10 Ideas to Keep Kids Entertained on Car Trips

on May 18, 2009 at 4:00 PM

Back when you were younger and had car trips with friends, maybe you sang 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall. That's not going to cut it with the kids. So how can you keep them occupied on a long (or even short) drive to your family vacation destination?

I've got some suggestions for moms with kids of all ages.

For the younger kids:

Have a puppet show. Bring along some of their favorite hand-held stuffed animals (or puppets if they have them) and perform a puppet show to keep them entertained.

Play classical music -- babies dig it and some experts say it makes infants smarter. Visit Driving Music for Kids for more ideas.

Read an educational book -- you're keeping the baby occupied and you're teaching them at the same time.

Bubbles! Babies and kids love them. So do I. Just be sure to keep them out of driver's view.

For the older kids:

Give each child and adult a blank notebook to use as a travel journal. Have everyone takes notes as you drive of interesting things along the way. Compare notes as you near destination. Continue throughout trip as well. Makes a great keepsake and if you leave one page blank as you write, you can glue in photos after as well.

Play the License Plate game. Check out car in front of you and view the letters. Say they are "KIR." Have each person in car come up with a phrase using those letters. Keep It Real. Kids In Reverse. Knapsack Is Ready. Be creative!

Tell jokes. Need help? Check out Knock Knock Who's There My First Book of Knock Knock Jokes by Tad Hills for the younger ones and Over the Top Clean Jokes for Kids by Bob Phillips for the older ones.

Collect post cards along the way. Send some to friends or family or use the back to write details of trip, just like a journal. Compare or trade.

Have a spelling bee! If you have more than one child, give each one a chance to spell a word. Allow them to get it right before moving on, giving them hints if you need to.

Play the Who Am I? game. Pick a person you know your kids can identify. Say it's Miley Cyrus. Have the others start guessing by asking: Is it a girl? Is she a teenager? Is she a TV star? Does she sing? You can only say yes or no. Kids can guess once clues start to add up.

Have you ever done any of these in-car activities? Have any other ideas to share? Please do!

About the author Michele Zipp

loves vintage and will defend skinny jeans to the death though she is highly superstitious and "death" is probably a bad word choice. She has a touch of the hoarding disease and enjoys sleuthing, the worst reality shows, and wearing high heels, even at the playground. She's an AP mom of twins, slightly crunchy but with a pedicure.

Filed Under: games

Comments (10)

qtmomof2

on May 18, 2009 at 8:26 PM

My 9 year old gets motion sickness in the car (so do I) so we don't do any reading or playing games - that makes it 20 times worse! She usually listens to her MP3 player or watches a movie on her DVD player.

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pagirl71

on May 19, 2009 at 10:05 AM

we paid extra for a dvd player in our van. We can also hook up a laptop and video game system. Never have though. But we always stop every few hours to potty break and always stop and let the kids run around. I keep nerf balls, a small frisbee and bubbles in the car. 20 minutes of running around and off we go.

JPsMommy605

on May 19, 2009 at 10:16 AM

Hmmm...what about preschooler kids - my son is 4, can't spell yet and I drive and it's just the two of us, so I can't entertain him. I feel like we have a gap in road entertainment ages...Mostly, when we drive, we just find things to identify (he learned this from watching Caillou) like a red barn, a white car, cows, etc...but that only lasts so long.

Cafe MicheleZ

on May 19, 2009 at 11:19 AM

JPsMommy, what about playing some classical music or other music that the two of you like? Or maybe even a book you can play on CD?

The other moms had great suggestions, too. Stopping along the way to stretch the legs and maybe do an outdoor activity at that time for a few minutes to get ready for the next patch of road.

on May 19, 2009 at 1:28 PM

Oddly enough, my son doesn't like having music play in the car. We do stop, but my comment was addressed more towards the article itself, which was lacking in entertainment ideas for his age group, or maybe just for when the driver can't be the entertainer as well.

Inkscrblr

on May 20, 2009 at 10:28 AM

The old standby I spy is good. Also we have the FP3 player and my odler daughter has an MP3 player. We load up on dollars store toys for all our big trips, by car, plane, boat, train, whatever. There I purchase a bunch of little workbooks or finger puppets or even cheap slinkys and things that they've never seen before so they will be enjoyable. Small craft kits, colouring kits, tiny puzzles and a travel camera. Also because they've come from the dollar store I won't care if they break or get lost.

Isiah

on May 20, 2009 at 2:44 PM

Since we live in the country and our route into the towns runs along a river, my grandson and I have an ongoing story about the fish and other creatures in the river. We made up 4 main characters, Filet Fish, Goldie, Finny Fish, etc and they go on an adventure along the river with us. When we reach the city or town, we put them to sleep under a bridge, playing with a new friend or someplace safe for a while, then we resume the story when we return. We have been doing this for 3 years. I look forward to his imaginative input as well as stimulating my own thinking coming up with ideas for new adventures.

fairybrokenwing

on May 28, 2009 at 11:52 AM

my kids would listen to their ipods, watch movie on portable dvd player, color or sleep LOL. But when they were a bit younger we would count all the pink, yellow or orange cars in points. Like since it is rare to see bright pink cars it would be worth 500 points. you can make up the numbers but pink would be the highest points. When we arrive to our destination that kid would then be rewarded with an ice cream or something simple .. hehee.

ladysylpher

on Jun 29, 2009 at 1:29 PM

the baby suggestions are too young for my 3 1/2 yr old and the big kid suggestions are too old for her. Got anything for preschoolers?!??! Please I need help cuz Im going to Texas (12 hour drive) on July 5th.

thanks.