A long summer has ended, and the children are finally back in school. As has been done for generations, one of their first assignments is to write the good ol’ “what I did for my summer vacation” essay. Do you want your kid to hand in an essay extolling the fun had playing video games, going to a generic day camp, and hanging out in the backyard? A summer vacation spent (in part) engaged in interesting family travel experiences will provide not just meaningful memories and help promote family closeness, but also make for a more exciting “what I did for my summer vacation” essay; the kind that ends up on the fridge along with good grades, creative drawing, and other artifacts of childhood that decorate refrigerators across the country.

Given the short attention spans that so famously afflicts the younger generation, parents may worry that their children will be unable to recall the more interesting details of a family vacation. Here are a few tips and suggestions that can help your kids write a back-to-school essay worthy of showing off on your fridge.

1. Take an interesting family vacation. It sounds almost ridiculously obvious, but another trip across town to Grandma’s for a long weekend just won’t be as exciting or memorable as, say, camping in a US National Park. Grandma doesn’t even have to be left behind; multigenerational family travel is growing in popularity. A thrilling destination like a National Park or, if it suits you, a theme park, make for exhilarating childhood travel memories.

2.  Let the kids take photos. If they’re too young to trust with your pricey digital camera, those disposable cameras found in every pharmacy can be bought and distributed. Giving each child her own camera allows her to decide what photos to take and when — and even teach a small lesson in conservation. After all, once the photos are used up on a disposable, there are no more pictures to be taken. For older kids, reviewing digital photos taken each day of the trip can be hilarious. More importantly, it both adds to your children’s feeling of being important members of the family unit, and viewing what they thought of as sights worthy of recording can be pretty interesting, too.

3. Encourage children to take notes. Sure, it’s summer, but a little note-taking goes a long way in terms of helping solidify travel memories. It really is amazing how many details fade without being recorded. Every night, or every couple of nights, having a communally written record brings parents and kids close together — and illuminates which travel experiences were most exciting for the children.

4. Include them in your travel plans. A parent’s dream vacation may be to wander the gallery halls of the Uffizi in Florence, but bored, screeching children will surely crimp the style of that particular Italian vacation. Happy children equal happy parents (or at least a level of familial harmony). There are many fantastic vacation destinations with child-friendly activities. Sharing travel plans with your kids, and incorporating their ideas into the trip, makes them feel like valued members of the family, and ensures that they’ll have a great time.

5. After the family vacation, reconnoiter with the children. Look at the photos together, the ones they took and yours. Talk about their favorite and least favorite aspects of the travel destination and vacation experience. Read the notes taken during the trip. All these discussions add up to a valuable review, and the discussion could well end up as part — if not all — of their back-to-school essay.

“What I did for my summer vacation” is practically an inevitable assignment topic for elementary school-aged children. Their essays don’t have to be trite or stereotypical, though. These tips should help frame your summer family vacation in such a way as to make it more memorable — with a unique essay to follow for your kids. It’s pretty great to start off the school year with an easy assignment and an essay to be proud of.