May 17th, 2010 Play Activities for road trips Posted by Melitsa in Roundups, Seasonal play, Sites to visit, Thought of the week, play activities

Before summer driving season kicks off I wanted to share how we roll.

We’re going on a [tag}road trip[/tag] but what do you bring?

This is a recurring theme with us because we’re a Military family. Currently we live in the US but with family all around the world and tours lasting  three or so years we’re used to travelling by plane, train or car to move our family.

Just when I think we’ve got it down the ages and expectations of the children change so we end up tweaking our list. This year will be no exception.

Here are our top ways to keep sane and limit the boredom blues.

8 things to do when stuck in traffic with the kids

Going on a car trip?

5 fun ways to make it through a road trip

What’s in the bag?

Check out the comments for some more suggestions.

Audio and Video

Since we’re all in the car together you want something that will have universal appeal or everyone has separate sets.  I know I’ll have to endure Superheroes as we travel but everyone gets a vote on what to bring and there will be Science is real by They might be giants because we all love to sing a long.

We have some chill out music that will be great during the hyper times or just to change the atmosphere in the car.

How about buying the soundtrack to a recent movie release? The kids will relive the movie and soundtracks are full of differing tempos and styles. There’s likely to be something for everyone.

Listen to your favourite stories by downloading an audiobook or making your own.

Try Smories for iphone, ipod touch and soon to be ipad users.

During all the times we’ve traveled  I’ve found that have a variety of things work the best. Also not showing all your hand. Keeping things secret and bringing out surprises.

We search for parks and the Frisbee isn’t far. We limit the DVD player and ration out the content. It was only a few years ago we first had a DVD player in the car and unlucky for us we bought a few DVDs without appreciating the FAST play option. Those kids were wired and they were just overtired. We learnt our lesson and like all new things we learned that for us we need to mix up the media.

• Outdoor play
• Seeing new places
• Imaginary play
• Art and crafts
• Reading
• DVD
• Music and singing
• Food

Works well in the house and in the car.

The question now must be……………. What audiobook will we listen to on the journey? Please leave suggestions of books that kept you hanging that you could have read in one session if you had the chance.