As we head out the door to visit Kingfisher Ranch with Hub’s family for the weekend, I thought I’d post some ideas for keeping teens/tweens/elementary age children occupied and happy during long drives. Why do I think they will work? Because we’ve had success with them:
*Of course there are the obvious–CD’s in the music player and DVD’s in DVD players. We don’t happen to own a vehicle with a DVD player so we’ve had to use Hoob’s individual player at times. We prefer other forms of entertainment though.
*Books on tape from the library are a great way to pass the time. Choose books that have lots of action or are of particular interest to your children.
*We like to play “Choose my boyfriend/girlfriend.” As we drive we look at people we pass and then decide if that person is a suitable boyfriend/girlfriend for someone in the car (even the little kids are included). Some of the pairings have been quite comical.
*If you are ever stuck in construction traffic make friends with the people next to you. Our girls are quite outgoing and usually roll their windows down and begin conversations with those in other vehicles that are stuck as well. We’ve even passed snacks back and forth between vehicles.
*Another construction traffic tactic is to show an object from your car to the occupants in a car near you. Keep showing them objects until they catch on–they are supposed to show you objects they find in their car. It usually doesn’t take long for people to catch on and sometimes the game gets quite hilarious as people try to find the most unusual objects to show. When we showed a broken umbrella once we got cheers from the group of boys in the car next to us.
*Still another construction traffic tactic is to pull as close to the orange cones as possible and have your passengers reach and try to touch them through the windows. It is hilarious to watch the line of cars behind you copy what you are doing. Of course as you begin to leave the construction area everyone should once again fasten their seatbelt.
*Singing favorite songs can help the time in the car go by quickly.
*A joke telling marathon is always fun.
*Stopping and taking pictures of interesting or unusual sites can help break the monotony. On the way home from a ball tournament last weekend my sister, daughter, and I all spotted an unusual cemetery and stopped to take pictures of the elaborately decorated graves. It kept us entertained for thirty minutes and the rest of our family enjoyed the pictures when we got home.
*Listening to the local radio stations as you enter areas you have never been can be informative and entertaining.
*Reminiscing about past adventures and funny happenings can help the time seem to fly.
These are just a few ideas that have worked for us. We are off for our weekend ranch adventure. Hope you all enjoy YOUR weekend!
June 21, 2008 at 12:28 am
I don’t know how old your kids are (I’ve only been around your blog for about 5 minutes total today, you being new to me and all) but when mine were between 6-10, we rented some Geronimo Stilton books on CD. My youngest was into the books at the time and so this was a natural transition.
They are read by Edward Hermann, the guy who was the old vampire in Lost Boys. He’s got some nice pipes, and an expressive delivery. My kids loved them and they aren’t terribly long.
When all else fails, a good 80s station, with mom and dad singing at the top of their lungs, is always good for a laugh . . .
Enjoy your trip!
Brian
June 21, 2008 at 12:30 am
I don’t know how old your kids are (I’ve only been around your blog for about 5 minutes total today, you being new to me and all) but when mine were between 6-10, we rented some Geronimo Stilton books on CD. My youngest was into the books at the time and so this was a natural transition.
They are read by Edward Hermann, the guy who was the old vampire in Lost Boys. He’s got some nice pipes, and an expressive delivery. My kids loved them and they aren’t terribly long.
When all else fails, a good 80s station, with mom and dad singing at the top of their lungs, is always good for a laugh . . .
Enjoy your trip!
Brian
June 21, 2008 at 2:18 am
My kids like to play the license plate game. They look and write down all the states they see on different license plates, the state you’re in doesn’t count. See how many of the states and canadian plates they can find.
June 21, 2008 at 3:35 pm
We used to do what Amy suggested with license plates only when we would find one, the person who found it had to create a sentence and all the words have to begin with the beginning letter of the state of the plate. Take a pack of colored pencils and look at them and have someone take one out and the rest of us had to figure out which one was gone. Give everyone a certain amount of bingo chips and if they say a certain word, they lose one and try and see how many each had left at the end. Flash cards were also big and a good way to learn math facts or spelling words.
We didn’t have DVD players (we didn’t even have VCR’s then either) nor a radio in some spots when we traveled with our kids but we still made it fun. I hope you are having a terrific weekend.
June 22, 2008 at 2:28 pm
When I was a kid my parents and I used to make up stories behind the names of places. For example, the city of Hayward was so named because that is where Beaver Cleaver lived, and one could often hear June yelling “Hey Ward!” to her husband.
None of the kids nowadays would get that reference, but you get the idea! We could come up with some pretty funny ones. And on a long road trip, there is the chance to race each other to come up with a story for each new town you come across, or to see who can come up with the funniest.
June 23, 2008 at 5:45 am
I came across a new one this week while hanging out with some teenagers – we worked on singing songs backwards! Try this (remember the tune to row, row, row?)
Dream a but is life
merrily, merrily, merrily
merrily stream the down gently
boat your row row row!
June 23, 2008 at 1:22 pm
Great tips, K-mama! Every little bit helps
June 24, 2008 at 5:34 pm
[...] the car to help fight boredom are a necessity. Singing, listening to the radio, playing games and these activities all [...]
July 2, 2008 at 12:22 am
We have a learn to speak Italian CD in our car that came in a kids meal…it is quite fun to try and copy what they are saying (and to listen to a 3 year old do the same!)
July 9, 2008 at 11:58 am
# Anyone know the phonetic alphabet? my family have all learned it as my dad is a pilot and uses it often. we all say licence plates in it. eg,AHE.367 is Alpha, Hotel, Echo, 367.
# reading a book out loud to the tune of a song
# pen and paper games (tic tac toe, boxes etc)
# trivia questions
# 20 questions
# eye spy
some of the games we plat in my family
June 15, 2009 at 9:57 am
[...] boredom busters, ideas, Road Trip, vacation | No Comments Last year I wrote a post offering ideas to beat the boredom on long road-trips. This year I add to that by giving suggestions on items to [...]