No matter where you go on a family vacation, your kids will be tempted by expensive souvenirs. My own son’s weakness: plush animals of any sort. Every time we visit a city attraction, museum, or state landmark, he wants one. Not only are these souvenirs expensive, but they never fit in our luggage and he rarely remembers where he got them once we return home. For these reasons, we limit souvenir purchases while traveling, but do value the importance of having mementos by which to remember important and fun trips.
The following meaningful but cheap souvenir ideas will be cherished by your kids for years following a trip, but cost far less than gift shop purchases:
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Personalized photo albums:
Soft-cover, self-loading photo albums can be made quickly and easily on photo share sites, and usually cost less than $20. After major family trips, I make one for each of my kids, complete with personalized commentary and photos they took themselves on our travels. These albums sit on their bookshelves with other picture books and keepsakes, and come out regularly to be ‘read’ at bedtime.
Video logs:
As my kids have gotten older, they’ve enjoyed entertaining themselves on longer car and plane rides by recording personal video diaries on our iPad or on their iPods. Using PhotoBooth or iVideo, they simply record themselves talking about the day’s adventures. Sometimes they even interview each other. Not only do they enjoy this video process better than keeping a written journal, but they can use fun filters to make them as silly as they’d like.
Calendars and posters:
Instead of buying gift shop posters and calendars that will wrinkle and tear on the return travels home, I create our own posters and photo collages on photo sites for my kids’ rooms. Decorating their walls are posters of our national park trips, ski trips, and backpacking adventures. I also make calendars of our travel photos for grandparents and other relatives to keep them appraised of our adventures.
Stickers, magnets, and other collectible travel momentos:
You have to buy something in that shiny gift shop, right?! We have started collections of refrigerator magnets that we add to whenever we are in a new location, and I allow my kids to buy bumper sticker-style stickers of various locations to stick on their reusable water bottles. Not only do they have unique water bottles they won’t lose at sports practice later on, but they drink more water during the vacation as well.
If you need help getting started, great deals on Vistaprint products can be found for photo souvenirs, and video logs can be downloaded and burned to CDs or shared onto kids’ iPods or other electronic devices. Glass jars for storing collectibles can be found for cheap at craft stores locally.
