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If you're like most families, when you travel you take lots
of pictures. That's one of the ways we keep memories of our trips –
snapshots and videos, maybe a T-shirt or a nice sweater. |
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But there are lots of other ways to make the memory stay alive,
ways that can be unique for each member of the family. For example, you
could get a child interested in a low-cost collection, a reminder of places
visited. |
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Rock hound – Becoming a "rock hound"
can be as simple as looking for a special pebble to collect on a beach,
by a river, on a hike – or it can be more formal, searching for specific
minerals and gems, and going to gem collector shops in the towns and cities
you visit. Almost all of these shops have local, polished stones that can
be bought very inexpensively, some for under a dollar. (Bring along small
plastic bags to label and organize your rocks.) |
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Postcards – Everyone loves getting a letter or
postcard in the mail. Help your kids gather up the addresses of people special
to them (school friends, soccer or Girl Scout buddies, cousins, piano
teacher?) At special places along the trip, let them pick out a postcard
or two to mail home. If you're visiting 10 places and there are 20 people
on a child's list, suggest mailing two from each location. Writing a note
to a friend back home will cause child think about the trip as they go.
When you get home, ask if you can make a copy of the postcards for a child's
scrap book. |
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Alternative: Have children mail themselves postcards along
the way, as a kind of journal. When they get home, they'll have a stack
waiting for them, reminding them of their experiences. |
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Stamp collecting – Every time a child sends a
postcard home, a stamp or two has to be bought. Why not keep duplicates?
Take along a few stamp collecting sheets and let the kids save a stamp for
each one sent home. |
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Charms and charm bracelets – Girls will enjoy
collecting charms from different countries to add to their charm bracelets.
If you're in Italy, you'll have a field day collecting charms for Italian
charm bracelets. Long after you've come home, the bracelets are a lovely
reminder of places visited. |
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Key chains – Kids love to decorate their backpacks
for school with key chains. Any country has a wonderful selection of goodies
on key chains, so stock up. We have a whole collection of Mayan pyramids,
Finnish moose, Dutch wooden shoes, English crowns, Guatemalan carved animals,
Scottish Nessies, Russian eggs etc. What a fun way to remember your trip. |
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Refrigerator magnets – If your kitchen is like
ours, refrigerator magnets decorate magnetic boards or fridge doors. Collect
refrigerator magnets on your trip. Back home, the magnets become a collage
of images and textures, each one a unique reminder for your child of something
special from your vacation. |
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Holiday ornaments – You may be traveling
in summer, but look for holiday ornaments while shopping for souvenirs.
In London, at the gift shop in St. Paul's cathedral, we found embroidered
cloth ornaments – a black London taxi, a red telephone booth, a golden
tower of London. In Ecuador, there's so many bread dough Christmas ornaments
to choose from (just pack them carefully). In December, when you decorate
the tree, your ornaments from far places will shine brightly. |
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If a child already has a collection of model horses,
cars, or dolls, tea cups, etc. you can continue the collection while traveling. |
