Why the first thing I pack for every family vacation is a little blue box.
By Amy Jackson
Last Updated Jun 17, 2023 - 4 mins read
By Amy Jackson
Last Updated Jun 17, 2023 - 4 mins read
Short On Time? Here's Your TL;DR
👉 200 questions in 4 age-appropriate categories. Your family will have a lot more to say if you’re able to ask more than “How was your day?”
👉 An analog solution to a digital problem. Combat the attention-sucking draw of screen by providing an engaging alternative that reminds everyone of what the next few minutes are supposed to be about: face-to-face interaction.
👉 Quality and eco-friendly materials. The compact box is portable enough for all kinds of travel. The durable cards were made to withstand grubby hands at the dinner table.
👉 FREE shipping from USA, Australian, Canadian and UK-based warehouses and 60-day returns.
When I was a kid, my family went on a lot of road trips.
And I hated them.
Even if I was excited about the destination, all the hours cooped up in the car (usually in the middle seat between my two brothers!) were just miserable for me. It doesn’t take long for games like ‘20 Questions’ and ‘I Spy’ to get boring.
My dad always had to have control of the radio, and even if us kids did start to have a fun conversation, my mom would always tell us to quiet down because it was making her car sick. I love my parents and my brothers, but these excursions were NOT my favorite part of growing up.
I decided early on that when I had kids, I was going to try my best to make vacations and holidays as special as can be. I couldn’t wait to surprise my future children with spontaneous pit stops at scenic places, and I was especially excited to give them something that I never had on my childhood ‘vacations': CHOICES.
If they didn’t want to go somewhere or do something, I wouldn’t make them! I thought I had it all figured out…
I decided early on that when I had kids, I was going to try my best to make vacations and holidays as special as can be. I couldn’t wait to surprise my future children with spontaneous pit stops at scenic places, and I was especially excited to give them something that I never had on my childhood ‘vacations': CHOICES.
If they didn’t want to go somewhere or do something, I wouldn’t make them! I thought I had it all figured out…
Flash forward a few years later, and I had forgotten all about this promise that I made myself…
If you’re a parent, I don’t have to tell you that raising kids is already hard enough without having to stick to whatever half-baked child-rearing ideals you may have sworn yourself to when you were 20 years old.
But, honestly, there was a nugget of truth in there. However naive I was, my heart and mind were in the right place in wanting to make family vacations as magical as possible.
And I hated them.
Even if I was excited about the destination, all the hours cooped up in the car (usually in the middle seat between my two brothers!) were just miserable for me. It doesn’t take long for games like ‘20 Questions’ and ‘I Spy’ to get boring.
My dad always had to have control of the radio, and even if us kids did start to have a fun conversation, my mom would always tell us to quiet down because it was making her car sick. I love my parents and my brothers, but these excursions were NOT my favorite part of growing up.
I decided early on that when I had kids, I was going to try my best to make vacations and holidays as special as can be. I couldn’t wait to surprise my future children with spontaneous pit stops at scenic places, and I was especially excited to give them something that I never had on my childhood ‘vacations': CHOICES.
If they didn’t want to go somewhere or do something, I wouldn’t make them! I thought I had it all figured out…
I decided early on that when I had kids, I was going to try my best to make vacations and holidays as special as can be. I couldn’t wait to surprise my future children with spontaneous pit stops at scenic places, and I was especially excited to give them something that I never had on my childhood ‘vacations': CHOICES.
If they didn’t want to go somewhere or do something, I wouldn’t make them! I thought I had it all figured out…
Flash forward a few years later, and I had forgotten all about this promise that I made myself…
If you’re a parent, I don’t have to tell you that raising kids is already hard enough without having to stick to whatever half-baked child-rearing ideals you may have sworn yourself to when you were 20 years old.
But, honestly, there was a nugget of truth in there. However naive I was, my heart and mind were in the right place in wanting to make family vacations as magical as possible.
I started to think about the vacations that my husband and I had taken our young family on, and counted up all the ways my 11-year-old self would have disapproved.
For one, my husband LOVES to control what we all listen to in the car - I guess you really do marry someone like your parents!!
Luckily, he’s much more receptive to song requests than my dad was, so I knew the music wasn’t what I would’ve objected to (I would probably wonder why after 20 years my ears were STILL being inundated with the jazz-guitar licks of Steely Dan, though!)
Then, it hit me:
I WAS giving my children enough freedom to decide what they wanted to do.
I started to think about the vacations that my husband and I had taken our young family on, and counted up all the ways my 11-year-old self would have disapproved.
