Tips for... Road Trips with children! Lead by example - Studies show only 24% of passengers under 14 wear a seat belt when the driver doesn't. Driving Goals - Set realistic driving goals; end each day at a motel or hotel with pool for off-road fun. Bare Necessities - Keep a trash bag and some Zip-loc bags in the car; the former for car sickness and garbage, the latter for preserving toys, souvenirs and creating new snack packs. Consider bringing a flashlight, paper towels, wet wipes, tissues, toilet paper, and liquid anti-bacterial soap. Pack a small First Aid kit for minor emergencies. Have spare batteries and an overnight bag accessible because everything else gets buried in order to prevent reloading the trunk or roof rack after every stop. Moveable Feast - Have a folding nylon cooler and compact knife/fork/spoon sets ready so each passenger can have a moveable feast. Bring plenty of snacks such as Cheerios, pretzels, crackers, cheese slices, fruit, lunch meat roll-ups. Food that takes awhile to chew such as beef jerky helps pass the time away. Have beverages readily available in an ice chest. Orange Juice makes many little ones carsick. Simulate Bedtime - During night drives, simulate bedtime. After supper, change your child into sleepwear with a blanket. Keep a book light or flashlight handy so children can play after dark. Share a story or book-on-tape until the child falls asleep. Backpack Ideas - Journal, Pad of drawing paper, Coloring Books, Reading books, Markers, Pens, Pencils, Pipe Cleaners, Scissors, Deck of Cards, Stickers, Silly Putty, small and quiet toys, etc. Lap Desk - Bring a lap desk which is a pillow that has a hard surface on one side to use as a desk. Trip Planning - Ask kids to help with trip planning by sharing brochures with them. Select one activity per day to please each child, note hours of operation, and then plan ahead. Navigator - Make a route map for the backseat: photocopy an enlargement, cut it into one-day-drive sheets, cover with clear contact paper, and let kids discover on their own, "Are we there yet?" Another idea is to have them create their own map with landmarks or trivia about different areas. Have a highlighter to mark the area that has been traveled. Trip Log - Have a journal to note each day's special stops. After all, this trip is bound to be unforgettable! Scrapbook - Begin creating a scrapbook for your memories. Pick up souvenir ticket stubs, menus, autographs, dried leaves or brochures and have for your scrapbook. For the older children, bring scissors or glue to start working on it as you are driving. (Make sure paper towels and wet wipes are ready for emergencies.) Disposable Camera - Buy an inexpensive, disposable camera for children who are old enough to use it. The trip is then photographed from the child's perspective. It will be a wonderful treasure. Playground Tour of America - Take meal breaks in small towns so the kids can enjoy a playground or local park. Musical Seats - Change seating at regular intervals; At rest-stops, everyone gets out, blast the radio, run around the car until the song stops, then grab the nearest available seat. If the minors end up in the driver's seat, joke's on you! (Kids love that.) Burn Some Energy - At rest stops play Frisbee, jump rope, chase, or just walk around to get the blood circulating. Staking your Territory - Provide rolls of masking tape so siblings can stake out their territory. "Do not cross that line." Story Tapes - Classic children's literature read by professional actors on tape and a large-text picture book so kids can follow the story are available at the local library. Shake, Rattle, and Roll - Prior to the trip, help the children record on a tape their favorite songs for everyone to share on the road. You could make a tape with 50's music or a tape with love songs. Ask older children to pack their own sound systems, a headset and music. A Star is Born - Sing songs without the radio so that everyone can sing together such as "99 Bottles of Coke on the Wall." A variation is to put on a show and have everyone sing a solo. It's Show Time - Showing a movie on a portable TV with built-in VCR is an expensive but unbeatable way to entertain kids. Magnetize It - Use magnetic letters and abstract shapes that stick on their own metal tin. If you are creative, you could make magnetic paper dolls. A variation would be to use felt boards and cut out characters to create a story. Tall Bridges - Get excited going over tall bridges. Yell or kiss at the very top. 10 Pennies (Quarters) - Reward patience and good behavior. Give one coin to children for each successful driving period. Some try the reverse; they start with a roll of coins and deduct one for each squabble. Bubbles - Blow soap bubbles. When you run out of air, use the air from the air conditioner or crack the window. Bubble Gum Bubble Blowing Contest - Who can blow the biggest bubble? Grab Bag - Make a grab bag of small wrapped toys. These don't have to be brand new toys, but old toys that have been pushed to the bottom of the toy chest. At certain intervals such as an hour of driving or one when squabbles and complaints begin, let the kids select one. Hand out the treats in stages. Highway Hunt - Hunt for objects you've pre-marked on index cards or printed out from clip art; Create your own game sheets that include ideas such as a baseball diamond, dice hanging from a rearview mirror, tractor, a person singing alone in a car, etc. Poetry Contest - Use words from billboards. Crazy Creatures - Fold a sheet of paper into thirds; Without letting the others see the drawing, the first person will draw the head at the top of the page. He will then fold the sheet of paper so that his drawing cannot be seen to the middle section of the paper. The second person will draw the body and then fold the paper to the third remaining section. The third person will draw the bottom portion of the creature. Once all three sections have been completed. Unfold the drawing to see the Crazy Creature that you have created. Touchy Telephone - Draw a letter or picture on someone's arm or back. This person will have to guess what you drew. For example, you could draw the letter "A" or a "Heart." Gossip - Tell the person next to