|
|
It doesn't have to be Hell! Some ideas to keep the kids occupiedMay 23 '01 (Updated Aug 03 '01) Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Strollers
The Bottom Line It is possible to travel with kids AND keep your sanity!!
What do you get when you place three opinionated sisters (two of whom pack way too many clothes) & their three kids in one SUV, & send them down the interstate for a 6 hour trip?? You get the potential for an event comparable to a volcanic eruption. Both my sisters & I drive together several times a year to visit our relatives' who live in our neighboring state. Some of our past trips have been just short of Hell, so this trip I hoped to help our situation some by focusing on the three kids we were taking. I planned some activities to keep the kids, ages 13, 10 & 5, busy enough that fighting & arguing would be cast aside. Believe it or not, I survived the trip this past weekend & am here to offer some things to consider when traveling in the car with your kids. COMFORT First & foremost, no one will be happy if they don't have enough of their own space & are cramped shoulder to shoulder. (Consider leaving a child or two behind with Grandma(smile)...worked for me= ) Dress the kids you do bring in loose clothing, make sure they have leg room & if possible, place an adult between them for "refereeing." Bring along a couple of pillows for those (infrequent but possible) naps. FOOD This is something I frequently rely on to keep my kids happy while traveling. Now isn't the time to enforce the "no eating in the car" rule. But don't completely throw it out the window ...there are many snacks that won't leave your car interior in shambles. Some of my favorites are: Fruit by the Foot, beef jerky, granola bars, ziploc sacks of dry cereal & small bottles of water. Bring a small cooler for drinks & hard boiled eggs & pre-made sandwiches cut into 1/2's or 1/4's. My favorite & easiest "meal" to eat in the car are breakfast wraps. These are good when we leave early in the morning & don't have time for breakfast before we go. Here's the recipe: Cook diced onions, green or red peppers with sausage in a non-stick pan. Then add beaten eggs, season to taste, & stir them until cooked. Mix in cheddar cheese. Place them on warmed tortilla's, pour on a little salsa if desired, and wrap. Place them in a ziploc bag. Many other things, like ham & cheese, could be substituted for the egg mixture. Be creative! (Don't forget to pack the travel size baby wipes & a plastic sack for trash. Keep them both handy!) REWARDS A fun way I encourage my kids to behave on long road trips is with their own Reward sack. I take a paper lunch sack for each child, write their name on it, & place small rewards in them. I fill each sack with some of the above snack foods, quarters, & small toys like keychains or even toys from the bottom of their own toy box. At the beginning of the journey, I tell the kids that for each half to full hour (depending on how long the trip will take) that they aren't too rowdy (it's impossible to expect them to be stone statues!) they will get to pick ONE "reward" out of their sack. It really works! ACTIVITIES Bring a backpack full of note pads, pencils, coloring books, stencils & colors. My 10 year old daughter took along her Randy McNally Kids U.S. Road Atlas (courtesy of our insurance agent) that had tons of mazes, word games & information on each state. That kept her and her 13 year old cousin occupied for miles. Another idea I found on the internet kept ALL of us entertained the last 4 hours of our trip. You make out a list--however long or short you'd like-- of things you might see around you while traveling. I typed out a long list of 25 things.Here are some examples; BLUE PICK UP TRUCK, AMBULANCE, CEMETERY, DOG IN A CAR, COW, etc. We crossed each item off as one was spotted. You could also initial each item with who saw that item first & at the end of the game, the person who'd spotted the most wins. Less than three blocks from our destination-- my Aunt's house --we found the last three things on our list; DICE ON REAR VIEW MIRROR, AMBULANCE, and PERSON PICKING THEIR NOSE. It was the most fun when we pictured what people thought of us when we would scream, point, and/or laugh each time we spotted one of our items! (We are from rural Nebraska so we had to keep reminding ourselves that taken wrong, actions like these could get us killed:0) Another activity I packed was a magnetic tic-tac-toe game. I took my 8"x8" METAL (aluminum & non-stick won't work) cake pan & covered the bottom with white contact paper. With a permanent marker I drew out the nine tic-tac-toe squares. I glued white paper onto the back of a thin magnet strip I had. Then I drew five "X's" and five "O's" onto the papered side of the magnet. I then cut them apart leaving me with 10 magnetic playing pieces for the game that won't slide around in the car. (I could have just driven to the craft store and bought a bag of 10 magnets, but that would have been too easy= ) A larger pan or cookie sheet could also be made into a checker board & magnets made into checkers. Or the white contact paper could be left plain and used as a dry erase markers board. My son brought home some pipe cleaner "creatures" that he'd made in preschool. I didn't get a chance to buy any for this time but plan to buy some colorful pipe cleaners & take them along on our next trip. Imagine what the kids could come up with?! And for the younger passenger: Who lives in that house? was a game my mother made up for my niece & daughter. As you drive by a house, ask the preschooler "Who lives in that house?" Then you can help the child make up a story about who the person is (His name is Freddy Finkelstein & he has fourty cats) & what he might do for a living (he might wrestle alligators.) It's great exercise for the child's imagination--as well as yours!! REST STOPS Whenever it's possible, stop & get out of the car. I am one who likes to "get there" as soon as possible. But if the kids get restless, even a few minutes out of the car does them & myself wonders. I hope one of these might be of use the next time you travel with your kids. As of yet, Epinions doesn't have a category on "How to survive traveling with your sisters." grin  |
| Read all comments (1)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
