Summer Shorts: The Hidden Brain Benefits of Travel with Kids.

Building Executive Function Skills During Travel: Insights for International Parenting

In this episode of the Globally Thriving Families Podcast, host Clare O'Byrne, a parent coach and occupational therapist, discusses how travel can help develop children's executive function skills, including emotional regulation. As part of the summer shorts series, Clare provides practical tips for managing travel-related stress and supporting children's wellbeing during school holidays. She emphasizes the importance of co-regulation, naming emotions, incorporating movement breaks, offering choices, and expecting some level of dysregulation. Clare also invites listeners to connect with her on social media and consider parent coaching.

00:00 Introduction to Globally Thriving Families
01:03 Summer Shorts Series Overview
01:34 Travel and Emotional Regulation
04:38 Supporting Executive Function Skills
04:51 Practical Tips for Co-Regulation
05:51 Name It to Tame It: Managing Big Feelings
06:39 Movement and Sensory Breaks
07:24 Empowering Kids with Choices
08:01 Expecting and Managing Dysregulation
08:25 Conclusion and Contact Information

Resources mentioned in this episode: The Whole - Brain Child by Dr Daniel J. Siegal and Dr Tina Payne Bryson. 

Connect with Clare: [e-mail]

Website: https://www.globallythriving.com

Connect with Clare on Instagram: http://instagram.com/globally_thriving

Book a free 20 minute call with Clare: https://tidycal.com/globallythriving/20-minute-meeting

Episode Transcript

(00:04):
Are you a parent or caregiverraising your child
internationally?
Are you curious about how tonurture your child's
development?
But find all the parentinginformation out there confusing?
If so, you are in the rightplace.
Welcome to the Globally ThrivingFamilies Podcast.
I'm your host, Clare O'Byrne, aparent coach and occupational

(00:27):
therapist with a passion forsupporting children and their
families for more than 25 years.
Whether it's understanding howto build resilience to practical
tips for language development,screen time challenges, and
staying calm amongst the chaos,Globally Thriving Families is
here to help.

(00:48):
Join me as we explore the topicsthat give you the insights and
guidance you need to supportyour children to thrive.
No matter where your family'sadventures take you Hello and
welcome back to GloballyThriving Families and to the
first of these summer shortsseries.

(01:10):
So while many of us aretraveling or changing routines
over the school holidays, I'llbe dropping a few quick bite,
bite-sized episodes all under 10minutes, hopefully, to support
your family's wellbeing.
Think of it like some littlenuggets of encouragement,
insight, and practicalsuggestions to help you navigate
the highs and the lows ofparenting in this season.

(01:34):
Now, travel tends to bring outall the emotions in both us and
our kids.
You know, the tears, themeltdowns, the overwhelm, maybe
the grumpiness And whilst it canbe stressful for us at the time
too, for sure, these moments dogive our kids a chance to
practice and develop theirexecutive function skills.

(01:56):
And these are really valuableand essential life skills that
they need throughout their life.
You may have heard me talkingabout executive function in
previous episodes, and this isthe brain's ability to plan, to
stay flexible, to controlemotions, to prioritize, and to
think clearly amongst many otherskills.

(02:18):
Even before you arrive at theairport.
The process of preparing for atrip, the packing and the
planning is already developingthese executive function skills,
giving them a chance toprioritize and use their working
memory.
Travel is also like a bootcampfor emotional regulation too,
which is a really importantexecutive function skill.

(02:41):
So emotional regulation is theability to recognize and respond
to emotions.
So.
Often our kids have these bigfeelings, and it's not about
stopping those big feelings.
It's the ability to feel themwithout getting totally consumed
by them.
So first, being able to noticethem, to be able to name them,

(03:04):
and gradually over time learningto move through and past those
feelings.
And kids are not born with thisability.
It is definitely a skill that islearned only through practice.
You may even also recognizeadults in your life or yourself
that has difficulty withemotional regulation at times.

