Are We There Yet?Traveling long distances in the car can be a challenge for both parents and children. If your family vacation is still ahead, here some ideas to smooth out your road trip. Car sick kids? Try peppermints or gingersnap cookies. If you're planning to fly, pull in here for some useful tips. (Remember to allow plenty of time to make it through airport security.)
Have on Hand
1. Favorite toys from home are your best bet
2. Music CDs or iPods and/or Books-on-Tape
3. Pads of paper and pencils, markers, & crayons
4. Library books and magazines
5. Crossword puzzles, math games, cards, and tricks
6. Familiar healthy snacks and comfort foods
7. Hand-held electronic games
8. Disposable flash cameras
9. Travel Etch-a-Sketch, Yahtzee, and Scrabble
Who will be the first to find these?
- A pick-up truck with a dog hanging out the window
- A kayak on top of a vehicle
- A baby farm animal
- A sign with the word “eat”
- A woman wearing a straw hat
- A sign with the word “welcome”
- A blue SUV
- A non-U.S. flag
License Plates. Collect license plates from every state. This is easier than you think, especially if you’re visiting the Grand Canyon!
Count Anything. Cows, red cars, mail boxes, phone booths, but only on your side of the car, and set a time limit. If you're counting animals, you must say the sound the animal makes. Toddlers can keep track using their fingers.
Alphabet Game. As a family, see how long it takes to spot all the letters of the alphabet on signs–one per sign. No winner here, just a chance to find the really tough ones like x and z!
Minivan Art. Show your children how to make aluminum foil art or string figures.
Home at Last
If your kids are still on vacation and you’ve run out of activities to keep them going before school starts, cruise over to Families With Purpose for some creative “Summer Boredom Busters.” Polly suggests building an ice cream stand, creating a memory jar, or starting a new jigsaw puzzle. Polly’s blog, Our Busy Family Life has more kid-stimulating ideas. The comments on this post are excellent too! In case you missed it, my list of 21 Fresh and Fun Activity Ideas is right here.
All of this sounds like so much fun, I’d like to be a kid all over again. Enjoy your family this August, and happy trails!
Photos courtesy of gebodog and paigelynn (Flickr).
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Do you know any family games that Moms absolutely must know about?
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! (Psalm 127:3-5 ESV)
13 Comments:
We alway like to play travel bingo. I can find bingo cards from time-to-time that have items such as a tractor, barn, bus, truck, etc.
We have fun and it takes awhile to play. Great travel game.
Be blessed!!
Great tips. Mine are young adults, so they now stay up all night before we leave and sleep the entire way in the car.
Oooo, thanks for all of the links! When we do travel, I take along stuff for the kiddos to do, but they still get bored easily. Now, I can go to these links and get NEW ideas for things to keep them entertained and having fun.
Great list, here.
Good ideas, we also like to play the "I went to the shop" game and also "hangman" or if we need some quiet we play the "nothing game" where they do nothing, no talking hehe
We play Bible trivia with our oldest. You can phrase the questions in such a way that basic biblcal truths can be taught in addition to the easier questions.
lynn, amy, & carrie: Super ideas, thanks.
mugwumpmom: Good strategy.
delia & jennifer: Enjoy!
When I was little (very long time ago - lol), we played some games too going on long road-trips. It is fun and keeps the mind busy.
I always suffered from travel sickness, and so slept when ever I got into a car for a long journey.
My children were the same, reading or playing physical games were not an option. I found that tapes of songs that we could all sing along to were great. Or when they got a little older tape players with ear phones, then story tapes were fantstic.
My children are now grown up, though my daughter does listen to her MP3 player in the car and lets Daddy and I listen to our music on the CD or Radio 4.
eph2810: It would be interesting to know what car games you played in Germany.
susan: Singing and listening to music are very good options.
I remembered a few classic games from my own childhood...
Twenty questions: One person states whether they are a person, place, or thing. The others have 20 questions each to guess their identity. The winner is up next.
I Spy: One person looks out the car window and chooses an object. He/she says, "I spy with my little eye, something that is (names a color). The one who correctly guesses the object is up next.
Theme Song: One person hums the tune to a favorite TV show. The one who guesses correctly is up next.
Animals/Cities/Geography: A group can take turns naming animals that start with the final letter of the last animal named. This can also be played with city names or geographic regions.
I travel a few times a year by myself on planes with my kids and I've learned a few things over the years. The most fun I've had in the air was when I flew at 7 months pregnant and took a 16 month on board with me... alone... for a 5 hour flight.... Yes, I was crazy!!
I agree with the link you listed - NEVER board early!! Wait until the last possible moment to get on. Let the kids run around in the lobby as much as possible. The second good tip from my doc is not only gravol but a decongestant!! It helps with their ears, they don't experience the pain. My hubby even takes one an hour before he lands otherwise his ears hurt and are plugged for hours if not days after the flight is over.
shash: Oh boy. Travelling with little ones on an airplane is an adventure! We flew to Boston when our youngest was still in diapers. We'd run out (of course) and then they lost our luggage. I just remember spending hours after midnight (and a long flight) driving around a strange city looking for a store that was open to buy "nappies."
Excellent tips. Keep the kids moving as long as possible. And de-cogenstant--great! I'll remember that, thanks.
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