Are We There Yet?

Tired of hearing the kids rustle around in the back seat asking "Are we there yet?" and begging for a bathroom even though you stopped only minutes ago? Well don't think if you don't have the budget to buy a portable DVD player for the kids that you are out of luck. There are many activities to get your children to forget about sitting in a car seat. One older game that can take a lot of time is "The license plate game," see who in the car can find the most of the fifty states license plates while you are driving; if you're driving through Nebraska and Wyoming, however, you may need a lot of patience to win this one. Another way to get the kids involved is to just simply give them a map and let them try and figure out where you are going and where you are currently. Want to teach a lesson and let the kids have fun all day? Give them a daily allowance that will allow them to learn to budget their money. Don't warn them of making budgeting mistakes; let them have fun and do what they wish with their money to make a helpful point of the use of a budget. Kids like to sing? Get a song book with lyrics that everyone will enjoy singing out loud too. Another option would be to make a CD with the kid's favorite songs and let them go to town singing along to "Sponge-Bob" and "Hannah Montana." If your kids enjoy books you can pick up a novel, something that will be understandable to the kids and turn off the radio and just read out-loud as you drive across the country. As long as the book remains interesting everyone will have a good time. Ever played the A to Z game? Everyone in the car will race to find a word on a billboard or an item along the road with every word of the alphabet in order; can you make it to Z before everyone else? An oldie, but a goodie is the I-Spy game; this game is easy to play for even the youngest of kids and can be fun for everyone for plenty of time. Building a scrapbook to remember your trip when you get home is a great idea, but another way to do this is to do it in the car during the trip. Instead of making it later, after the trip is over, you can make it during so that you don't forget anything important. Magnetic game boards can be found at many stores and usually come very cheap. Games such as chess and checkers are usually available in this format. The pieces won't be lost in the car either because they are magnetized to the game board. You can also allow your kids to come up with their own games to help pass the time. If you are still looking for more fun ideas for what to do in the car with your kids you can find many printable pages of ideas online.

Learn more about this author, Kyle Curry.
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