Long car drives may be taxing for parents, let alone those little kids, but if you plan everything out in advance, a cross-country road trip can soon become a thrilling experience.
Bringing along kids for a long haul road trip can be quite challenging. From packing enough snacks and entertainment to finding the right balance of rest stops and driving time, it can be hard to make sure everyone is happy and entertained.
There is nothing more difficult and distracting than driving and having these little passengers cry. To ensure that the journey is a pleasant one, it is important to plan ahead and come prepared with activities that will keep the children entertained.
With that, here are some five activity recommendations we have for you to keep your kids very well entertained during road trips.
Name That Animal
This guessing game can be a pretty good road-trip activity. This will aid children's sight in identifying the animal, as well as their memorization and pronunciation skills.
Who can spot the most different kinds of animals throughout the journey? Any living thing that is capable of movement, such as a deer, bird, dog, cat, horse, cow, or other animal, is potentially up for grabs.
You can make this as competitive or non-competitive as the situation calls for; perhaps offering a small prize would be a good way to encourage everyone to take part.
Storytelling
Road trip activities do not have to be extremely loud; they can also be very silent at times. As per Dean's Autoglass, a road trip activity that you can try is storytelling or allowing your kids to read books.
Storytelling or reading books can be an excellent way to keep children entertained, as it gives them a chance to use their imagination and also encourages them to develop their own story-telling skills.
The characters in the books that children read can become like good friends to them, providing them with a sense of companionship and helping them feel less alone.
In addition to this, children would have a better understanding that books are a vital source of information.
Reading boosts children's confidence and teaches them how to cope with emotions, all while improving their language and learning skills. Depending on the age of your kids, books can be beneficial for teaching children to recognize different styles of writing and different types of narrative structure.
Sing-Alongs
According to How Stuff Work, another activity that parents can do on a road trip is to play a song or a favorite Disney song that their child loves the most and sing along with it. Listening to music while driving can be a great way to help children pass the time.
Car-ride sing-alongs can be beneficial for parents and kids in multiple ways. For one, it helps keep children from being bored on the trip and can give them something to look forward to.
This could be played during a stopover for snacks or a diaper change. Parents can also keep their kids entertained with their favorite songs while they take a much-needed bathroom break. Moreover, singing together can foster an environment of joy and togetherness that will make the car ride more enjoyable for everyone.
Coloring with an 'I Spy' Printable
For our fourth entry in this list of road trip activities, we recommend giving children "I Spy" coloring materials. These worksheets can easily be DIYed by parents and caretakers and work effectively to keep children entertained.
"I Spy" worksheets are essentially simple scavenger hunts in which children are asked to find specific items of a certain shape or object for them to color correctly.
This would seem like a scavenger hunt on printed paper, with the reward of being able to color that specific object whatever they want.
These worksheets are a fun and creative way to keep children occupied on the road and can provide an activity that both stimulates their problem-solving skills as well as encourages them to take in the beauty of their surroundings.
Play Toys
Lastly, another no-fail and no-brainer option parents can do for a road trip activity is to give their children their favorite toys to play with, as per Today's Parent. This will not only give them a sense of comfort and familiarity, but it will also provide endless entertainment and joy for the duration of the ride.
Some kids love their cooking set toys, while other kids prefer playing doctor or nurse through their mini toy apparatus; whatever their preference, toys will always be entertaining for them. In addition, allowing them to bring their favorite toys on a road trip is a great way for parents to create a stress-free environment for both themselves and their children
