Traveling with little ones is never easy. It can be hard enough to keep them occupied when you’re at home. Throw in a car trip and you could have boredom-related issues.
The good news is that it’s possible for you to keep your children entertained while you’re on the road. Here’s how:
Give Them a DVD to Watch
Not everyone will be a fan of this suggestion, but it can be incredibly helpful. Giving your kids a DVD to watch can help to keep them quiet and entertained. In addition to this, they may even feel that the journey is much more exciting. Kids who aren’t used to watching DVDs on the road can find it terribly exciting. Buy a cheap all-in-one DVD player if your car does not already have one.
Just make sure that you take at least a few DVDs with you on your journey. This will give your little ones much more choice and they’ll appreciate it. You might appreciate it too when you find that your journey is relatively undisturbed.
Let Them Rest
It’s important that you let your little ones rest while you travel. Don’t make the mistake of keeping them awake. Ideally, you will be traveling during their nap time. When you do, you’re much more likely to have a quiet journey. Make sure little ones are strapped in and have the right car seat safety head support so they’re comfortable. When your little ones get plenty of rest on the road, they’re much more likely to behave.
If you can, plan your journey around nap time so that your children rest while you drive. This can help to make your journey a much smoother one. There will be times when your children won’t want to nap, and this is ok. Just let them sit quietly and put another DVD on for them if this helps.
If you’re traveling particularly far, consider staying somewhere overnight. This will help to break the journey up and make it feel like a mini-vacation. When your little ones have had enough rest, even the longest of journeys will become tolerable.
Give Your Children Activity Books
Another ideal way to keep your children entertained is to give them activity books. Books such as these can be ideal as they help to prevent boredom. Full of things to color in, puzzles, crosswords, and more, books such as these can be a great addition to any journey.
Don’t forget to give your children some pens and pencils so they can fill the books in. let them choose between a range of colors so they’re more likely to enjoy using the pens or pencils.
Children tend to love activity books and they can find them quite exciting. You could potentially keep your little ones entertained for a few hours at a time.
Let Them Read or Listen to Books
We all know how important it is to encourage our little ones to read. Why not make your next long car journey the ideal place to read a book. Alternatively, they may get just as much enjoyment out of listening to an audio book.
Your children’s imagination will benefit from listening to or reading a book. You may also find that the whole journey is a much better one. If your kids enjoy listening to a book, you may find that you enjoy it too. Sometimes kids’ audio books can be hugely entertaining.
Make sure that you offer your children more than one book to read or to listen to. When they have a choice they always feel much happier. At least 2 books or audio books will be ideal. Don’t be afraid to stop off somewhere and buy more books. Let your little ones choose a book to read or to listen to. They will enjoy being involved in the choosing process.
Take Some Toys and Games With You
OK, so you won’t be able to take all of your children’s toys and games with you. However, you can take a few of the smaller ones. Your children may need to be occupied for a long time. Here is where toys and games can come in useful.
Just make sure that you don’t give them toys that involve them having to throw anything. When a child tosses a ball, there’s always a chance that the ball could distract the driver. Instead, opt for games that are quieter.
You may want to consider buying your children a few toys and games for the journey. Many toy stores, as well as grocery stores sell toys in packs that are ideal if you’re traveling. If you’re going to be in the car a long time, consider buying at least 2 packs for each child. If you’re not sure what to buy your child, let them choose. Tell them that you’re going on a long journey and you want them to enjoy it. Then, put the toys and games to one side until the day of the journey.
Play Car Games
A really good and relatively simple way for you to keep your children entertained is by playing car games. There are so many different games that you could play:
- You could spot different color cars
- Play I Spy
- Play a card game or two
- Sing songs together
- Create a story together where everyone says the next line
Car games such as these are so simple but they could be a lot of fun. Just make sure that your little ones are old enough to play games such as these. Stop playing when you’ve had a few rounds of each game so no one becomes bored.
It is possible for you to keep your children entertained while you travel. Just make sure that you’re prepared for the journey. Plan what you’re going to do before the day of your journey, this way, you can buy extra DVDs, create a few games to play, and have everything organized.
You never know, you could find that your next long car journey is more manageable than you thought.
