Here are some travel activities for kids that will help you to maintain your sanity while travelling with kids. Also here we have included some hints on travelling with kids in the car. Trust me the information on this page is vital to having a succesful family vacation... yes i am talking from experience - not all good ;-)
CARING FOR CHILDREN IN THE CAR
To prevent squabbles, periodically stop and let the children change seats. On boring stretches of road introduce some of those travel activities for kids you will have up your sleeve like spotting games, I spy, word games, riddles, a quiz, stories and singing. Turn on the car radio, but do not leave it on continually. If you have a cd, play one of the children's favourites.
We have an old time family vacation travel activities for kids game that we have used often called SPOTTO. Click here to get your very own travel activities for kids spotto game. We have found this to be a fantastic travel game for the kids. (Okay not only do the kids get some pleasure out of this, but us "oldies" also enjoy it.)
Another one of our favourite travel activities for kids game that you can use is to Spotto “Personalised Number Plates” ie the blue number plates (in Australia). This is a good activity for Mum, Dad and the kids. This is similar to SPOTTO where only one person can record the plate and each person maintains a running number of how many they have seen. For a bit of variety, if one person spotto’s a number plate and then another person spotto’s the same plate then the second 'spottoer' actually loses a point. You can make this a time limit or first to reach a certain number etc.
Food and drinks: For drinks during your car trip, pack straws and small containers of fruit juice. Avoid fizzy drinks, which can contribute to car sickness (see link to preventing car sickness), and milk, which will leave the car smelling badly if spilt. For snacks, avoid juicy fruits such as watermelon, sticky sweets that could be smeared on clothes and upholstery, and rich foods. Use plastic or disposable paper plates and remember to take paper table napkins and a damp face washer or a pack of pre-moistened tissues.
Maintaining good behaviour: Enforce behaviour rules such as the following, explaining the reasons for them.
Do not put your head or arms out of the window
Do not throw anything out of the window
Do not touch the door handle, lock or window handle
Do not alter any seat belt or safety restraint
Do not distract the driver.
But remember, family vacations are meant to
be fun!
Secure all loose objects so they will not fly forward if the drive brakes suddenly. A pet should not be allowed to romp about with the children. For more information see travelling with pets
SIGHTSEEING AND STOPPING ALONG THE WAY
Do not attempt a marathon non-stop journey with children. Be prepared to pause frequently for some outdoor activities kids do like exercise, sightseeing, snacks and toilets. Give the children something to look forward to - for instance, a good outdoor activity for kids along the way is a picnic at an interesting spot midway to your destination. Make enquiries beforehand to identify suitable stopping places - for example, parks with play equipment, barbeques and rest rooms.
Other Travel Activities For Kids
Some other travel activities for kids could include them be given a simple camera for taking photos at places along the way. If towns or places of interest are visited children can send a postcard to a friend or relative, or buy a souvenir. Have a pen, envelope, stamp and address book ready. A fretful child might be allowed to telephone a special friend.
Some free art travel activities for kids could include older children like collecting brochures, entrance tickets, unusual stones and other mementoes. Have a big envelope or plastic bag handy to hold these. At your destination, provide a scrapbook and non-spillable glue so the children can start to compile a record of their holiday.
Some drawing travel activities for kids may include sketching interesting sights seen on your family vacation or they may like to keep a day by day diary. (Our kids did this many times especially when they were taken out of school). Which reminds me, just because the children are school aged and are at school; don’t be frightened to have your family vacation during school hours. If you speak to their teachers before hand and get a copy of what the child may miss out during a short period, it is easy to do this work or catch up when they get back. The small amount they miss out on for a week or two at school, is more than made up for with “life experiences” where they see so much more of our wonderful land and experience new activities.
Then if they have to make a presentation to the school class once they get back, this is probably one of the benefits they could get out travelling that will help them in their future life. Crikey, how many times have you had to make a presentation, or address a group, or even attend an interview? This can be a very daunting experience and if they have had some simple previous experience to fall back on it can be of immense benefit later on.
We hope you get some benefit from these real life experiences in travel activities for kids and if you are going on that adventure tour, we have a number of other pages that you may find beneficial.