For one, my husband LOVES to control what we all listen to in the car - I guess you really do marry someone like your parents!!
Luckily, he’s much more receptive to song requests than my dad was, so I knew the music wasn’t what I would’ve objected to (I would probably wonder why after 20 years my ears were STILL being inundated with the jazz-guitar licks of Steely Dan, though!)
Then, it hit me:
I WAS giving my children enough freedom to decide what they wanted to do.
In fact, I had given my children TOO MUCH freedom to choose how they wanted to spend their time on vacation.
Somewhere along the way, it got a lot easier to just set them up on their tablets and let them watch or play what they wanted.
Even if part of me wanted to nag them that they really would appreciate going to this museum when they were older, I couldn’t stop thinking about how when I was a kid all I had wanted was the ability to decide my own activities.
But here’s the thing - I never had an iPad with hours of my favorite shows and dozens of fun games on it!!
I’m sure that had I been given the chance to lose myself in such a stimulating device, I would have taken it.
But then I would’ve missed out on all those boisterous backseat conversations - even if we did eventually quiet down for Mom’s sake.
I would’ve missed out on hearing all those Steely Dan songs that, as embarrassing as it is to admit, still make an appearance on a lot of my playlists today!
Worst of all, I would’ve missed out on those precious moments with my family that we still laugh and reminisce about to this day.
Sure, those road trips weren’t perfect, but they were a huge part of my childhood.
Even though I had the best of intentions, I realized that I was at fault for our vacations not being as memorable and joyful as possible…
The pendulum had swung too far.
So I put my foot down.
This was right about the time when we were going to be driving a few hours to visit my parents, and I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to implement my genius new parenting idea: a long family car ride, without the distraction of tablets and phones.
Just the family in the car, enjoying each other’s company without screens.
Any guesses as to how it went?
Anyone?
It was miserable
It didn’t take long for my two youngest to break out into a screaming match
And just when I thought the strife was about to be over, my husband couldn’t help himself and blurt out: “Why don’t you just put a movie on for them!?”
I was furious. I felt undermined and unappreciated.
But after some more thought (occasionally interrupted by the piercing vocals of Frozen 2), I realized that I had once again come to the wrong conclusion when it came to family road trips.
I knew it was important to make them as tech-free as possible, but it wouldn’t be enough to just take away screens without providing an alternative.
That was a recipe for disaster.
We got to my parent’s house, and I gave them both an extra big hug as if to say “I get it now, I’m sorry for complaining during our long car rides. I didn’t know how good I had it!”
The next day, my Mom surprised me with a gift. It had been my birthday a few weeks earlier, and she started to tell me about how a woman in her knitting group had gotten one of these as a gift and that it had done wonders for her family dinners.
I opened it up, and it was a glossy, sturdy little cardboard box with these blue circles on the sides.
On the top, it read ‘Talking Point Cards’ in big black letters, followed by a smaller word below: ‘FAMILY’
I opened it up, and I saw four different stripes of colors on top of the pristinely white cards.
My Mom explained that her friend swore by these cards, so she thought I might like to give them a try.
She didn’t even know about the issues I was having with getting my family to have meaningful interactions on our vacations (I mean, unless she felt my cry for help through the hug and immediately bought the cards. Who knows, shipping times can be pretty crazy fast these days.)
It was a lovely few days with my parents, and the kids were happy to have this time off of school while they played with their grandpa and grandma.
A few hours before we were supposed to leave, I started to get nervous.
Would this be my last stand? How far was I willing to go in order to get my whole family to engage with one another in a fun, memorable way?
Part of me hoped that the situation would resolve itself: that my kids would suddenly strike up appropriate, genuine conversation with one another and invite my husband and me to join in on the fun.
Part of me was wrong.
Almost immediately, the iPads came out, the headphones came on, and the easygoing attitude we all had at Grandma and Grandpa’s house was replaced by a subtle but tense air of “do not bother me: I am sucked into the screen that’s two inches from my face.”
The worst part was that I was doing the exact same thing as my kids!
I wasn’t playing Roblox with the volume on full blast, but I was furiously scrolling through the news I missed while I was spending quality time with my parents, my husband, and my kids!
Oh - the horror! How dare I relate to my most cherished loved ones in real life instead of making absolutely sure I fixed my eyes on every new headline that came across my screen!
For what felt like the umpteenth time in the last few days, I told myself enough was enough.
After a bathroom break, I gently told my kids I had a new game for them to play - but that this one couldn’t be found in the App Store.
