Living Aboard with 2 Small Kids

[robert.]

Hi guys! We are moving aboard our boat in 6 days with 2 small kids (3 and 6) and our dog. I know that many others have come before us and I was hoping to get some advice to keep them busy from experienced cruisers. Has anyone discovered some really great ideas to keep them busy and entertained while living aboard? I figured that there might be some good ideas that we hadn't thought of.

We are cruising out of Galveston on the ICW headed for Key Largo. We plan to stay in a marina there until December and make the crossing to the Bahamas. We would also like very much to see Cuba.

We planned to assign our crew a bunch of chores and they love to fish and explore anything. They are great swimmers and love the water.

We would love to meet up with any families who are cruising so please let me know if we will be in the same area as you. God bless.

[Hudson Force]

Both of our children grew up on board from infancy to leaving home as young adults. Our daughter now lives aboard with her husband an 6 year old son. These thoughts became important to us:

- The running rigging can be very dangerous to small bodies.
- Always teathers & life jackets at appropriate times.
- One parent is always on "child watch".
- Children do best having their own private space, no matter how small.

While underway our children were entertained by:
- taking the helm
- making snack trays
- presenting plays
- following treasure hunt games on board (we even hid Easter Eggs on the deck over the years when our chidren were young)
- dragging toy boats behind

At anchor our children enjoyed:
- exploring shorelines
- dinghy trips & kayaking
- reef snorkeling & beech swimming
- playing with new friends on other boats

Our grandson onboard his boat spends hours with various "aps" on his iPad. This is not an activity that we know much about, but there are some wondrous things!

[FamilyVan]

I have a 32" tv with a PS4 in my salon. It only works on shore power, but it provides lots of entertainment (although my wife won't let me play Grand Theft Auto if the boys in the room).

Fishing is good remember if your sport fishing to remove the barbs from the hooks.

Sent from my SGH-I547C using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[robert.]

Great advice and thank you so much! We want to keep the little ones entertained with non electronic things and I hope that sticks, rocks and shells become their favorite things!