How to Entertain Your Kids While Traveling

I cannot tell you how much a DVD player and an assortment of movies has helped our family while traveling long distances. The typical children's movie can run for about an hour and a half, which is a lot of travel time when you think about it. The kids are usually transfixed on their movie and hardly say anything while being totally zoned out.

Whether you have one screen or two is up to you, but just make sure that you have some way of mounting the screen(s) onto something or else one of your children will have to hold the movie player the entire time. Sure, you can try to balance it on something, but all it takes is a sharp turn or a sudden stop to awaken your kids out of their peaceful state. Also I might add, you may want to invest in some headphones for the kids, unless you want to listen to the movie that they are watching.

Music can be entertaining for everyone, however not everyone likes the same music. Whether you listen to it alone or together, music can entertain for hours on end. I know what my kids like when it comes to music, and I would say that it does not match up with my taste eighty percent of the time. My suggestion is to invest in a mp3 player or two for your kids. You can get a cheap mp3 player for about $30-40 these days that will hold about 500 songs. It doesn't have to be songs either. You can also put an audiobook on their player and it will supply them with several hours of entertainment.

Reading is one of my favorite hobbies, and one of my daughters, too. She consumes books like no one I've ever met. During the summer between her 3rd and 4th grade years, she read the first five books of the Harry Potter series within a three week span. Not bad for an eight year old. So when we go on a car trip, one of the first things that she packs is a couple of books. Two of her favorites right now are the Warrior series and the Artemis Fowl series.

While for some people, reading can give them car sickness, there is a good alternative with the audiobooks that are popping up all over the place. Whether it's Audible, Barnes and Noble or any of the number of audiobook suppliers, there is a great multitude of books available for you to purchase.

Games can be a wonderful way to pass the time on a long trip. I know it was my family's favorite way when I was growing up. Here are some suggestions for your next extensive excursion:

The Alphabet Game - I think everyone knows this one. Pick a topic and taking turns, work your way through the alphabet until you hit the letter Z. So if your topic is animals, you would start with alligator and go until you get to zebra.

The License Plate Game - This is a game that can take a while to complete. Watching the cars and trucks around you, see how many different states license plates you can find. You can even keep playing when you stop at a parking lot for a needed break.

I-Spy - This is an old classic in which one person picks out something that they see and gives a clue to everyone else by saying, "I spy with my little eye..." Then the rest of the family guesses until they finally guess the item.

The Memory Game - Start off the game stating something like, "I went to the store and bought a ...", and then say an item beginning with the letter A. Each person then in succession has to repeat the phrase and all of the previously stated items in alphabetical order. Anyone who misses an item loses their turn and the next person tries. The winner is the one who can recite all of the items from A to Z.

How Many Songs - This was a favorite of my dad's when I was growing up. First you find a radio station that everyone can tolerate for a while ("Please dad, not the polka station!"). Then pick a destination. Don't pick a destination that is too far away or else everyone might lose interest. Tell everybody how far the destination is from your current location. Then everyone picks how many songs it takes to get from point A to point B. Don't count the commercials or news breaks, only songs. One word of warning. Keep an eye on the driver of the vehicle, because like my father, he or she may speed up or slow down the car to get to his or her guess.

Computer games are very popular with children and young adults. We purchased a Nintendo DS Lite for my son last Christmas for his frequent trips to the hospital (he has hydrocephalus) and for our long trips to his grandparent's homes. While we don't have very many games for him to play, there are plenty out there to be had. They're not even too expensive. While most games are in the $20 range, there are a number of them for $10 or less, especially if you go to a second hand store. It doesn't really matter what game device you get, there are plenty of games out there from the entertaining to the educational.

Magnetic board games are a fun way to pass the time for your kids. Whether it's checkers, chess, or whatever, the games are very handy for car travel since you don't have to worry about pieces falling off all of the time. If it's cheap entertainment for the kids you want, these can be very entertaining, especially for the very young kids.

My daughter's newest obsession is finger weaving. It's amazing what a few lengths of yarn can produce, and how much time it can occupy someone. I never realized all of the things that you could create, such as bracelets, headbands, rugs, and many other items. It's very easy to learn and the supplies can be picked up at any craft store.

People always say how beautiful the countryside can be while driving. Well don't just watch out your window, keep your camera handy and you might catch something unexpected. Driving back to my mother's place not too long ago, we spotted the most interesting mail box. We thought it was so interesting of a mail box that we had to turn around to take a picture of it.

Taking pictures while traveling will yield some great memories for you and your family.

Talk? What do you mean talk? To the kids?

Yes, to your kids. Believe it or not, talking to your kids on a long road trip is a great way to find out what's going on in their lives. They're stuck in a vehicle with you for a predetermined amount of time. Where are they going to go?

Tips:

1) Be respectful. Don't pester them about things that they don't want to talk about, otherwise your trip will be nothing but a long awkward silence for who knows how many hours. Or worse, a shouting match that will give you a monster headache and hurt feelings on both sides.

2) Talk to them about things they are interested in, not things you are interested in. Maybe they will even be open to some advice.

3) Be vulnerable. Tell them things about your youth, good and bad. It shows them that you care, and that you are open to discussing anything. What's the worst that could happen? They might see that you're human and have made mistakes.

4) If they don't want to talk, don't force them. When they want to talk, they will talk. For the time being, it might be best to just let them have their space.

Your kids can have all sorts of fun in the vehicle, whether it's together or by themselves. While I can't guarantee that you will have a totally stress-free journey, I can say that with these suggestions, you should at least have some ideas to help keep your kids entertained.