How to Keep your Kids Busy while on the Road

Let's face it; traveling with kids is not easy. Sure, sometimes they sleep, but when they aren't asleep, they can be a handful. You've prepared your road trip. All the drinks and snacks are ready. The itinerary is set. The car is loaded and everyone is ready to go. If your kids are typical, give them about half an hour to start acting irritable. The car is already in disarray. The kids are complaining or worse, fighting with each other. What do you do?

Yes, you are probably thinking about returning home, vowing to never try this again. You could become very stern with them, but you know from past experiences, this never helped for long. Alternatively, you might try to find something to keep them occupied.

Here's the issue. You really need to do much of this before you go. Therefore, here are some planning tips to make travel with the children less of a hassle.

Invest in a portable DVD player and good supply of movies. Portable DVD players are so inexpensive these days that it only makes sense to have one. For this and all other electronics, be sure you have an adequate supply of batteries.

The same goes for portable game players. Kids can sit with these for hours. For their games, as well as the DVD player, you might want to consider headphones so you can maintain some peace of mind too.

Every kid has a favorite book or two that they like to read over and over again. These will be worth their weight in gold along the way.

Stock up on coloring and drawing materials. It's probably best to leave behind the liquid paints and certain other problematic types.

Kids love cameras. Be sure you have one with you. It should be a digital model. They are cheap these days. You can discard the useless shots and start over without the expense of the film. This way you can encourage them to take a lot of pictures. In addition, a digital camera lets them see their shots right on the spot. This will help to keep them focused.

Double check that your car's air conditioner is working properly. It should be able to move the air not only around the front where you are, but also to the back where they are. If it doesn't, you may look into a portable 12-volt fan to help keep the back areas cool.

Stop often. Let them stretch. Hopefully, you can plan your stops where there is something for them to see. However, even if not, it's better to stop often than to keep them caged in. Kids have a lot of pent up energy and you need to allow for its release.

You can design games that keep their eyes busy on the road. Depending on their ages and tastes, perhaps keeping track of birds or cars types that have passed by would interest them.

You can actually make a road trip with kids into an enjoyable experience. The key is to plan enough activities in advance to keep them busy when they are not sleeping.



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