I’ve gotten a lot of excellent travel tips from Lonely Planet guides over the years. They are, in fact, my preferred reference source when planning a trip, especially to a place I’ve never been. I’ve seen a lot of fascinating places I’d have otherwise missed, and I’ve been able to stay in every sort of accommodation from B&B to castle with confidence in the safety, cleanliness, and quirkiness of each. I’ve had opportunities to hang out with the locals rather than at the touristy pubs, touched a bog mummy’s finger, and left an offering for the loa at a voodoo museum.

I’m excited to use them to share the world with my children.

Speaking of children…

Lonely Planet Kids is an entire kid-centric line (ages 3-9 depending on book/activity) that focuses on learning through play and hands-on exploration. Children can create their own landmarks, keep records of where they’ve been using stickers and maps, and even participate in travel-planning which makes the whole process a lot more family fun time and, hopefully, cuts down on the “are we there yets” and the “this is borings” as miles are covered and locations checked off the list. Hopefully.

Family Travel Maps

My almost 6-year-old loves maps. I don’t know precisely when or why this obsession came into being, but it has persisted for almost three years, which, in a young kid, is pretty impressive. She likes to know where she’s going. She likes to know where she’s been. She likes to know where everyone who comes into our house has been. (We have a dry erase sticker map on the wall so she can record appropriately and then mumble stuff about sharks and pyramids.) My parents got her a subscription to Little Passports for Chanukah this year, and she eagerly awaits every new envelope (Egypt has been her favorite thus far because she got to excavate a little pyramid).

She also absolutely adores the Lonely Planet Kids Family Travel Maps. Australia in particular grabbed her attention because I have a friend there and she Facetimes with said friend’s daughter (well, mostly they use video stickers and make faces at each other, but…) and she’s curious about why, when we talk to them in the evening here it’s morning there, what Australia looks like, where Sydney is, and what we’ll do when we go. (See? Planning participation.)

The maps, when folded out, are about the size of a floor puzzle but, when folded, are the size and thickness of a coloring book, so they fit easily into a backpack and can come with you on your adventure. There are simple, easy-to-read factoids about the country or region covered on the back of the map, as well as a page of open-ended questions for parents to use to discuss their travels with the kiddos and get something more than “yes” or “no” answers. The sticker page has various flags (“I’ve been here,” “I live here”) as well as blank flags for kids to mark as they choose and animals native to various habitats featured on the map. The sticker page is perforated but secure, so it will stay in the map folder as long as the map is in use but can be neatly and easily removed if your child decides she wants to hang a completed map up or transfer left over stickers to another map.

We are enamored. And apparently going to visit koalas someday.

Available Family Travel Maps include: Australia, Europe, My Family Travel Map, and North America

Sticker World by Aviel Basil and Becky Wilson

What’s more fun than visiting a theme park, museum, or zoo? Making one that’s just the way you like it.

Young, cartoon-style narrators lead kids through a variety of activities, intended to expose them to a range of concepts from Viking boats to fashion through the ages, exotic critters and the habitats they prefer, roller coaster design and the possibilities of funhouse mirrors. The narrators recommend different materials (including stickers, felt-tip pens, etc.) for specific activities but also encourage kids to substitute as desired and use their imaginations to complete tasks.

The Sticker World books let kids make all the decisions and build a world that’s just the way they like it. Not a thing adults get to do often, let alone the younger set who are often pulled along for the ride.

Like the maps, the Sticker World books are about the size of a coloring book, which makes them ideal travel companions for car, plane, and train, and a contained, relatively neat one for down time at the hotel or by the pool.

Definitely going on the Pittsburgh to San Francisco cross-country journey this summer. Also up to Connecticut. And who knows where else!

Available Sticker World books include: Theme Park, Zoo, and Museum 

Pop-Up New York and Pop-Up Paris by Andy Mansfield

These were another immediate favorite for the almost 6-year-old. She loves learning about various landmarks in different cities and, as a newer, if determined reader, she loves the short, succinct facts on each page that allow her to learn something without struggling over huge worlds or numbers she isn’t quite ready for yet simply by virtue of being not quite done with kindergarten.

The pop-up feature makes the books more interactive and brings the landmarks into the kiddo’s plane of existence, which she finds rather exciting, and it also seems to help data and facts stick her her head (unsurprising, but bears repeating). It also helps give her a sense of scale and geography, at least of various buildings to one another.

This series of books is much smaller than the others, which makes them easy carry alongs, but you’ll have to be a bit more more mindful of leaving them in seat cushions or under furniture. If your kids are old enough to “keep track of their own stuff” (hahahaha) they may need an extra reminder to check for these since they aren’t going to be as obvious on a table or on the floor.

My only caveat about the pop-ups is that the moveable pieces are a little bit delicate – more so than other kid’s pop-ups we have or have taken out of the library. It’s a hazard of this kind of book, of course, but it might be best to avoid handing these to the youngest set since they don’t have the dexterity for care, and they tend to chew on stuff.

Available Pop-Up books include: New York and Paris