Every year, countless families head into the road on their way to their summer vacation spot. Some families use the opportunity to engage in a family road trip; loading up the kids and their luggage in the car, and traveling far distances to promote family bonding.
However, for younger children, road trips can quickly become boring, especially if they do not have something they are interested in to keep them occupied. Young babies may even need a few special techniques to stop crying in the car.
Luckily for you, you do not have to resort to placing your children in front of the car DVD player for hours on end, with them staring blankly at whatever is showing on the screen. There are many other options you can choose to keep your kids entertained in this blog for parents during the course of the journey.
- Color search: In this game, one person in the car will call out a color, and other family members will have to identify an object from the things they see through the windows of the car, that has the color that was called. The game can be spiced up if you introduce speed; that is, the person who calls out an object quick enough wins. Then, this person will have to call the next color, and the game continues in that vein. Or, you can make the game more difficult by limiting the objects that the players can name. For example, call out the color green, and tell them that they can only find green billboards to win the game.
- Tongue twister sentences: Pick a sound or a letter, and ask everyone to create weird sentences which begin with that particular sound or letter! You can also encourage your children’s imagination by asking them to use something they have seen in the car or outside the car to form their sentences. Keep the game light and keep everyone laughing by coming up with the silliest sentences.
- ABC scavenger hunt: This road trip game is fun, and has been played for generations. Family members are to find and identify different objects which begin with a particular letter of the alphabet. The first family member that calls out the object beginning with each letter is crowned the winner. You can make the game more fun for your children by creating a kind of map or illustrations to guide them on what they are looking for. For example, A for Apple, B for billboard.
- “I Spy”: We all know this popular game, but rather than follow the regular rules, create some fun rules. For example, rather than playing the game using colors, use shapes. You would say “I spy, with my little eye, something circle”, and your kids would need to find objects that are circles.
- Counting animals: If you are driving through an area that has animals like cows and sheep, you can help your kids practice their counting skills by playing this fun game. Every time someone sees a cow through the car window, they will shout “count cows”, and everyone must count as many cows as they can before losing sight of them. Everyone participating in the game should keep track of how many cows they count every time they spot a herd of cows, and at the end of the game, the person who has counted the most cows wins.
- ABC license plates: The game begins when someone spots the letter A on a license plate. Then, encourage the other kids to find other letters on different license plates. For example, after finding A, each player will wait until they find the letter B on another license plate, and the player who spots the most letters first is the winner of the game. You can make the game easier by including the option of finding letters on signboards, billboards, and trucks.
If you can’t engage in these games, you can always find in this learning portal install fun learning games and educational worksheets on your tablet, or watch kids learning videos. Car travel will be a fun time for you and your kids if you follow the learning games we have listed above, and will also allow your family create some new, fun memories.
