Family Road Trip Fun: How Best To Travel With Kids
By Sherrie Le Masurier
Family travel is meant to be fun and relaxing and with a little
road trip planning, you can organize your car travel to make this
year's road trip your best family vacation ever.
When it comes to road trip planning it's important to expect the
unexpected and be prepared. Turn to creative solutions like
pre-planned snacks and car games to counter "I'm hungry" screams
and "Are We There Yet?" questions. Every time you travel with kids
you can count on the need for both creative solutions and a ton of
car games to keep the kid's busy.
Following are some of my favourite ways to make a family vacation
car trip not only bearable but fun.
Activity Boxes:
A plastic tote with a flat lid works best as it holds both your
child's activity supplies (paper, markers, cards etc.) and doubles
as a play surface.
Bottled Water:
Bring a whole case for drinking and quick wash ups.
Paper Towels:
These are indispensable when eating and make short work of cleaning
up.
Blankets or Coats:
The warmth of a blanket or coat comes in handy for nap time.
Pillows:
To a tired and cranky child, a pillow can be a real lifesaver.
Plastic Bags:
Various sized plastic zipper-type, grocery and garbage bags are
handy for everything from storing crayons and leftover crackers to
separating wet bathing suits and collecting trash.
Drinks:
Place a small cooler filled with beverages in a central location
where everyone can reach.
Snacks:
Consider individual boxes of cereal, packages of crackers, cups of
fruit,applesauce and yogurt. Don't forget the spoons.
Okay, so now your kids are well nourished and have their activity
box before them. But with a day or two of traveling still ahead,
your kids'short attention span may yet get the better of them. Ward
off sibling battles and screams like "She's looking at me again!"
with the following car travel solutions.
As a child one of my favourite family travel games was to create a
story together. Dad would start the first sentence, then mom, myself
and my brother would add to it. Each of us would take a turn adding
a sentence as the story unfolded.
Another favourite road trip car game was "I'm going on a trip and
I'm bringing..." Here someone starts the game off by naming an item
that starts with the letter "A". After "A" , the next player will
say the same thing but with the letter "B", and so on.
If you're looking for creative verbal games that will help build your
kid's vocabulary, check out 101 Word Games here.
Finally, countdown the distance to go, with a bunch of Cheerios or
Fruit Loops pre-thread on shoestring licorice. Your kids can enjoy
one with every passing kilometer.
Want more Family Sanity Saving Ideas?
Visit http://www.familysanitysavers.com today!
About The Author:
Written by Sherrie Le Masurier, Lifestyle Columnist, Professional
Organizer and Co-Owner of Family Sanity Savers.com - Copyright 2005.
