During the school holidays and various bank holidays, millions of us take to the roads and motorways of the country in search of a relaxing break and some quality family time. For those who aren’t driving, it can be a perfect time to relax, listen to some tunes or read a book. The kids in the back however, are likely to get tetchy after being stuck in a tailback on the M5 for 2 hours.
It’s a long time for young children to sit still in one place, especially if your heading off on a long car journey. It’s easy to why the temptation is great for parents to hand their kids iPad and phones to keep them occupied. Even us grown up passengers admit to using the time to stare at technology too!
These days, children are more likely to ask for technology than sweets on a long journey. If you’d rather avoid either of these things, here are some ideas:
Activity Sheets – anything with colouring, drawing, puzzles and word searches are a good way to entertain your kids. Bring along their favourite pencil case full of colouring pens and encourage some creative play. Of course, this could be tricky in a car so invest in a Car lap tray from https://personalisedlaptrays.co.uk/collections/sport-lap-trays
Travel games – lots of different games are available in a smaller, portable travel style for hours of fun while stuck in the car.
Toilet breaks – these are inevitable on a long journey with little bladders in tow but try to make them a little less stressful. Most motorway service stations are terribly busy during peak times, so try to plan ahead a more interesting and quieter place to pull off the motorway and take a break. An unexpected and interesting diversion can help keep boredom at bay too.
DVD – if you don’t want your child to have a tablet, you could invest in a portable DVD player, so your kids can watch their favourite films and cartoons. This should nicely while away a good hour and a half at least!
Camera – give your kids an interesting and exciting job from the backseat. Buy a cheap digital camera and encourage your kids to be photographers of the journey. Turn it into a treasure hunt and write a list of things for your kids to photograph.
Traditional – there are loads of traditional spoken games that are a lot of fun and have stood the test of time. Encourage your little ones to use their imaginations with games like I-Spy, Twenty Questions and Word Association.
Story Time – children love a good story, so why not have fun making one up. You could take it turns to add a line of the story or a plot twist. This is a fun way of involving the whole family and should happily while away some of the travel time.
