Travelling with kids and babies can be challenging. Sometimes children sleep on long journeys, and sometimes they don’t.
When they are awake you’ll probably hear the classic phrase, “are we there yet?” When you have only just set off, and still have hundreds or even thousands of miles to go…
There are lots of things you can do to keep them occupied while you’re travelling. You might decide to get them a couple of bags of sweets, however you might regret this when your children are bouncing around or worse, throwing up into a paper bag.
A clever idea is to prepare some games to keep them entertained. Many of the games you can get involved in too, even if you are driving. All you need is a little imagination and I’m sure that your children have plenty of that.
Here’s 9 of the best games and ideas to keep your kids quiet and happy while traveling!
“I went to the shop and I brought”
This is a game for all the family, and works on any journey. If you don’t know what it is, it goes like this. Each person takes it in turns of saying what they brought at the shop in alphabetical order. Here is an example:
Person 1: I went to the shop and I brought an A- Apple
Person 2: I went to the shop and I brought an A- Apple, and a B- Book
Person 3: I went to the shop and I brought an A- Apple, B- Book, C- Cat food
The game goes on until you reach Z. If you can’t remember one of the items brought at the shop then you are either out, or you lose a life. The number of lives you have can be determined at the beginning of the game.
This is a great travel game for children and is something that everyone on the journey c
an play. It is a great memory test too.
“Reading”
Take a couple of different books with you on the journey so you can read to your little ones.
Make sure you use funny voices and point to different things on the pages. If your child is very young then they might just want to have a good chew on it, but that keeps them busy too!
“Name a song that has this word in…”
This is another great one for children and for the adults to play on any transport.
Each of
you take it in turns to say a word, and then everyone in the car has to think of a song which has that word in it. This keeps everyone lively with lots of singing.
“Who’s that person in the car?”
If you are stuck in traffic then this is a great game to keep spirits high and your children happy.
Each person in the car looks out of their window at the car next door. You then have to decide the following things about your car neighbours.
1. Their name
2. Their job
3. Where they have been
4. Where they are going
You can add a few more questions too. This is a great game for creative kids who like to make up stories.
“The number game”
This game is very simple, and is great for children who are learning to count. It goes like this: one person chooses a number, say 24, then in no order each person says a number until 24 is reached.
If two or more players say the same number at the same time then you have to start from 1. You’ll be surprised how often people will say the number at the same time.
“Arms and Legs”
For this car game, you will need to separate into two teams. Each team needs to look out for pubs on their side of the road. If you see a pub with arms or legs in it then you get points, here’s a couple of examples:
The Black Horse would score you 4 points (4 legs)
The Bear inn would score you 4 points (2 legs and 2 arms)
The Spread Eagle would score you 2 points (2 legs)
The winning team is the one with the highest score when you get to your destination.
“I spy with my little eye….”
This is a classic car game. It can get pretty tricky when you are on a motorway or on an aeroplane, and you might have to get a little creative with your ideas.
“Hide and Seek”
This is one for the babies. From six months, a baby starts to realise that things are there which cannot be seen making hide and seek a very exciting game.
When you are playing hide and seek with a baby you will be able to hide behind a cardigan, or even your hands.
“Scavenger Hunt”
This game will take a little bit of preparation but it will keep the children quiet in the back of a car or on a coach.
Before you go write a list of things that you might see on the way and put check boxes next to each item. Give your children a pencil each and let them tick off the things as they see them.
You might put the following on your list:
• Bus
• Green Car
• Stop sign
• Store
• Bridge
• Person in hat
• Tractor
• Sheep
• Lake
• McDonalds
• Fancy Dress shop
• A dog
• A petrol station
• Person on a mobile phone
• Person wearing heels
• Barn
• Tent
• Motor home
Keeping the children entertained can also be fun for you. If you are the driver you will want to keep your mind active too so that you don’t go into a daze on a motorway or long road.
If you want to keep your children quiet while you travel then you may want to think about giving them a portable DVD player to watch, a book to read, or maybe a computer tablet to play games on.
Do give a few of these games a try as they are something you can all play. You will be sure to keep your children smiling for the whole journey and avoid the dreaded “are we there yet?”