Family, travel, mom blog | Theme Park Mom (Leigh Caldwell)

Home » Top Tips » Keeping your kids from getting lost at theme parks

Keeping your kids from getting lost at theme parks

Posted by ThemeParkMom on August 23, 2008 | 4 Comments

Photo by CKramer

1. Do a “loss-prevention” refresher course.
As you plan for your theme park trip, one of the topics you should talk to your kids about is getting lost. Remind them of those things you’ve already taught them through the years. Explain that the park will probably be crowded, and everyone needs to pay attention to not get separated. Talk in advance about guidelines that are age-appropriate and right for your child’s maturity level. For example, toddlers must be in the stroller or holding a parent’s hand. But pre-teens may just be expected to ask permission before venturing off to look at something nearby.

2. Remind your kids what they should do if they find themselves lost.
Many parents teach their kids to go to someone with a name tag if they are lost. Others, Theme Park Mom included, tell their children to ask another mommy for help.

3. Consider dressing everyone alike.
There’s a reason Jon and Kate Gosselin dress their eight children alike when they are going out in public, and it goes beyond the fact that they look cute. If everyone in your party is wearing a red shirt (or whatever) it’s much easier to take a quick head count and to spot someone wandering off. It’s also easy to point to another kid when one is lost and say, “She’s wearing this,” to theme park employees who come to your aid.

4. Take a picture in the parking lot.
Snap a picture of each child on your digital camera at the beginning of the day. If a child does become lost, you’ll have a quickly accessible record of exactly what the child was wearing to give to park security.

5. Consider labeling your kid with a cell phone number.
Holiday World in Santa Claus, Ind., offers parents “Phone Find” wristbands, that you can label with a cell phone number and put on your child. Other parks offer similar programs. But you can also do it yourself. Theme Park Mom recommends writing the cell phone number with a Sharpie on Tyvek wristbands, which are the coated paper bands you’ve probably been given before at a night club or health clinic. They will stay on and readable, even at a water park. You can pick up several dozen for less than $10 by searching “Tyvek wristbands” on eBay. Other parents have suggested using sticky-backed name tags, or safety-pinning a card inside the child’s clothing. One note: Theme Park Mom suggests you only put a cell phone number on whatever form of “tagging” you use. Writing the child’s name could allow a predator to find out your child’s name and seem less like a stranger.