Quiet Road Trips with Kids
Parents have been on a quest to keep the kids occupied on long road trips since the invention of the automobile. However, the current generation of parents has one advantage over their parents and grandparents generations, the advancement of technology. Technology is helping parents keep the kids occupied and road trips easier, but even without the aid of electronics there are plenty of things to keep the kids busy and entertained.
- Electronics*
The invention of hand held video games, MP3 players and portable DVD players are helping aid parents in their pursuit of a quiet trip. They keep the kids entertained and also keeps them from trying to see how long it takes to annoy their older siblings and keeps the dreaded question "Are we there yet?" from being uttered. For my family the money that we invested in our portable DVD player was the best investment we have ever made. It has kept my son sitting in one place at more than one airport for hours. It has also made the many long distance road trips that we make more enjoyable and we all arrive at our destination in much better spirits then we used to.
- Games*
Board Games- If you visit any store that sells board games they usually will have a selection of travel games, such as Connect Four, checkers, Go Fish, ect. These are excellent to have in the car. They are small enough that they will fit into the pockets of backpacks or even in the pockets in the back of the front seats. Most of the games such as checkers and chess are also "scatter proof". What does this mean? It means that if you hit a bump in the road or have to stop suddenly they pieces will not scatter all over the car because they are magnetic and will stay put on their game board.
Car Bingo- A tried and true game that has been played in cars for as long as can be remembered. These game cards are special because instead of marking or placing something on your card you slide a window closed to make your space red to mark the spot. The object of the game is just as it is in regular bingo, but it has no caller. As an example, if you are playing license plate bingo and one of your spots is Idaho on your card. As soon as you see an Idaho license plate on your trip you get to mark that spot.
- Secret Learning*
To make you child feel like they are really helping you out on that trip, buy them a road map of your country. One that we have is a large road map book and each page has a different state. This has kept my son busy for more than one road trip. He uses it to follow along our driving path and will tell us what town or city is coming up next. It makes him feel important as he feels like a navigator. It has secretly helped him learn how to read a map and the different historical markers that can be found in whatever state we happened to be driving through. It also had all of the different state flags, nicknames and state capitols, for some bonus learning.
