We all know how hard it is travelling long distances with little children. It is difficult to make them fully grasp the joys that will await them at the end of the journey, and even if they do seem to understand that, after and hour or two, most children are previously inquiring how much longer the journey is, or if we are there yet. This article gives you a few tips on how I entertain my children on long journeys.
Car Journeys
Travelling by car is very testing for me. Not only do I have to concentrate on driving a car, I also have to make sure my 3 children are entertained and also looking out of the window (as my oldest child gets car sick). I have made up several games which seem to work. The 1st game is an adaptation of 'I spy'. When my children were little they didn't understand their letters, so they couldn't play the traditional version, so I made one up instead in which their 'multi-coloured eye' looked for something of a certain colour that the others in the car have to look for. At the same time, each of us selected a type of transport to look for on the road, and the one who found the most was the winner. It had to be something unusual like a car transporter lorry, a VW camper van or a red lorry instead of just a car. I also used to give all the kids a different list of 5 objects to spot. These could be an electricity pylon, particular road sign, a colour of car, a flower, or something just to keep them searching.
Train Journeys
Trains I have found are a bit simpler simply because you have a table. You can't generally take board games unless they are magnetic because of the motion of the train, and the tendency for children to knock the board. However, I find comics, drawing and quiz books all work genuinely well to keep them diverted. As trains tend to be places in which you want them to be kept quieter, I also find it is helpful to take a lot of snacks and drinks to keep them interested when they get bored of drawing.
Plane Journeys
Plane journeys can be real fun. There are typically lots of interesting people to talk to and the children can watch movies or play. The hardest thing is to keep them still in their seats, so I find it is useful every few hours to do some stretching movements or play some physical games like "Simon says" to work off a bit of that excess energy. I also try to keep them awake the day before so that they are quite tired so hopefully they will spend a fair part of the journey sleeping. I always try to get them a new toy and hold it back till the last possible second on the journey so that they have something new and exciting to play with just when they are getting uninterested.
Car Journeys
Travelling by car is very testing for me. Not only do I have to concentrate on driving a car, I also have to make sure my 3 children are entertained and also looking out of the window (as my oldest child gets car sick). I have made up several games which seem to work. The 1st game is an adaptation of 'I spy'. When my children were little they didn't understand their letters, so they couldn't play the traditional version, so I made one up instead in which their 'multi-coloured eye' looked for something of a certain colour that the others in the car have to look for. At the same time, each of us selected a type of transport to look for on the road, and the one who found the most was the winner. It had to be something unusual like a car transporter lorry, a VW camper van or a red lorry instead of just a car. I also used to give all the kids a different list of 5 objects to spot. These could be an electricity pylon, particular road sign, a colour of car, a flower, or something just to keep them searching.
Train Journeys
Trains I have found are a bit simpler simply because you have a table. You can't generally take board games unless they are magnetic because of the motion of the train, and the tendency for children to knock the board. However, I find comics, drawing and quiz books all work genuinely well to keep them diverted. As trains tend to be places in which you want them to be kept quieter, I also find it is helpful to take a lot of snacks and drinks to keep them interested when they get bored of drawing.
Plane Journeys
Plane journeys can be real fun. There are typically lots of interesting people to talk to and the children can watch movies or play. The hardest thing is to keep them still in their seats, so I find it is useful every few hours to do some stretching movements or play some physical games like "Simon says" to work off a bit of that excess energy. I also try to keep them awake the day before so that they are quite tired so hopefully they will spend a fair part of the journey sleeping. I always try to get them a new toy and hold it back till the last possible second on the journey so that they have something new and exciting to play with just when they are getting uninterested.
About the Author:
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