Surviving Road Trips With Children
By Wendy Perrin
I'm a big fan of the fun read that is Gadling, even though its posts rarely pertain to any aspect of my life (a twentysomething hipster with time on my hands I'm not). So I was excited to see two posts up this morning about car trips with tykes. Now that's info I could use. Alas, though, I've tried the advised tactics, and they just don't work for my kids (pictured above on a 7-hour road trip last summer). Printable Car Activities require using pointed, staining handheld instruments in non-destructive ways -- something my junior commandos seem incapable of.
Car Trip Check List recommends sticker books, but I've found these work only if I'm sitting with the kids in the back seat. Otherwise they lose interest within three minutes or Thomas the Tank Engine stickers end up all over creation.
Of the laundry list of car activities I've tried (a list that does not include videos, DVDs, or computerized gadgets), what's worked best by far are guessing games requiring no props whatsoever: There's the "song guessing game," the "numbers guessing game," the "fireworks guessing game" (don't ask), the "engine guessing game" (yes, I am expert in the subtle differences among Thomas, James, Percy, Gordon, Henry, Edward, Toby, and the dozens of other engines living on the Island of Sodor).
What's worked second best are Crayola Color Wonder paper and pens (whose colorless ink is invisible except on Color Wonder paper). Third best are regular paper and Crayola's washable flip-top markers (so you never have to search the car for lost pen caps). My 3-year-old is happy just to flip the cap on and off, on and off, for 15 minutes at a time (no paper needed!).
Attention, moms of small boys: Any other suggestions?
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Ah the perils of riding with your kids. We've kept our kids occupied with "road trip" games such as finding signs that have at least one letter of the alphabet in them, which is not as easy as you might think(thank God for Quiznos and Quik Check!)
There is also the old, "Who do you like better" game (i,e, "Who do you like better? Donald Duck or Goofy?")
As our kids have gotten older, of course, GameBoy is invaluable and RadioDisney is a great distractor (though I wish they were on FM rather than AM as the signal stinks for the most part and we can do without the Hamster Dance every half hour).
For the most part though, we rely on the old, reliable stand-by, "If you kids don't be quiet I swear by all that is holy that I am going to turn this van around and you're going to bed!"
Posted by: tg529 | March 02, 2007 at 04:04 PM
Or the backhand - "Look out for the hand", as we're dodging it in the back seat, is a famous one in our family, passed down from many generations.
James' Mom @ carseattraveler.com
Posted by: tncornett | March 03, 2007 at 04:56 PM
Oh my gosh! I love the pictures! I have seen my own sons looking like that at the end (or first five minutes of a trip!). Satellite radio is a must in my car! XM Kids has great programming (unfortunately, Hampster Dance is included too frequently also!) XM also includes Radio Disney and we never lose the station! Another great find for us is Leapster L Max. My commandos (5 & 7) still have not realized its educational! Thanks for all the other tips!
Posted by: SuzR | March 04, 2007 at 07:20 PM
Hi, Wendy. Glad you liked the posts on Gadling. Er...glad you liked that the posts on Gadling were quasi-relevant to your life. Sorry they didn't provide you with some more usable tips.
Just to clarify: I am not "a twentysomething hipster with time on my hands" either. In fact, the only part of the statement that does apply to me is the word "hands." Okay, and the world "a." Nevertheless, we'll work on providing some more posts relevant to the non-twentysomething, non-hipster, non-free-time-having crowd, too. Thanks for the tip!
And good luck on your next road trip.
Posted by: WillyVolk | March 05, 2007 at 02:59 PM
What does it take to get listed on the top travel agents? How do you pick them? Thanks!
Posted by: Sjkovac | March 15, 2007 at 08:24 AM
There's a time-honored tip for road trips with kids (or teens) - start before dawn. Load and gas the car at nite, with post-it note reminders for a.m. chores like fresh ice in the cooler, turning up AC, etc.. A bracing cold shower for the adults to wake up, drag kids from bed, potty stop, and into car seats. Teens sleep and travel in sweats and slip right back to sleep. Those awake munch granola bars and bananas set on dashboard the nite before. I nailed down close to 200 miles by 9:30 a.m. last summer, driving my kids from our home in the Orlando burbs to NYC via Atlanta and Philly. We were all ready for a pit stop and breakfast by 10 a.m, then another 200 miles until lunch. Repeat after lunch and you are 500 miles down the road by 4 p.m. or so. We stopped then for an early dinner, hotel swim and cable movie. Lites out at 9 p.m. and repeat. Prepacking the van with pillows, DVD player, snacks etc. is key. Best memory - a 2005 road trip with dawn over Kansas plains as we headed east from Denver. So peaceful in the van with sleeping kids and a pink sunrise beckoning me forward after an hour of driving into blackness. Can't put a price on that travel memory. If this single mom can have a fun 3,000-mile road trip in 8 days, you can too.
Posted by: gatornan2 | August 08, 2007 at 11:29 PM