amusing the kids on trips

adizkide · #1 (**permalink**) 07-15-2004, 06:57 PM

when I was young my grandparents would make up little bags with a tablet, ribbon, tape, crayons etc for each of us....we thought is was great.....word searches for older kids...tape player etc with kids songs
Melody

theirmom · #2 (**permalink**) 12-29-2004, 06:06 AM

That is a great idea. My mom always had us take along a book. I like your grandparents idea a lot more. It gives a lot more variety.

BizyBee · #3 (**permalink**) 01-12-2005, 02:27 PM

I am all about giving kids stuff to do on trips. Now so many cars have DVD players, etc that movies seem the easy way out. I still like to play games like GHOST (the spelling game where you try not to make a word) or the name game (where you start a name with the first letter of the lat person's last name) or 20 questions. Some of my best memories from my chidhood were car trips because the whole fam was together.

Catwoman · #4 (**permalink**) 01-23-2005, 03:29 PM

We play a simple game that my parents and I played: we look for cars with license plates from different states. We take along a wooden puzzle of the U.S. and find the states on a map and see where they are in relation to where we are.

Sometimes for longer car trips, I get a few treats at the dollar store (toy cars, dinosaurs, etc) and when the kids get bored, I pull a surprise out of my bag. Gets them excited to have a new toy and calms them down during the trip for a little while.

BizyBee · #5 (**permalink**) 02-01-2005, 12:30 PM

Thats a good idea about the license plates. I remember doing that as a kid, but hadn't thought about that in years. We also used to love "I spy."

Teresa1744 · #6 (**permalink**) 05-31-2005, 09:09 PM

we play punchbug here and all the kids/grandkids love it

hallmomof5 · #7 (**permalink**) 06-01-2005, 05:10 AM

We play the alphabet game when the kids start to get cranky. It makes an hour pass quickly. We have to look at all the signs, including billboards, roadsigns, etc. and call out the letters we see in alphabetical order. You'd be surprised how long it takes to find x or k, but there's always one kid that doesn't want to skip over it. This is good for the very little ones, too, because grownups can "steer" them in the right direction, and they can feel like they found the next letter. So it's a game for all ages.

We are getting ready to go on a trip, and I am looking for window clings that would be fun to play with. I'd rather have these than bring a bunch of dolls and action figures. The kids can stick them on the windows and play. But I'm not sure where I can find some.

JoyJoy1086 · #8 (**permalink**) 06-02-2005, 03:14 AM

Whenever we would go on trips to Florida or South Carolina it was wonderful to have a t.v..and vcr for the kids. They would watch movies(of course they would fight over which one to watch first) or they would hook up their game system to it(of course they would also fight over which game to play first). This is how we entertained them when they were younger.

My kids are now 13 and 161/2. We are planning on taking them to Walt Disney World in October and I don't know how the trip is going to be this time. They can't even go a mile without fighting. It's a shame that cars aren't equipped with walls in the middle of the seats for kids. It would make all of our trips better....

LJsmom · #9 (**permalink**) 06-28-2005, 09:25 PM

Heading out to MN, SD, MT and maybe ID and WY next week for 2 weeks of family enjoyment. Got the movies all picked out and the kids made a list of which to watch first.

BUT the rule is only 1 movie then lots of time off for games and whatever. This way they don't turn into zombies. We play the license plate game, dollar store goodies get passed out here and there. I wrap them in tin foil and they try to guess whats inside before opening. Trying to find the town with smallest population sign (pop. 221 example) is fun.

Just got a handheld game from Target for $12 today called 20Q. Can't put it down and we're not even leaving yet. You choose a thing. Towel was a good one. The game asks you 20 questions which you ans. yes, no, maybe or sometimes. Then it guesses what your item is. It is almost always right! Hours of entertainment for kids of all ages.

**ajrsmom** · #10 (**permalink**) 06-28-2005, 10:32 PM

Thought I'd pop in here and mention this....

Amanda recommends this book in a couple of her news letters.

Recommended Reading: Diane Flynn Keith has offered what no other book has offered: freedom from the "Are we there yet?" moans from the backseat. "Carschooling: Over 350 Entertaining Games & Activities to Turn Travel Time into Learning Time" takes advantage of the free time that children often have in cars and turns it into learning time. It would be a mistake to view this book as solely for homeschoolers; it is for anyone with children ages 4 to 17 (and beyond). There is no other book like it on the market. If you are a parent and you ever drive with children, trust me, you need this book!

Sounds of interesting for those in need of car games. I would check out the library to see if they have it. If anyone reads it, please let us know what you think of it.