Negosentro.com | 6 Fun Activities You Can Do With Kids on Road Trips | Road trips can be long and boring, and if you have kids in the car it can be a nightmare for everyone involved. Once the kids run out of toys and books to play with, they’re going to start asking you how long until you get to your destination. For your peace of mind and everyone’s sanity, here are a few suggestions for activities you can do to keep your kids (and yourself) occupied in the car.
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Audio Entertainment
A road trip is a great opportunity to expose your kids to forms of entertainment they might not choose otherwise. They might protest at first, but a break from playing on the Nintendo to listen to smooth jazz radio or an audiobook can be really relaxing for everyone. Before they know it, your kids might get caught up in a storyline or relax so hard they fall asleep. If your kids are particularly antsy, they might need some bargaining to get them to listen, but it’s often a nice way to enjoy something together as a family.
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Travel Journals
If your kids are old enough to reflect on their trip, preparing travel journals for them to fill out on the road can be a great way to occupy the time. You can include specific questions about their favorite parts of the trip and some prompts for drawing pictures of things they saw along the way. If you’ve already been on this trip, you can include some “landmarks” for them to check off on the road, like covered bridges or unique buildings. Getting your kids engaged and excited about the trip is a great way to keep them from becoming bored and irritable, a quick way to ruin any vacation.
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Exciting Snacks
A great way to keep kids happy in the car is by including their favorite snacks in the itinerary. When everyone is getting irritable and you’ve run out of distractions, pulling out an exciting food to share is a sure way to turn that mood around. If you’re worried about crumbs in the car, packing a dust buster is a great way to keep the car clean while allowing your kids to have the snacks they enjoy. Just make sure that the snacks aren’t overly salty because that could encourage a lot of water chugging and you’ll have to make quite a few rest stops.
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Stretching Your Legs
While adults tend to want to get to their destination as quickly as possible, traveling with kids requires a bit of a mindset change. Of course, stretching out the trip unnecessarily isn’t a good idea, but having a few fun stops along the way could help your kids stay excited and engaged. You could stop for a little sightseeing, shopping, or even just a jumping-jack break. Little kids need ways to get out their excess energy, so stopping to let them stretch their legs can go a long way towards keeping them happy.
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Travel Toys
Another way to spice up a long trip is by packing a few “travel toys” that you’ve purchased specifically for the trip. Nothing keeps a child occupied longer than a new toy, and even the simplest items can be really exciting just because they’re new. Try to find toys that don’t have multiple parts that could go missing, and ensure that they don’t need batteries or other specialized equipment to function.
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Young Navigators
If your kids enjoy getting involved and feeling helpful, something fun you could have them do is take a look at your roadmap and help with navigation. They could tell you the next town you’ll be entering, answer questions about what highway you’re on, and find fun names to read off the map. A physical map can be so much more interesting than a GPS, and you might be surprised how much your child enjoys helping out on your road trip.
