With the Easter break just gone and the kids facing lengthy school holidays, you have likely been subject lengthy car journeys with the kids, ferrying them around to various attractions and amusements, desperately trying to keep the little rascals entertained. It’s one thing finding things for them to do, but quite another keeping them happy on long, hot commutes. As we all know kids have an attention span lasting mere seconds and boredom can set in almost immediately, so what exactly can you do during these trips to keep them from kicking the back of your chair and distracting your attention from the road?
Of course with the massive leaps in in-car-entertainment over the past few years, kids are spoiled for choice when it comes to passing the time on long-distance trips, of course we don’t all have a state of the art people-carriers equipped with surround sound systems, plasma TVs and a fridge to keep their candy cool. No matter how high tech your vehicle, there are plenty of ways to make a gruelling trip that bit more pleasurable, for both you and your kids!
Traditional Games
This is a fun and cost-free way to pass the time. Getting your kids involved with old favourites like I-Spy will not only keep their minds occupied, it will also hone their lateral thinking and engage their brains more than watching TV would. Other great games include ‘twenty questions’ and ‘stop the bus.’
Food and Drink
As we all know, one of the easiest routes to our kids hearts is through their stomachs and when they’re eating, they’re not shouting! Of course any intelligent parents knows not to feed their kids mountains of candy and sugary soda. Instead pack fruit juice, wholemeal bread and vegetable sticks to keep them satisfied and healthy!
Crosswords/Sudoku
Another effective way to keep your kids mentally stimulated is to get them to play word or number games. There are plenty of activity books out there packed with such puzzles available at very reasonable prices.
Sing-along Music
If your kids insist on making a din, why not at least try to get them sounding tuneful? Rather than simply putting on some Millie Cyrus or Justin Bieber, get a sing-along CD from a popular film or musical, this way your little ones can exercise their vocal chords and be educated about some cultural classics.
Joe is a stay-home-dad who drives a Volvo V70.
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My kids have a little portable DVD player but honestly almost never take it on the trips. They liked to play the alphabet game. You know start with A and each person has to make it to Z by finding words that start with each letter of the alphabet on roadsigns. It can take forever but it is so much fun!
ReplyDeleteI like to have the kids pack a back pack full of activities to keep them occupied on the road. With all of their activities plus some snacks and drinks it becomes a very good road trip. I also bring my iPad with me as well for some entertainment. The kids love to watch TV on it and play games. I work and subscribe to DISH Network and have their TV Everywhere app on the iPad. The kids can watch live TV from anywhere we are at. They have full access to our DVR and any of our subscription channels. They love that they can watch all their shows from the car. It is like being at home. It gives me some nice quiet time.
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