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| Nature | 63% | 551 votes | Total: 873 votes | |
| Resorts | 37% | 322 votes |
Nature
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The weather is sunny and warm, the holidays are quickly approaching and parents are planning a family vacation that will be enjoyable, enriching, and enhance the good health of each family member.
Given a choice, the younger members of the group will opt for a trip to an amusement resort. For once their opinion should be overruled. The adults must cast the deciding votes.
There can't be a better choice than choosing a destination which will introduce children to the wonders of nature. A nature holiday is especially important for children who live in a city, but even those from rural areas will benefit from a change of scenery, and an opportunity to explore a different environment.
Farm families might visit the seashore, a lake, the mountains or a wooded area. Children who live near the ocean would profit from visiting a farm, or from a camping experience. Parents may choose a different area each year in order to familiarize the family with each of nature's varied faces.
Nature is real life. Amusement parks are glitzy, glitter and make-believe. Young people need to experience first hand the glories of our endangered planet. Their generation will be responsible for restoring it to a balanced and sustainable condition.
Environmental Studies is an important topic on the curriculum of most schools today. How can a student be motivated to work for environmental concerns if all he knows is an apartment building in the inner city? He needs firsthand experience of the natural world and all that it has to offer.
Many important skills can be taught in an interesting way during a back-to-nature vacation. Geography and navigational skills will be assimilated if there is a map available with the route highlighted in a a bold color. This strategy will also eliminate the endless queries, "Are we nearly there yet?"
Opportunities for informal Science lessons will abound. Besides becoming familiar with the flora and fauna of the area, the value of fresh air, clean water and unpolluted soil can be indelibly instilled in young minds while they are actually standing in a vast expanse of unspoiled natural beauty.
Adults should admit that our generation has played a significant role in despoiling the natural habitat of many of earth's creatures, including the human species, and discussions may follow as to how the damage might be repaired. Bright young minds can't begin too early to ponder these problems.
Children with a literary bent should be encouraged to keep a journal, recording impressions and discoveries upon which to reflect at a later time. Young artists should bring along a sketch pad and colored pencils to capture picturesque scenes to share with friends and extended family when they get home.
Everyone will need lots of engrossing reading material. Even the most stalwart vacationer will engage in only limited activities in the natural environment when it's raining.
On fine days, fresh air and exercise together promote wellness and encourage lasting family bonding. Hiking, swimming, fishing, exploring, starting collections of stones, sea shells or other items of interest will keep bodies moving and minds active. This is the type of vacation which will help children grow physically, mentally, and emotionally. No amusement resort can match these benefits.
Children, being children, will campaign strenuously for a holiday at an amusement resort. Parents, being older and wiser, should make the final decision and plan a nature-centered vacation. In the interest of keeping peace in the family, an afternoon at the amusement park could be scheduled for the trip home.
Rewards will be evident the following year: better school grades, increased stamina and better health, a wider base of general knowledge, and more interest and enthusiasm for Environmental Studies projects.
Parents will have the satisfaction of knowing the decision was best not only for their children, but that its consequences will be beneficial for their grandchildren and great-grandchildren as well. The quality of life enjoyed by future generations will depend on values and priorities we pass along in our families now.
Learn more about this author, Carolyn Tytler.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Resorts
There is no doubt in my mind that I can keep my children entertained at an amusement venue, much easier than at a nature sight.
Now, don't get me wrong! Nature sights are a wonderful experience and certainly a worthwhile venture to share with your children. Nature sights are not only educational, but offer the thrill of a family adventure. However, the thrill is gone ever so quickly once you arrive. As much as we want to share nature's beauty with our kids, making it happen on a family outing doesn't always pan out because let's face it, most kids' short attention span just won't allow it! Once a kid arrives, scopes it out, and, if you have the kind of child that might read a few historical notes, they are finished! While you may be engrossed in it all, your kids will undoubtedly be asking, "What can we do next?" I believe nature sights and nature exploration is a wonderful gift, but this type of excursion is more suitable at a more mature level. Older children and young adults (even mature adults for that matter), will benefit and appreciate this type of excursion a lot more.
For small children, there's nothing finer than amusement resorts to keep everyone comfortable, happy and smiling for the duration of your vacation. Keep in mind, most of the grander scale amusement parks are targeted to meet the needs of traveling families. They cater to families, large or small. Amusement parks have spent years of research on the art of entertaining children. There are teams of "focus groups" who study and consider all aspects of what pleases and satisfies children of all ages. These focus groups go to great lengths to make sure children and parents alike are comfortable, happy, and safe.
A family vacation in itself can be challenging. There is so much to think about when you are preparing for a trip with your children. When parents are traveling with toddlers for instance, they must think ahead and pack appropriate clothing, sleepwear, toys, strollers, and any other apparatus that will make the trip go smoothly.
Amusement resorts have even put thought into the traveling aspect of a family vacation, and can accommodate you at their on-premise hotels, feed you at a variety of kid-friendly restaurants, bus you to and from the amusement park areas and believe it or not, they even offer you communication devices that you can rent, or I suppose you can purchase your own should you want to, but the fact that they have considered how important it is to communicate with other family members within the resort is an amazing feature! It makes me think of how many times those amusement parks must have been faced with frantic parents or a frightened child who wandered away from his parents, and had to find a solution. It is true, that families with children at various age levels may make the decision to split up inside the park. A father may go off in one direction with his 11 year old who wants to go on fast rides, and the toddler stays with the mother. Eventually this family will meet for lunch or whatever the case may be, and can communicate times and directions. Of course, nearly everyone has a cell phone these days including the kids, so perhaps the communication devices are becoming dinosaurs.
Neverthele ss, if that isn't enough, I have learned that a family heading to the larger amusement resorts, can reserve time for their kids to attend a "kid camp" while there, which gives the parents some free time, and surprisingly, you can book a baby sitter to stay with your children in the hotel room, should the parents need a time out!
At any rate, amusement resorts make traveling with children a snap! If you plan ahead, they offer advance booking rates and other packages that may include airfare, hotel and transportation. Often times, there are admission discounts and special passes available. So take the time to investigate your options. Take a look on line and quite often there are "on line discounts" for booking your amusement resort vacation from their website. Expenses can get high, so if you are on a budget, you can still have a wonderful vacation, if you take the time to look for good rates in advance.
Amusement resorts cannot make it any easier to travel with children of all ages. Your children will have ear-to-ear smiles from beginning to end, and so will the parents!
Learn more about this author, Carole Hill.
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