Games to Ease Travel Tedium

We all know what its like to go on holiday with the kids, leaving with the best intentions to have a wonderful time as a family, only to be driven crazy on the car trip and arrive at our destination in a horrible mood and not even remotely interested in enjoying our much anticipated family vacation. And if you don’t know what that’s like, “Lucky you” I say!! Long hours in the car, boredom, hunger, can lead to whinging, fights between siblings and tantrums (and I’m not just talking about the kids!) the following games are a few ideas to pass the time and keep your little ones attention averted from just how long they’ve been restrained in that car seat!

EYE SPY
An oldie but a goodie. We all know this one! One person looks around and finds an object. Without revealing the object the person says “eye spy, with my little eye, something that begins with ….” And says the first letter or sound that their selected object begins with. The other players then try to guess what the chosen object is. The one to guess the object correctly is then able to take a turn at picking an object. This activity is great for helping littlies expand their vocabulary and phonemic awareness as well as helping while away the time in the car. Rules are best set before commencement of the game, for example does the object have to be visible the whole time, does it have to be inside of the car, does it have to be tangible etc.

ALPHABET PLATES
This one is good for helping the kids remember their A,B,C’s. Each player starts at ‘A’ and has to find number plates of other cars in the traffic and looking at their number plates work their way through the alphabet until they get to the letter ‘Z.’ First one to the letter ‘Z’ wins.

ACTIVITY PACKS
This one you can make up on your own or you can buy these from toy stores or places like Big W and Kmart. You simply put together a pack of things to keep the kids occupied, colouring books, crayons, textas, sticker books, maybe a reading book if your child isn’t prone to travel sickness, puzzle books etc

TRAVEL GAMES
Go to your local toy store or department store and check out the range of games specifically intended for travel. They are designed more compact and have storage places etc to stop pieces becoming lost in the car. A game of guess who or connect four will keep the kids occupied for a while.

SING-A-LONG
Turn the volume up on the stereo system and have a sing-a-long to your favourite tunes. It might be Dora the Explorer or the Wiggles or just the music on the radio but if the kids know the tune it will keep them occupied.