When you travel with children for any distance, whether in a car or an RV, it’s a good idea to have games that they can play on the trip. Of course, many cars come equipped with DVD players so the kids can watch their favorite movies. Nevertheless, it’s good to have some games that require personal interaction.
Books and Puzzles
Young children might like to color in coloring books or just to draw on plain sheets of paper. You can always have them draw what they think their destination will look like. There are lots of lots of puzzle books that have easy cross word puzzles or word find puzzles. Even very young children that can’t read yet, enjoy looking at their favorite picture books.
Map Reading
A car trip is an excellent way to teach your children map skills. Let them track your route on a map. RoadSide America is an excellent resource for finding wacky attractions. They have individual state maps that list interesting and unusual places to visit. Make sure you allow enough time for a side trip or two.
Singing
There are lots of songs that lend themselves to group singing. Remember “B I N G O”? Each you sing the verse, you drop a letter and replace it with a clap. It’s guaranteed to bring on fits of laughter. How about “100 bottles of beer milk on the wall…” That’s guaranteed to drive the driver crazy!
Games
There are lots of games that can be played in the car. There’s Hangman, I Spy, Twenty Questions, and all kinds of visual scavenger games. I’m talking about looking for alphabet letters, different license plates, different cars, etc. You get the idea.
Card games are great to play and a pack of cards doesn’t take up much room. There are also magnetized board games made just for car travel, like checkers and chess.
Books
Make sure you have plenty of books for all the ages of your children. You can read aloud to them if you want to. I even heard of a family that read a play with everyone taking a part. Then when they got to their destination, they acted it out.
If a campground is the destination for your car trip, make sure to bring some nature books so the children can learn to identify trees and flowers and birds and insects. A good pair of birding binoculars is a big help, as well as a magnifying glass for looking at wee things.
Wherever you plan to go, getting there will be a lot more pleasant if you plan some fun activities for your children.
