ArcaMax

Kids will also like the 3-D pocket-sized "Panorama Pops" from Candlewick Press that include a dozen of the sites your kids likely will see in Rome or San Francisco, for example. They're only $8.99 and I think they could make a great airplane surprise for your grade-schoolers. On the way, they'll check out the places you will go; on the way home, the places they've seen. Incidentally, there are also larger versions of these books that stretch to more than five feet. Look for ones to the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Speaking of museums -- especially those big overwhelming ones -- stop in at the bookstore on the way out (the Louvre has a separate children's bookstore). The Met has many children's books, including "Inside the Museum: A Children's Guide to the MMA" for $12.95. You might find a children's book about an artist that particularly engaged them or a kids'-eye-view of the museum itself; at a natural history museum you may find books tied to a particular exhibit or subject that the kids want to know more about.

You'll also likely find a good selection if a museum has a special discovery room for kids, like at the Art Institute of Chicago’s Family Room.

If you're heading on an outdoor adventure, whether you are at the playground, the backyard or a national park, consider the "National Geographic Kids Get Outside Guide" with lots of fun facts. There's also a “National Geographic Kids Bird Guide of North America."

Wouldn't it be nice if the kids put down their electronic devices on vacation, at least for a little while!

Even better, they'll probably teach you something new.

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(For more Taking the Kids, visit www.takingthekids.com and also follow "taking the kids" on www.twitter.com, where Eileen Ogintz welcomes your questions and comments.)

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