Tips To Entertain Kids On A Long Road Trip
You may love your kids, but when you are taking a long road trip, your parenting skills are put to the test. It is imperative that you find the right activities to keep your kids busy on the road. This article will provide you with some advice on how to keep your children occupied. It should be noted that some tips require an initial investment in new gadgets.
Electronic games are good entertainment for kids if you need some peace and quiet. These types of games range from handheld Nintendo consoles to pocket and key chain sized electronic pets. While these types of games are not exactly educational, they still provide hours of enjoyment for kids and quiet for the grown-ups.
If you don’t want to invest money into an electronic game or just need something quick, try license plate lingo. This game works for any license plates in any state. It is a fun game and the more imaginative the players, the more fun it gets. Kids are supposed to look at a license plate and come up words that the letters might stand for. The winner is the person who comes up with the most complex acronyms or the funniest words.
If you have a device on hand that can play movies, take advantage. Many cars have a built-in DVD player and if yours is one of them, that’s great! Grab some of your children’s favorite age appropriate DVDs and pop them in. A good movie or favorite show can keep little ones entertained for hours.
Let your kids answer the “Are we there yet?” question for themselves. Print out a map on MapQuest or Google Maps. Make sure it has all of the cities and routes you will pass to reach your destination. Hand your kids each a few different colored crayons and let them color in or mark the locations you have passed in your car. In most major cities and towns, there is always a sign that lets you know where you are and where you’re headed. If no such signs are present, let the kids take a peek at the GPS.
The animal spotting game can bring hours of enjoyment. Have a competition where the person who spots the most animals wins. Any animal that currently moves or used to move is fair game. For example, wild animals, livestock, insects and road kill are all perfectly decent examples to be counted. The winner is obviously the child that claims the most animals. Make the game more fun by rewarding the winner with a small toy or bar of candy from a local truck stop.
If all else fails, toys never do. Kids love toys and if you have tried everything to keep them quiet, purchase some small toys to keep on hand. Truck stops sell pretty decent toys for an okay price. Pick two or three small things up and reward your kids for their silence. The kids will be busy with the new toy and you won’t have to worry about noise control.
Taking a road trip with little ones ultimately tests your patience. If you take the time to come up with a schedule for entertainment, you can enjoy some silence. Use the tips from the article above for a fun filled road trip.