you a phrase by whispering into someone's ear. This person will repeat the phrase to the next person. The phrase is then passed around the vehicle. The last person states out loud what he heard to compare with the original phrase. One Minute of Words - Write down as many words that begin with a certain letter. The person with the most unique list wins. Another variation is to take a long word such as "vacation" and come up with as many smaller words using the same letters; e.g. cat. Thumb Wrestle - Two people grasp hands and connect with the fingers where the two thumbs are exposed. The two thumbs wrestle to see which thumb can hold down the other person's thumb to the count of three. Slug Bug - Whenever you see a Volkswagen Beetle, slug someone in the arm and say "Slug Bug." I'm Going on a Picnic - You state this phrase "I'm going on a picnic" and then name a food that begins with "A" such as "Apples." The next person will have to repeat what the previous person stated plus a food that begins with the next letter in the alphabet such as "B" and "Bananas." (I'm going on a picnic, and I'm going to bring apples, bananas, chips, etc.) For the younger children, they would not have to repeat all of the various foods that have previously been mention, but just the one for their turn. (I'm going on a picnic, and I'm going to bring donuts.) Alphabet Adjectives - Use a name such as your pet's name along with adjectives that begin with consecutive letters in the alphabet. The first person uses an adjective beginning with "A." The second person uses an adjective that begins with "B" and so on; e.g. Chad is adventurous. Chad is boisterous. Chad is cute. Chad is dynamite. Raindrop Race - If it has been raining, see which drop on which window falls fastest. ABC Game - There are several variations such as a contest to race to see who finds all 26 consecutive letters first, or wait until everyone finds each letter before advancing to the next letter, or each person alternate to find a letter like mom will find "A." The next person will find "B." Dad will find "C" and so on. Story Time - Play a story game where the first person begins with a phrase, and the second person adds on to the story by saying a phrase and then so on. For example, "The fuzzy brown bear went walking through the forest." The second person adds a phrase such as "The bear climbed a tree to see as far as he could see." The third person might add "He saw a pretty little girl wearing a blue dress and matching bonnet." The fourth person "She was carrying a picnic basket." The Car Next Door - This is a make believe story about the car and family driving next to you. The story tells about where they work, where they live, where they are going, if they have kids and everyone's name, etc. I Spy - Find certain colors or objects in the vehicle; For example, "I spy something black." As they get closer to guessing the right answer, give them clues as to "Warmer" "Hot" "Very hot" "Burning" if they are on target, but if they are way off base, then say "Cool" "Cold" "Colder" or "Freezing." License Plates - Find all 50 states on the license plates on the cars that you pass along the trip. You could start with a list made prior to the trip that has all 50 states and mark off each state that you find, or you could start from scratch and write down each state as you see it. 50 States - The game begins with a person naming a state such as "Texas." The next person has to take the last letter of the named state and pick a state that begins with that letter. In this example the state must begin with "S" such as "South Dakota." The next state would begin with "A" such as "Alabama," and so on. How Now Brown Cow - Count all of the cows that you see. Spot the-Colors Contest - Search for different colors with pre-readers. Personal Adventures - Everyone states what was their favorite adventure that they have been on such as a past vacation, adventures that are make believe, or places you dream of seeing. Two Truths and One Lie - A person will tell two things about them that are true and one thing that is not true, and then everyone will have to guess which statement is the lie. Mad, Sad, Glad - Everyone takes a different category, and they will have to state what makes them mad, or what makes them sad, or what makes them glad (dad - mad, mom - sad, child - glad). The next round, the categories rotate (dad - glad, mom - mad, child - sad). The next round rotates again (dad - sad, mom - glad, child - mad). This is a game to learn more about your family. For example, "stepping in chewing gum makes me mad, " "losing a pet makes me sad, " "getting flowers makes me glad." 20 Questions - One person will pick a subject. Everyone else must ask questions that needs a "yes" or "no" response. For example, the subject is "George Washington." The questions could be "Is it a person?" Yes. "Is it a female?" No. "Is he living?" No. American Flags - Count the number of United States flags you see on your trip. Look at schools, homes, businesses, cars, bumper stickers, window decals, etc. Seek the wisdom of the ages, but look at the world through the eyes of a child. -- Ron Wild Children are angels from heaven. -- Sergeant Joseph "Joey" Pishner, Jr. Born July 3, 1965 American soldier It will be gone before you know it. The fingerprints on the wall appear higher and higher. Then suddenly they disappear. -- Dorothy Evslin While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about. -- Angela Schwindt The best thing to spend on your children is your time. -- Louise Hart A child's hand in yours -- what tenderness and power it arouses. You are instantly the very touchstone of wisdom and strength. -- Marjorie Holmes To see unconditional love, look to the eyes of a child. One hundred years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove; but ... the world may be different because I was important in the life of a child. Children are the hands by which we take hold of heaven. -- Henry Ward Beecher June 24, 1813-1887 Home | Group Tours | Disney Travel | Specials | Honeymoon Registry | Treasure Chest | Texas Traditions | America the Beautiful | Land of Enchantment © Copyright 2001 by Voyages of Discovey. All rights reserved. Web Site Designed by: