The Family Learning Kit

The principle

Anything you carry has to earn its weight across many countries and several years. That rules out most of what looks appealing in a shop.

The short list that works

An e reader, one per reading child. This solves the single biggest problem in travelling education, which is book access.

One maths spine. Physical if you can bear the weight, digital if not. One, not four.

A hardback A5 notebook each. Hardback because paperbacks disintegrate in a bag.

Pencils, a sharpener, a rubber, one good pen. Coloured pencils rather than felt tips, which dry out and leak.

A ruler, and a small tape measure. Measurement is available everywhere and impossible without one.

Scissors, tape, string, a few rubber bands. The making kit. Occupies more hours than anything else on this list.

A magnifier. Small, cheap, used constantly.

A deck of cards. Maths, probability, patience, and something to do with strangers.

A world map, folded. Not on a screen. Physical, marked, added to.

The one heavy thing worth carrying

A field guide to something. Birds, plants, stars. It anchors a year of noticing and works in any country if you choose it well.

What not to bring

Educational toys. Workbooks in bulk. Anything battery powered that is not a reader. A printer, which every family considers and nobody uses.

Buy locally instead

Paper, art materials and containers are cheap everywhere. Carry the tools, buy the consumables.

The real kit is the adult

None of this matters as much as one adult who is genuinely curious in front of their children. That is the equipment.