Taking a road trip over Spring Break? The family road trip can be a time
to bond and learn about each other's interests and points of view — or an
ordeal that makes you want to scream every time you hear "Are we there
yet?" from your kids.
A road trip can be a fun,
educational, and sane experience with just a little planning, creativity, and
preparation. Sure, electronic games, apps, and portable DVD players are great
distractions. But don't overlook these family-friendly games and activities
that can keep everyone happy as the miles go by.
Can-Do Cards
Don't underestimate the power of a
deck of cards. It presents endless possibilities for all ages and can provide
hours of entertainment and concentration. If your kids are sick of the standard
Go Fish, Crazy Eights, and Rummy games, buy — or borrow from your local library
— a kids' card games book for new ideas. Or buy a deck of quiz or trivia cards
to keep their brains busy.
Contest Craze
Hold an official family spelling
bee or trivia contest using index cards to write down words or questions.
Winners can earn trinkets, stickers, activity or coloring books, trading cards,
food treats, money (the younger the child, the smaller the amount), or extra
minutes of hotel pool time or stay-up-late time.
Good Ol' Games
Use the fallback road-trip games —
20 Questions, the License Plate Game, and I Spy.
Try the Alphabet Game. Pick a topic
(for instance, animals) and a letter (A), then have everyone name animals that
begin with that letter, like aardvark, antelope, ape. The best thing about this
game is that kids can pick a topic of interest — cars, TV characters,
countries, cities, foods, names, etc. — and there are 26 possibilities (one for
each letter) for every topic.
Make the games into marathons,
awarding special treats or trinkets to whoever wins each round. Then have
lightning rounds or finals for extra-special awards.
Journal Jotting
Buy cheap but sturdy journals (or
use plain notebooks or create your own from construction paper, hole puncher,
and yarn) and have kids write down and describe what they see along the way.
Have them collect something small (a stone, a seashell, a flower, etc.) or buy
a super-small trinket from rest stops (buttons, stickers, postcards, etc.) to
glue into their journal, describing each stop and each location or landmark
they pass.
Bring along a stack of old
magazines and have kids cut out and paste pictures into their journals to
illustrate some of what they've seen (cows, fire trucks, palm trees, deer,
cars, etc.). Give each kid a disposable camera to capture their own memories
and keep the pictures in their personal road-trip journals.
Make It Magnetic
Stock up on a few super-cheap
magnetic games (like tic-tac-toe, checkers, etc.) at the local dollar store or
at gift shops along the way.
Map Quest
Bring a large map (or smaller map
book that little hands can better handle) just for the kids. Have them use
stickers and highlighters to mark each road you take on your journey.
Road Trip Box to the Rescue
Find a sturdy cardboard box or hat
box (one for each child) and paint the top with chalkboard paint (black or
green). Stock the box with tons of handy-dandy arts and crafts items and
playthings: chalk, chalkboard eraser, washable markers, crayons, pocket-sized
coloring books, colored pencils, scrap paper, mini dry erase board, dry erase
marker and cloth eraser, construction paper, stickers, stencils, colored pipe
cleaners, Popsicle sticks, tape, colored tape, mini pom-poms, child-safe
scissors, hole puncher, yarn, and small dolls or action figures.
Long road trips are a great time to
put kids' imaginations to the test to create puppets, masks, journals, and
more.
Silence Is Golden
When all else fails, use the
standby game "See Who Can Be the Quietest." After hours of singing
and crafting, your little ones just might appreciate the challenge of not
saying a peep. Make prizes worth their while, with incentives such as money
(quarters, a dollar), gift-shop trinkets or games, and a few extra minutes at
the hotel pool or staying up a few minutes longer that night.
Sing, Sing a Song
Bone up on sing-along songs. Or buy
or make a tape or CD of "round" songs (like "Row, Row, Row Your
Boat," "Three Blind Mice," etc.) or sing-along/participation
songs ("Old MacDonald," "B-I-N-G-O") that will get everyone
— even the most tone-deaf — involved. Buy a kazoo or plastic harmonica for
every family member for added accompaniment.
Team Storytelling
Ask each family member to create a
line for a story (e.g.,"There once was a boy name Hugh..."), then
have everyone add a line until you're all stumped ("who lived in the
town's biggest zoo" ... "he often had nothing to do" ...
"so he decided to make an igloo" ... "with a big polar bear
named Sue"...).
To make things really interesting,
go as fast as you can, rhyme as much as possible, and take turns out of order
(pointing to someone new each time). Write down the story as you go, then have
kids create drawings to coordinate with your silly tale. When you're done,
you'll have your own custom-made family story.
