Beyond Souvenir T-Shirts

Some memories of my own childhood vacations are fuzzy but others are still quite clear. Even though I was only a small child during my first family vacation to Disneyland, I can still hear the music of "It's a Small World" ringing in my head; I remember the smell of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco; in my mind I can replay the images of the first time I saw an African dancer leaping straight into the air; my mouth still waters at the memory of my first taste of a real French pastry; and I have never forgotten the painful sting I received in Hawaii when a Portugese Man-Of-War got tangled around my legs. After many years, family vacations can begin to blur but here are some multi-sensory activities that you can try with your family to keep those precious memories vivid.

THINGS TO SEE

• Give each child have their own disposable camera to create individual memories.
• Plan ahead for certain pictures such as those at famous landmarks.
• Vary between posed and candid photographs.
• Take some pictures inside and some pictures outside.
• Take turns as the family "photo bug" so that no one is left out of your vacation snapshots.
• Some of your pictures will be blurry and some photos will be too dark so take more than one picture of important events and locations.
• Postcards, patches, pins, stickers, license plates and other flat objects can be used to embellish scrapbook pages.

THINGS TO TASTE

• Ask for recipes of the local dishes you try and attempt to duplicate them at home.
• Take pictures of any unusual or ethnic foods that you taste. Use these pictures (or any vacation photographs and postcards) to create a collage on a large (12 inch by 18 inch) piece of stiff paper. Laminate the entire piece. Can be wiped clean after use but do not submerge in water.
• Instead of banishing them to a shelf, use your souvenir mugs and plates at mealtimes.

THINGS TO SMELL

• Our sense of smell can be our most vivid memory recall device yet smells are difficult to duplicate. Try imitating the foods you ate on your vacation. Use the same shampoo or wear the same perfume. Plant flowers and plants that you remember from your trip.
• List both yummy and unpleasant smells in your daily journal. Note the smell of the hotel room, the crowded bus, the air conditioned airplane terminal, the rain, the cigarette smoke on the balcony, the garbage bin at the end of the hall, the indoor pool, the hot car, the local diner, the elephant cage,etc.

THINGS TO HEAR

• Compile video tape into a DVD. Remember that although it can be fun to dub music to a home-DVD, your children's giggles of delight and shrieks of excitement are wonderful treasures.
• Take a pocket recorder and document interesting sounds you hear- the ocean crashing on the beach, seagulls fighting over food, downtown traffic, the roaring of a waterfall, local street musicians, etc.
• Within one month after you come home, have a family story night. Each family member shares their favorite memories of the vacation. Take notes or record this session.

THINGS TO TOUCH

• Include small, tactile object in your scrapbook such as money or little baggies of sand.
• Instead of purchasing cheap, tourist T-shirts, design your own matching T-shirts. Hand paint a simple design or have custom shirts screen-printed. Some local textile printers will accept smaller jobs. At matcheez.com we are happy to custom screen-print matching family T-shirts for you and your family. A vacation T-shirt can bring back pleasant memories every time it is worn.
• Create postcard puzzles. Purchase postcards from places you visit on this year's family vacation. Glue them back to back in sets of two. Cut the postcard into puzzle shapes. Laminate each piece. Store in a clear zipper storage bag.
• Remember your family vacation next winter with a memory quilt. Purchase ink-jet transfers from a local discount store such as Wal-Mart. Print photographs on your home printer and heat set them to white quilt blocks. Alternate the picture blocks with plain, multi-colored fabric blocks. Assemble the quilt squares, insert purchased batting, back with matching flannel and tie with colored yarn.

MULTI-SENSORY

• Help each child create a memory book of your family vacation. Try to take one picture of the child at each location or activity. During "downtime", have your child draw a picture of what they did that day. Older children can write a list of their favorite activities. Embellish the pages with souvenirs, postcards, photographs, journal entries and drawings.
• An adult can save vacation itineraries or take daily notes to help jog memories at a later date.

Take time to record your next family vacation. If your family frequently revisits its most pleasurable vacation moments, your children will remember them and these cherished memories can strengthen family ties for years to come.