by Mitzi Saltsman

Created on: April 11, 2009

How to have fun traveling with your children. fun traveling with your children

It seemed that when our children were little we traveled by car to visit relatives or vacation at least once or twice a year. These trips could last anywhere from four, eight or even 38 hours. Keeping the four of them (all at about two years apart) entertained and peaceful was a job.

First, we tried to make the trip seem exciting to begin with. Anticipation made the long hours more durable. We would talk about who we would see and what we would do. Remember good things about the last trip they took.

If the trip is especially long, plan ahead. Many Dad's like to get on the road and never stop until they get there. Car seats and being still are pretty hard on little ones. Stopping every two or three hours, even just to run around the car and stretch will make everyone happier in the long run ... even the driver. Plan and extra hour for the trip and don't try to cut it close if you need to be somewhere at a certain time. The less stress you put on your kids the better off all of you will be.

In the car don't expect everything to be peace and quiet on it's own. If everyone is getting cranky and starting to pick on each other either stop for some stretching time, plan a diversion, or they may be hungry and thirsty. Plan to break out a healthy, snack every couple hours. A sugar high is the last thing you need. We traveled with pretzels, Chex mix, apples and cheese. Bottled water makes the trip a whole lot easier as well.

Planned on playing car games. A cake pan with a lid is great for a desk and to keep pens, paper, crayons, and coloring books handy.
We would play an alphabet game where you had to find each letter of the alphabet in order on anything (except liquor signs =) outside the car.
Another fun game was to find and have someone write down license plates from different states.
A favorite game was finding horses. We divided boys against the girls (you don't have to), and got two points for each horse, ten points for a white horse. When someone found a cemetery, the other team lost all their points.

On an especially long trip to Colorado; in an especially small car, we had already dwindled to three children who where in their early and preteens. Weeks ahead of time, I collected an assortment of small surprises. For every two hours they could pass without fighting, they got to pick something from the surprise bag. Even as older children it was more fun than I anticipated. They still talk about doing that and a few years ago when their Dad and I went on a trip alone ... they got together and made a surprise box for us.

Nowadays, many vehicles have TV's right in them and I suppose that will make traveling easier too. We had cassette tapes of stories like McGee and Me, and Jungle Jam and Friends. Our trips were not always, totally, peaceful (we are quite a singing family) ... but I miss them now that everyone is grown. DVD's might make your trips peaceful, but plan for Memorable Experiences, too.

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