I pulled out that little blue box.
I slowly slid off the top.
And I picked the first card I saw: “Would you rather be a giant mouse or a miniature elephant?”
There was about one second of silence before my daughter abruptly shrieked: “GIANT MOUSE!”
My husband gave me a puzzled look, as if to say “what are we getting ourselves into?”
It turns out, what we had gotten ourselves into was a nearly 45-minute family discussion about the merits of size and stature in the animal kingdom, as well as a spirited side-debate between my two sons about whether or not a giant mouse would have to then find and eat giant wheels of cheese.
They eventually came to a conclusion: yes, the mouse would have to devote a lot of time to locating and consuming this impressively large cheese, but it could also choose to devour more readily available human meals like pasta and hotdogs.
I absolutely loved hearing them reason through this hypothetical situation together, and I got a deep sense of satisfaction.
Was this the answer I was looking for all along?
The car ride was over in what felt like just a few minutes.
None of the kids reached for their devices after we first started our discussion.
Not once.
The kids piled out of the car and we got everything out of the car.
Exhausted from the stress of my parenting dilemma, I plopped down on the couch and let my mind wander.
Part of me didn’t want to believe that the solution to getting my whole family to engage in fun conversation was so … simple.
This wasn’t some profound new way to think about family time.
It wasn’t a trendy parenting forum trick that taught me how to hack my kids’ attention spans.
It was just an easy way to get everyone talking, laughing, and listening - without them even realizing that it had been close to an hour since they last put down their screens!
That’s the beauty of Talking Point Cards
The Family Pack from Talking Point Cards works so well because it equips you with all the tools you need to initiate quality family time: interesting questions that spark all kinds of conversations!
The Best Parts of Talking Point Cards: Family Pack
✔️ Feel your family grow closer with each conversation
✔️ Enjoy family time, the old fashioned way
✔️ Encourage conversation skills and active listening
✔️ Dedicate a time and place for judgment-free expression
✔️ Make lasting memories with you family
✔️ Suitable for all ages & family types
✔️ 100% child-friendly, non-confrontational , non-judgmental and non-political
Conclusion: It's A No-Brainer
These questions were crafted and reviewed by a range of qualified professionals and they’ve been used by tens of thousands of families around the globe to give good conversation a more prominent role in their lives.
So if you’re interested in getting your family off of their devices and into fun conversations with one another, then I suggest you give the Family Pack by Talking Point Cards a try.
Still not sure?
Get a 60-day money-back guarantee: If you’re not satisfied in any way, you can get a full refund within 60 days. No hassle, no fuss, simple.
You're also protected from defects and shipping damage!
Where Do I Get Family Pack?
To get your Family Pack and claim your discount, simply follow these three steps:
Step 1: Click here to check availability.
Step 2: Your Pack will arrive in 4-7 days.
Step 3: Enjoy better communication and connection with your family
Remember: You’re protected by a 60-day money-back guarantee.
See what some customers have to say about the Family pack:
"I want to thank you for making these cards! My small family (myself, my wife, and 3 young boys) was stuck in a routine of what I call "family screen time". When we sat down for dinner it was everyone for themselves to find their screen of choice; tablets, video games, phones, etc., were our primary focus.
I saw an ad and decided to give your cards a shot. Now, at dinner time the kids are no longer fighting over who gets which screen, but who gets to pull the first question card! It has turned into a tradition that we put away all screens and take turns passing the question box around.
It has been such a bonding experience for us all, learning and loving in new ways that weren't even discovered before; striking intriguing, important, and quite honestly, necessary conversation.
John (8), Sam (5), and even Cam (almost 2) all enjoy their turn to pull a card and answer the questions.
Thanks you so much!"
— Dave, Family Pack Customer
"My youngest said she has really enjoyed them not because of the closeness, but because it is really causing her to think about her life and how our family has influenced and shaped her.
We had a two-hour conversation filled with tears this morning. It was one of those much-needed momma / daughter talks. I look forward to the next 195 days!"
Deanna, Family Pack Customer
"My youngest said she has really enjoyed them not because of the closeness, but because it is really causing her to think about her life and how our family has influenced and shaped her.
We had a two-hour conversation filled with tears this morning. It was one of those much-needed momma / daughter talks. I look forward to the next 195 days!"
Deanna, Family Pack Customer
Since writing this article, Talking Point Cards have announced a huge surge in demand. They’re at real risk of selling out. Be sure to order today to avoid disappointment.
Last updated: 20th March 2023