One of the best things about traveling with kids? The opportunity to teach them new things while you explore the world around you. This can be done by visiting museums, historic sites, and national parks, but you can also start learning before you ever leave home by giving your kids a chance to plan your RV travels.

That’s right, we are suggesting you allow your little ones to decide where you’re going to take your RV and what you’re going to do when you get there!

That said, we aren’t suggesting you let them loose with no direction whatsoever. Instead, you can give them some limits and instructions and then give them the freedom to make responsible decisions. This is an excellent way to work on budgeting, planning, problem-solving, geography, and more.

Set a Budget

First and foremost, you will want to decide on a budget. How much can this RV trip cost in total? Once you know that, sit down with your kids and discuss average campground fees and attraction fees to decide how to allocate those funds. Write down each line item you need to account for and how much you have set aside for each, and make sure those numbers are visible for the kids to see.

If you have very young children, it might help to provide a physical representation of the funds. LEGO bricks work well for this. Decide how much each block represents, create a stack for each budget line item, and remove the blocks as they have been “spent” throughout the planning process.

Pick a Place

Once your kids know what kind of budget they’re working with and what they need to plan to pay for, help them decide where to go.

Very young kids may need you to provide a list of options, along with a sneak peek of what is available to see and do in each place. Older kids can do the math to figure out how many miles they can drive on the gas budget they have (remind them to account for the return trip!), after which they can circle the radius they’re working with on a map and consider the towns within that circle to decide on a destination.

If your big kids aren’t sure what to expect of the towns in the radius they’re given, encourage them to do a bit of research to discover what kinds of attractions each one has to offer before they make a decision. Let them know that bigger towns and cities are generally printed bigger on the map and tend to have more options in terms of attractions. You might also remind them to keep an eye out for national parks, which can be in the middle of nowhere but tend to be amazing RV destinations.

Offer Tools

With a destination picked out, the next steps involve choosing a campsite as well as deciding which things to see and do. Your little travel planners will need some tools for this step, but unless your kids are pretty old and responsible, we highly recommend supervising them as they read reviews and gather information online.

Campendium is a good tool for finding campsites. Have your child type in the place they plan to visit and they will get a whole collection of camping options presented to them. From there, they can narrow their options based on a budget and then choose based on reviews and amenities offered. Of course, little ones who cannot read will need you to help with this by typing and reading for them, but you can still present them with options.

As far as attractions go, you can use Google or Trip Advisor to search for options in the area and read reviews. When your kids find something they want to do, have them write it down along with notes on why they want to visit and then find the admission cost for the entire family. Once they have a good list put together, allow each child to pick a certain number of attractions, reminding them to stay within budget.

It might help to split the attraction budget evenly between your kids, so each child has the same amount to spend on attractions.

Introduce Money Saving Ideas

Remind your kids that while they are welcome to spend every dollar in the budget, they can also save in one budget category in order to move money over to another category, or even save that money for a future trip. If they seem into this, offer some money-saving suggestions.

If you have any reciprocal memberships (ASTC, AZA, etc) let them know that, and give them a list of attractions included with the membership. Let them know that some towns offer free attractions such as small museums, parks, and even zoos. Have them look for national historic sites, which are sometimes free, and find the library calendar for the area to find free events.

You can also show them how to find free camping options on Campendium by filtering their search by cost. Just make sure they are aware that choosing a boondocking site will mean making some sacrifices.

Ask Questions and Create an Itinerary

Once your kids have a campground chosen and a list of attractions picked out, have them present it to you. Ask them questions about why they chose what they did, what they plan to do when you get there, etc. If you foresee problems with their selections, let them know that and see if they can come up with a solution.

Once you’ve gone over the plan together and it seems solid, have the kids sit down and write out an itinerary. Remind them that you will need some downtime each day and that driving from one attraction to the next does take time. Generally, it’s best to only visit one attraction each day, but we know this isn’t always possible.

This is also the point where you will need to book the campsite they’ve selected. If it’s an online booking process, you can walk your kids through it, allowing them to make all of the selections along the way.

Pack Everything Up

Finally, your kids will need to pack everything up. We recommend handing them a printed RV packing list and then allowing them to start gathering things, crossing them off as they go.

If you want to take it a step further, you might also let your kids create a simple meal plan and grocery list. Have them choose foods they can help make so they can take full ownership of this aspect of trip planning as well.

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About the author: Chelsea Gonzales

Chelsea has the amazing opportunity to take part in full-time RV living and traveling with her tiny tribe. She homeschools her five-year-old son as they travel, and takes full advantage of their unique situation by using the entire world as her son’s classroom. A group of total Disney fanatics, Chelsea and her family often find themselves in the Orlando area in order to visit the Disney parks, but they have also visited over 25 of the 50 states with plans to see many more along the way. No matter where her travels take her, Chelsea enjoys riding bikes, gazing at beautiful sunsets, finding new coffee shops, Irish dancing, and sitting around a campfire with her family.

You can join her adventures through her blog, Wonder Wherever We Wander.

Sarah M. ~ “Coach-Net is, to this day, the best service available”