How To Keep The Kids Entertained On The Road

If the kids will be joining you on your next caravan or motorhome adventure, it’s likely that getting there won’t be their favourite part of the holiday. So to help you keep the little ones entertained while you’re on the road, we’ve put together some ideas to help you make travelling more fun.

Games

There are lots of games that you can play while you’re sat in the car for a long time. Simple games such as choosing a car brand or colour, counting how many of that type you spot, and the person with the highest spots wins.

Or if it’s raining, pick a water droplet at the top of the window and the one that reaches the bottom of the window first wins. And of course, there’s the classic ‘I Spy’ - made more challenging by being on the move.

For a more lengthy game, try the alphabet game. This is where you go through the alphabet to list things like fruit, countries, bands or books that begin with each letter. There’s also the continuous story game where each person adds the next sentence onto a story - it’s a fun way to use your imagination and an opportunity to be a bit silly.

If all else fails, try the quiet game. See who can stay silent the longest and you might get the chance to enjoy 30 seconds of peace and quiet.

Gadgets

If your little ones are lucky enough to own their own games consoles, why not take them along with you? If you’d prefer not to hear their beeps, invest in headphones for them. But be sure to pack spare batteries or a charger to make sure they can play their games on the journey home too.

A portable DVD player will keep them busy for hours on end. Plus, watching a film is likely to make them sleepy. Alternatively, you can all listen to audio books on CD or through a smart phone.

If they’re likely to get restless, try something a little more active. Give them a camera so they can take pictures of their journey and create a scrapbook of photographs when they get home.

Car crafts

Pack a colouring book, crayons/felt tips and some sticky tape and suggest creating some artwork to stick on their window. Post it notes are good for this too.

If you’d like to add an educational element to the journey, give the kids a map and get them to follow your route and circle the landmarks they pass and write something about them next to it.

Make a memory book

This can start even before you set off. Get the children to keep an account of every day of their holiday - firstly packing, then the journey, and what they do each day from then on. Add photos too. As well as creating a lovely memory book, it may come in handy should the children have to do a school project on what they did over the holidays.

And if all else fails, you can always resort to tasty treats and a good old fashioned sing along!

Last reviewed June 2018