Please enjoy this informative blog post full of great ideas about how to keep your kids entertained in the car.
Traffic stinks. Especially the Ontario cottage traffic on a 400 series highway during a long weekend as thousands of families flee the city to escape to paradise.
But for your kids, whose antsy bodies would rather be anywhere than buckled into the backseat, it can be unbearable, and an anxious kid makes for an even more unpleasant ride in the car. Fortunately, there are plenty of things you can do as a parent to keep your kids happy and occupied, both before you get in the car and on the fly from the front seat.
Equipping the Backseat for Entertainment
If you feel comfortable with screens in the car, portable DVD players, rear entertainment systems or gaming systems can be a real crowd-pleaser, as are mobile apps on your phone or tablet. But fun in the car doesn’t have to break the bank, and it doesn’t have to involve your children staring at a screen for the whole ride. But as long as you are controlling the content that your kids are enjoying, there is nothing like a relaxed environment to ensure a happy holiday.
As important as books are for helping your children do well in school, they’re just as useful in keeping the kids occupied in the backseat for rides of any length of time. Little ones can take coloring books and puzzle books along for the ride without sacrificing the upholstery by using crayons or invisible-ink markers. Bringing along some new picture books and Mad Libs for longer rides can also entertain older children, as can audio books. Once the kids start reading, time in the car can also be a perfect time for them to practice reading aloud from the backseat.
Game Ideas for Car Rides
And keep in mind: Some activities don’t require any preparation or material at all. Classic games like “I Spy” or “20 Questions” offer a pastime during even short car trips. For longer rides, think about counting or observational games for the kids, like license-plate games, which come in many iterations. Younger kids can race through the alphabet by spotting the letters on passing cars’ plates, and older kids can try to make words using all of the letters from a passing license plate. Word games work for the whole family: In the Syllable Game, the first player starts by saying a word (like “potato”) and each player follows with a word with the same starting letter and number of syllables (like “permanent”).
Toys can also help, in case the kids tire of games or books. Coloured pipe cleaners offer a clean source of creative fun, and having a small baking sheet or other surface can help keep the kids organized in the backseat so that you can keep your eyes on the road. A new toy might also be good bribery for a longer road-trip.
Parents: Stay on Top of Your Game(s)
Being strategic before the family packs into the car can be a lifesaver. Having books, toys, movies, and games ready beforehand can be helpful, and making certain diversions available every time you hop in the car (such as a puzzle book that stays in the seats back pocket) can help avoid headaches for the shorter rides for which you may not think to prepare.
And remember: pace yourself. Having a dozen activity options is great, but running through all of them with half the ride left will leave you out of luck.
Please feel free to contact us here at Autodome for more information about rear entertainment systems for your vehicle and vehicles that have those options built in.