We are headed on a road trip soon to meet up for a family reunion!! We are excited to play with family, but know that a long road trip is a lot of work with 6 kids–or 1 ha!! Here are 5 ways that we make the trip better for everyone that do not involve screens!!
1. The color-the-hour wheel! I have my kids get a paper plate and create a by-the-hour tracker. Every time we get through an hour of driving, a different kid gets to color a portion of the plate. This really helps younger kids visualize how much time has passed and how much of the trip we have to go!
2. Play the rainbow game with cars! We see how fast we can get through the rainbow with the colors of cars. Red car, orange car, yellow car, etc. Police cars are wild, as are pink cars. Change the game up however you’d like. My kids really enjoy being the one to find the purple car, it feels like that is one of the harder car-colors to find!
3. Play-aways from the library!! I have shared my love for play-aways before, but they deserve another shout out. Really, any type of audio book that enables your kid to sit and enjoy a story for a few minutes or an hour of a road trip just makes you that much closer to another slice of the hour wheel being colored!!
4. Sticker books are awesome!! Any type of sticker puzzle books are so, SO great for road trips. It take a little bit more concentration to make sure you get the pieces in the right place because of the movement of the vehicle, and the attention to finish seems to increase as there are fewer distractions while driving. Yea for stickers!
5. If you are a regular road tripper, or just enjoy portable games, invest in some games for the road. We enjoy this chess set as it’s magnetized and prevents the pieces from shifting with the movement of the car.
Bonus–any toys that light up, like glow sticks or flashing sticks are so fun to have for when you drive through tunnels, or at night! So hit up the dollar store and stock up for some more fun! Also, we see how long we can hold our breath through those tunnels–this requires that you actually have tunnels through which to drive!!
We have done our fair share of road trips over the years, and these tips, interspersed with some fruit snacks, and the occasional movie, have gotten us through and kept our relationships, mostly, intact!! HA! Good luck!! May the odds be ever in your favor!
Kayleen
