The “terrible twos” can make traveling with a two-year-old a challenge. Full of energy, these toddlers are sometimes too young for activities which could entertain and distract slightly older kids. Luckily, we’ve collected plenty of tips and tricks to make traveling with your two-year-old easier and more fun. Try out some of these simple suggestions to improve your travel experience.

Snacks

Make sure to pack plenty of your two-year-old’s favorite snacks, and keep them coming! Fruit, crackers and juice are all easy to pack and don’t necessarily need to be served cold.

Toys Galore

Don’t forget to bring along your child’s favorite toys and books! Doing so will help them feel at home while on the road and will give you and your toddler the opportunity to spend some quiet, relaxed time together. Toys and books are also great for entertaining a fussy toddler. Amazon.com has a good selection of toys perfectly suited to your two-year-old.

Take Lots of Breaks

It’s important to take every opportunity to stretch and to eat. Your two-year-old won’t be able to sit still for long periods of time, so it’s best to take a break every two hours or so. Pull over to have lunch or a snack at a safe location where your toddler can run around and play a bit before you get back on the road.

Sanitizing Hand Wipes

Your two-year-old is likely to be a professional at making messes, so you won’t be able to buy enough of these! They’re great for cleaning up messes on and around your toddler as well as for sanitizing everything their little hands come into contact with.

Break up the Drive with a Fun Stop

In addition to taking lots of eating and stretching breaks, we also suggest that you schedule a fun destination, such as a zoo or aquarium visit, in the middle of your long drive. This idea comes from an article at AllExperts.com, which contains a number of other excellent ideas for traveling with your two-year-old.

Audio Books

Pop in a toddler-friendly audio book every so often to keep your two-year-old smiling. The Little Bear books and virtually any book by Jim Weiss are great selections to entertain you and your child. You can find these types of audio books at your local library, at a bookstore or online.

Invest in a Child-Carrying Backpack and Lightweight Stroller

Depending upon where you go, traveling with your two-year-old could involve some walking. It’s not always convenient to have a stroller, and carrying a two-year-old for more than 30 minutes at a time can be hard on the back. FamilyTravelGuides.com suggests a solution for this problem – a child-carrying backpack. Lightweight and easily packed, a backpack allows your toddler to see everything around her while not having to walk on her own tired legs. A very lightweight stroller is another good option, and one of these can easily be placed in airlines’ overhead compartments or stored as checked baggage.

Hawaii’s spectacular natural beauty are no longer just for honeymooners. According to Babycenter’s survey, “beach” is the No. 1 family summer vacation choice (38% of 11312 responses). Hawaii welcomes kids and family with its warm and shallow waters, Hawaiian resorts incorporate natural beauty into fun kids’ program. In the coming weeks, we will pick the best kid friendly resorts or hotels in each island of Hawaii. We are not going to rank the resorts here and you can click on the points on the map and then click on the photos t0 read hotel reviews.

Interactive Map: Best Kid Friendly Resorts in Kauai, Hawaii

In the interactive map above, we can see most of the hotels are around the two best beaches in Kauai: Hanalei Bay Beach in the north and Poipu Beach in the south. Poipu Bay Golf Course has hosted the star-studded PGA Grand Slam of Golf for 13 consecutive years. While there are a few on the east part of the island which is relatively closed to the airport. Except of Hanalei Colony Resort, all other hotels have children’s pools, or keiki pools; kids under 17 (or 18) can stay with parents for free, but room services are mostly avaliable in limited hours.

Highlights for each resort (in thinking to take kids):

• Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa: has a 150 feet water-slide which makes it kids’ paradise; 24 hours room services, complimentary daily continental breakfast in Regency Club, afternoon cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, and upgraded room amenities; Camp Hyatt for kids 3.5 – 12 years old.
• Sheraton Kaua’i Resort: Playstations in game room, kids (under 12) eat free at Shells; access to Kiahuna Beach; Most rooms are connected to others by a lock-off, which are good for families needing multiple rooms.
• Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club: Access to Poipu Beach Par and Poipu beach, full kitchen with cookware and tableware in guest kitchen.
• Hilton Kauai Beach Resort: Complimentary scuba lesson in pool; has a sandy beach pool and water slide.
• Aloha Beach Resort Kauai : Access to Lydgate Beach Park, has restaurant where kids under 12 can eat free; Sony PlayStations in every room.
• Hanalei Colony Resort: Free maid service twice a week, fully-equipped kitchens(lack dishwashers) in guess kitchen.
• Kauai Marriott: Spectacular circle pool; Nintendo in rooms.
• Princeville Resort: 24h room services; access to Pu’u Poa Beach, keiki program for kids from 5 to 12.
• Poipu Kai Resort: access to Brennecke, Poipu Beach and Shipwreck Beach.
• Kiahuna Plantation Resort：Access to Kiahuan Beach, has a sand-lined pool.

We are researching for the best kids’ clubs and kids’ programs provided by family friendly hotels/resort on each Hawaii island. Camp Hyatt of Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort and Spa (formerly as Hyatt Regency Kauai) is one of the top picks for Kauai.