(03:27):
So, you know, think about thosetravel days in 24 hours, your
kids are being exposed towaiting to delays, to maybe
changes in the plan or theroutine changes in sleep and
eating habits.
Being in a new environment andsensory overload, lack of home
comforts.
So these situations naturallypresent opportunities for your

(03:51):
kid to practice the waiting,managing frustration and
disappointment, and beingflexible with transitions or
changes.
We shouldn't expect our kids tojust deal with it and get
through it smoothly becausetheir brain is not developed
enough for that yet.
And this is especially true withour tweens.

(04:11):
You know, the nine to 12 yearolds whose executive function
skills, they're really growingfast at this time.
But they're still needingsupport to help further develop
them So travel is giving ourtweens, especially some great
opportunities to take on someresponsibilities for the
planning and the packing, theorganizing their stuff, and

(04:33):
decision making that mighthappen through those travel days
too.
So how can we support executivefunction and specifically
emotional regulation when thingsdon't go as planned?
So here are a few quicksuggestions of how we can look
at this.
Okay, So firstly, co-regulation.
Is something that is so valuableto learn about for you right

(04:59):
now?
It's basically how we lend ourcalm to our kids or to anyone
when their emotions are too muchfor them to handle alone.
So the way we do that is throughour presence by being close to
them.
Um.
Using a calm, soothing voice itmay or may not need eye contact

(05:22):
as well.
And everybody's a littledifferent in terms of what they
need for co-regulation.
So it's not about saying ifyou're gonna cry, you need to go
and be in that corner, or youneed to go to this area and be
by yourself.
Unless someone is specificallywanting to be by themself at
that time, our kids really needour presence to help them learn

(05:45):
this skill.
Secondly, a concept I love fromthe work of Dr.
Dan Siegel and Tina Payne.
Bryson is name it, to tame it.
And so this is the idea thatwhen we help our kids put words
to their big feelings, this canactually help them to calm their
brain and body.
It helps them make some sense ofwhat they're experiencing and

(06:08):
they feel seen and understood.
So if you are stuck at the gate,at the airport and there's a
delay and it's going to beanother hour, they're starting
to lose it.
Just by acknowledging that.
I, I know you're upset, aren'tyou?
You were ready to get on thatplane and get comfortable and,
and now we all have to waitlonger.

(06:29):
It's hard, isn't it?
Something like that.
It doesn't take away thefrustration because that's not
the goal, but just beingacknowledged goes a long way.
So thirdly, some movement andsensory breaks are so valuable.
Now, last week's episode was allabout sensory supports on travel
days.
So if you haven't alreadylistened, you can check that out

(06:51):
with more details about usingsensory strategies to really
manage that long travel day.
But getting in some movement,um, any at all can really be a
game changer, even if it's justgetting your kids to, you know,
timing them standing on one legor seeing how many jumping jacks

(07:11):
they can do in a minute.
Just little micro momentsbasically.
It doesn't have to be you doinglaps of the airport.
It can just be a minute ofsomething.
Fourthly, offer some choiceswhenever you can give your
children a sense of control.
And that might mean letting goof some of your usual rules that

(07:35):
you have.
You know, if you have tweens orteens, let them take some of the
responsibility for the decisionmaking at the airport.
Going to check the informationboards, finding a good spot to
eat or sit.
Never underestimate the power ofthese opportunities because it's
the moments of agency andautonomy and even responsibility

(07:56):
that can actually change theoverall picture of the day.
And Fifthly expect somedysregulation.
I mean, it really is normal.
Travel can be so hard on all ofus.
It really tests us in some ofthe best and worst ways, doesn't
it?
Travel doesn't have to gosmoothly to be valuable, and

(08:19):
actually even at its messiest,it's really building vital
skills in our kids.
So, I hope this is helpful toyou and I hope it's giving you
some insights into the brainbuilding opportunities, for our
kids, and I'm wishing youmoments of calm and connection

(08:39):
and adventure over the next fewweeks.
Thank you so much for listening.
See you next time.
If anything in this episodesparked something for you, I'd
love to hear about it.
You can find me on Instagram atglobally_thriving, or you can
reach out to me on my website.

(09:01):
Globally thriving.com Also, ifyou are curious about parent
coaching and if it might beright for you, you can book a
free 20 minute call via the linkin the show notes, and we can
have a no pressure conversationjust to find out more about it.
See you next time.