Moving – Travel Fun and Games for Children

Prevent backseat blues and airline angst by adding travel fun and games to your plans. Use the following suggestions to make your trip more fun for your kids and more enjoyable for you too.

LITTLE SURPRISES

Purchase several inexpensive toys before your trip. Give them to your children as surprises throughout the journey. A new toy adds fun and excitement to more dull portions of the journey.

DOCUMENT THE TRIP

Give your child a disposable camera and have him/her record the trip. Keep a travel journal or diary recording interesting places and adventures. Save ticket stubs and mementos in a scrapbook.

TRIED-AND-TRUE TRAVEL TAKE-A-LONGS

  • Travel versions of board games such as Connect Four, Battleship, or Checkers are easy choices. Travel Magnadoodle and Etch-a-Sketch have received top marks from children around the country.
  • Hand-held video games or even a laptop computer can provide hours of fun. Save your sanity and turn off the sound.
  • Exercise the mind with activity books filled with mazes, crosswords, and other puzzles. Quiz each other with trivia cards or giggle as you work your way through a book of Mad Libs.

REST-STOP RACES

Bring a soccer ball or football for rest-stop fun. Running games like tag or footraces are a great way to spend some of that saved up energy. Schools, city parks, recreation areas, and fast-food restaurants with playgrounds are great places for kids to do a little more than stretch their legs.

READ ALOUD AND SING ALONG

Bring several books and take turns reading aloud in the car. Be expressive and entertaining. Sing-along cassette tapes can be fun for the whole family. Cast recordings of popular musicals as well as movie soundtracks are a great way to sing away the miles.

MAP YOUR JOURNEY

Learn about your destination and exciting places along the way. Plan rest stops at museums, historical sites, and other interesting places. Trace your route on a map, and look up interesting facts in a guidebook.

SCAVENGER HUNTS

Search roadside billboards and signs for the letters of the alphabet, in order. Make your own list of things to find: gas station, school, church, horses, cows, river, and anything else that you may find between your starting point and your destination.

FUN AND GAMES

Bring a deck of cards. Popular children’s card games include War, Rummy, and Go Fish.

GET PLUGGED IN

Children enjoy being read to, so bring a portable mp3 player with headphones and some books on tape. Set the volume at a safe level, and don’t be surprised if they want to hear the same story over and over again.

Blair Taylor, Real Estate Consultant | Light Farms Prosper TX