Grand Hyatt Kauai is in Poipu which is to the south of Kauai island. The hotel has beautiful grounds and was voted as “Best for Romantic” in 2006 by tripadvisor members. One of the highlight is the Anara Spa which Grand Hyatt Kauai has spent millions to expand and which will be completed sometime this year. Camp Hyatt Kauai operates from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. It provides various activities to kids from 3 1/2 to 12. Full day admission is $70 (with lunch), half day without lunch is $45 and with lunch is $55. Night camp is perfect for parents who want to some quality romantic getaway, $10 per child, per hour.

It is difficult to get program reviews since the participants are kids. Here are some reviews by parents I collected in my research:

“…We had two kids ages 4 and 7 with us. They went into Camp Hyatt for one day. The price was about 75.00 per child including lunch and there were about 8-10 kids in the camp with two to three helpers. They both said it was fun. They made crafts, painted t-shirts, watched a movie, ate a nice lunch, and swam in the pool….”

“…Camp Hyatt is very-well run (same director for 16 yrs) and our kids had a good time there doing Hawaiian themed crafts and playing games…. “

Besides the camp, it is the water-park (pools) that makes the Hyatt Kauai our top choice. There are salt water lagoons and freshwater river-like pools. The upper swimming pool is for adults and the lower pool is an “action pool” with a volleyball net, waterfalls, spas, and an area for children. The connector between two pools are the undoubted kids’ favorite -a 150-foot water-slide. Activities includes drifting gently on a floating chair, taking a two-person kayak or taking snorkeling and diving lessons from experienced instructors. Be sure to explore the pools and there are surprises on the islands. What’s more, a white sandy beach, Shipwreck Public Beach, is adjacent to the resort. Note: all the water activities is no lifeguard on duty, kids must be accompanied by an adult. The water-park is open from sunrise to 8pm.

Photo courtesy of Sumomo-Chan

What about babies and toddlers? The website says the resort provides babysitting services and I have emailed to request detailed information. Will update once I get the reply.

With the camp and the pools to kids, we picked Hyatt Kauai as one of the top choices for family vacations in Kauai.

Quick Facts:

• Rooms: 603
• Restaurants: 7
• Pools: 3
• Average prices: Spacious rooms (600 sq. ft.) are $430-$910. Suites (866-2,463 sq. ft.) are $1,540-$5,140. (an early departure fee might apply.)

Kangos Picks again, top 5 blogs about travel with toddlers this time.

So, Kango has picked the best family friendly lodging in a dozen California cities (San Francisco, San Diego, Monterey, Pismo Beach) and Hawaii (Honolulu, Kailua Kona …) . We think dads and moms also want to check out the blogosphere about family travel, especially when they travel with toddlers.

Kango Elliott Ng was just back from a “travel with baby” and “are we there yet?” Bahamas vacation with his family, including 2 boys: 12 months and 5 years old. He shared with me that “we had a comprehensive packing list, but we don’t have enough time to pack them all.” So, let’s see what else we can learn from the blogs about travel with toddlers we picked.

#1 : Baby Travel 101: Baby girl in this blog flew with her parents for the 1st domestic trip when she was only 7 weeks; later, she took another 5 weeks trip to Southeast Asia when she was 4 months old. Besides the practical tips of flying with baby and toddlers, I found this post Baby Travel In Less Developed Countries reflects the Kango spirits very well: baby can go, toddler kango, know, and then go!

#2. Traveling Family: The Traveling Family is from London. They have been to 46 destinations around the world in less than 6 months (telling from the blog entry date). “I thought I’d try to relate my hints and tips for traveling around the world with young children. It’s a hard one to do, I can only go on my experiences with a 2 year old and a “under 6 month” old. I put “under 6 month” as when we started our baby Lloyd was 7 weeks old, and when we returned home he was over 5 months!” Travelling Family shared all the hints and tips with us in this great Top 10 Tips for Travelling with Young Children post. Their other travel journals are gems for baby/toddler travel research too.

#3: Suburban Oblivion is in fact a parenting blog rather than a travel blog. I was laughing to death when I read the post: Reasons Not to Take Your Toddler Out in Public. Blogger Sara is a stay-home mom to 3 kids. I like the design of her blog and her writing style. I believe parents who travel with their toddlers can make the list to 100,000 reasons!

#4. Family Travel by Sheila Scarborough is the No.1 family travel blog in Google search. Sheila has taken her kid to see the world and there are so many travel stories and tips about what to do, where to stay and what/where to eat in this blog.

# 5. Mommy Poppins “ is dedicated to the strong belief that NYC is the best place for kids ever. Whether it’s because of the cultural riches, the diversity, …, the lifestyle, or just all the fun stuff you can do, there’s no place for kids like New York. And this site is the place you’ll find out why, with museums, …, day trips and more….much more”. Taking your toddlers to NYC? Mommy Poppins is a must read!

During my research for this post, I also found some resourceful website for busy parents:

• Baby Center Travel With a Toddler
• Suite 101 Toddler Travel
• Dr. Green Toddler Outdoors
• Guide to Select Toddler Toys

The following are updated on Aug. 14, 2007:

Family Travel recommended this post flying with a toddler — how not to get kicked off a plane by Wendy Perrin.