents tell their kids they’re going to Disney World…

Top 5  Benefits of Taking Family Vacations

1. Holidays help To boost your productivity level

If you’re thinking of giving up a holiday this year, you’re not alone. Nearly 50% of respondents told Bankrate they won’t be taking a trip, and only 36% planned to use all their vacation days.

In reality, several studies show that not taking leave can derail your career, causing stress, burnout, illness, and depression. All of these experiences can significantly impact your ability to concentrate, be creative, and get things done. As a result, your career can stall, and you could be promoted and promoted.

2. Travelling makes children smarter

Travelling gives children real-life experience outside the classroom, and children learn best by doing. While there is certainly a place for reading books and looking at pictures, nothing beats a hands-on experience.

There are all sorts of things to learn when children travel. International travel gives them first-hand experience of living with others. They taste the food others eat, they encounter another language, and they immerse themselves in the sights as well as the sounds of another culture.

And studies show that you don’t need to take your kids to historic Gettysburg or drive around the Met to stimulate their brains. Just getting them into a new environment is enough.

3. Travelling expands children’s social awareness

When children step outside their cities, states, or countries, their understanding of the world expands. 

They already know and have seen how people live in other communities, which may be difficult for them to conceptualize. They discover a world that is different from their own and learn that people experience life differently.

Travelling also helps children to understand that although people may look different, sound different and live differently, we are also alike in many ways.

Travelling also teaches children empathy and compassion. Many children don’t realize how lucky they are to have a roof over their heads, some clothes on their backs, and some food in their stomachs.

Take them to a less developed country or allow them to volunteer on a project. They will see first-hand that owning the latest gadget is not common for many people. It can also help to foster gratitude for what they have and compassion for the plight of others.

Travelling gives children the opportunity to interact with others who are different from them, enhancing their social and communication skills. 

These skills are important not only for life but also for navigating the increasingly global and multicultural workplace they will enter when they grow up.

4. Travelling encourages independence and teaches responsibility

From the planning to the final implementation, travel can encourage independence and teach responsibility. For example, children can practice their independence by making their own packing lists and packing their own suitcases – with varying degrees of help depending on their age, of course.

They can learn responsibility by looking after their own belongings while traveling. You can even give children specific travel-related responsibilities, such as being the family photographer or navigator.

Children also gain independence from trying new experiences. For example, younger children can stand on their own with a zip wire or learn to ride a horse. Teenagers can explore the market on their own while sipping lattes at a nearby café. Giving children a degree of freedom to choose activities according to their age and abilities helps them develop confidence in their own abilities, which can pay off as they get older.

When parents act as a safety net, children are ready to venture into the unknown. They are exposed to obstacles and new adventures and learn to navigate them. 

Family trips can give children just enough space to develop confidence in their own abilities while knowing that their parents are still there when they need them. As a direct result, the adults they become will be confident and able to manage on their own.

5. Adventure builds children’s confidence and self-concept

New exрerienсes аnd аdventures аre nоt just fun. They аlsо inсreаse сhildren’s self-соnfidenсe аnd self-соnсeрt.

Regаrdless оf whether it’s riding the biggest rоller соаster, саmрing in the middle оf the wооds, оr eаting beignets in New Оrleаns, new things teасh сhildren аbоut whаt they dо аnd dоn’t like, whаt fаsсinаtes аnd insрires them. It аll helрs build а сhild’s sense оf self.

Whаt’s mоre, when сhildren try new things, they develор greаter self-соnfidenсe. Self-соnfidenсe is linked tо self-effiсасy, оr соnfidenсe in their аbility tо соmрlete сertаin tаsks.

Reseаrсh hаs аlsо shоwn thаt рeорle with а high sense оf self-effiсасy аre mоre likely tо seek new sоlutiоns аnd рersevere with сhаllenging tаsks. Teасhers hаve аlsо nоtiсed thаt trаveling саn bооst сhildren’s self-соnfidenсe. In the SYTА survey, 74% оf teасhers sаid thаt trаveling hаs а “very роsitive imрасt оn сhildren’s рersоnаl develорment.”

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Trаvelling оffers аll kinds оf орроrtunities fоr сhildren tо try new things аt а lоw-рressure level. Even if yоur сhildren “fаil” аt sоmething, the stаkes аre lоw. Аfter аll, hоlidаys аre fun.

Ассоrding tо а survey by the Fаmily Hоlidаy Аssосiаtiоn аnd сited by HuffРоst UK, 49% оf рeорle surveyed sаid their hаррiest memоry wаs оf а fаmily hоlidаy.

А third оf resроndents sаid they саn still vividly remember their fаmily hоlidаys, аnd а quаrter оf them hаve сорed with stressful situаtiоns by reсаlling thоse unfоrgettаble hаррy memоries. 

Jоhn MсDоnаld, whо is аlsо the direсtоr оf the Fаmily Hоlidаy Аssосiаtiоn, саlls these memоries “аnсhоrs оf hаррiness.” When we’re nоt hаррy, reсаlling these memоries саn bring us relief аnd helр us deаl with рrоblems in а new wаy.

The роsitive effeсts оf fаmily hоlidаys gо fаr beyоnd the exрerienсe itself. Memоries beсоme раrt оf оur identities аnd hоw we see the wоrld.

Final Conclusion

Discussions about personal finance usually revolve around not spending your money, but money is the main ultimate tool for designing and living your best life. 

Sometimes that means spending money on good things that can make life better and richer. And while family holidays can be expensive, most parents say they are money well spent.

Think of family vacation as an investment in your children – in your relationship with them, in their learning and developing process, and in their long-term happiness and well-being.

They also help to increase your happiness and well-being. And a family holiday doesn’t have to mean a five-night trip to Disney World. 

As one 11-year-old participant in a travel survey said: “It doesn’t matter what we do, it’s about having fun.”

What’s your favorite part of a family holiday? What benefits have you seen from taking a family vacation?

Fact Check

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Reference: Moneycrashers.com