Taking a long bus journey can be challenging for anybody. But it is especially difficult for children.
Experienced school administrators know this and typically schedule field trips that are relatively close to their school building. But in some instances, longer journeys are necessary.
When bus trips for children last longer than an hour, special plans need to be put in place to keep the students happy, occupied, and healthy.
Bathrooms Are Critical
At FloridaTours.com, we recommend that you book a luxury charter bus with an onboard bathroom for any trip longer than one hour. This recommendation is for trips with both adults and children.
Why? Because stopping the bus so passengers can use the bathroom in a gas station or fast-food restaurant is time-consuming. And with children, there are safety issues to consider. So for trips of 90 minutes or longer, it’s usually a better idea to have a bathroom on board.
Speaking of restaurants, keeping children fed is important to their health. Most kids can get irritable or uncomfortable when there are more than a couple of hours between meal or snack breaks. So it’s a good idea to have snacks available on board your bus so their blood sugar doesn’t drop during long bus rides.
This advice applies to adults as well.
Meal Stops
If you are going to break up your trip with planned rest stops, it’s a good idea to make arrangements ahead with the owner or manager of the restaurant that you intend to visit. A bus of 40 or more children pulling up unexpectedly is going to cause anxiety and stress on any restaurant so you need to give them a heads up.
Prepaid meals are always a good idea. They eliminate the need for collecting money from children or instances where some children don’t have enough money to eat.
Safety measures also need to be taken. Do a headcount before the children disembark the bus, provide adequate adult supervision throughout the meal break, and do another headcount as they return to the bus.
When it comes to transporting children, there’s no such thing as too much safety.
