{photo by Dino Reichmuth}
“Are we there yet???”
Planning any road trips this summer? When you’ve got several hours (or days) in the car together, it’s all too easy to plug everyone in to devices or put on a movie and enjoy the peace, and that’s certainly okay for a little while. But we are always looking for screen-free ways to keep kids entertained and engaged when we take a long car trip, so that they aren’t glued to screens the entire time. Today we want to not only share a few ideas, but hear your best suggestions as well!
Let’s start with the tried and true methods:
1. Books… but also Audiobooks! – (No big surprise that we’re starting with books, right?) We know you already know about these, but choose some especially fun selections that will help the time pass right on by with the road. Ask friends and other SLOCA parents for suggestions, use the Must Reads list for ideas (found on SLOCA’s password-protected page), and this post from a few years back offers several recommendations. If you have a lot of time in the car to fill, it’s nice to include a mix of family audiobooks that everyone can listen to, as well as individual books/audiobooks (especially if you have a big age difference between kids).
For audiobooks, Audible has lots of choices, but also check out Overdrive Audiobooks through our local Blackgold library system, and look into Hoopla, which also offers free audiobooks when you sign up for a free account. And check out the website/app Storynory – free audio stories for kids!
Want to recommend your own favorite road trip books/audiobooks for our readers? Leave the titles in the comments below!
2. Music – Load up your favorite music app with a “Car Tunes” playlist or two full of upbeat music that will keep everyone smiling and singing along. Try out an oldies station or playlist, or all Beatles music, or compile favorite songs from movies, or dance tunes for car dancing.
3. Coloring and Activity Books, Puzzles, Mad Libs, Crafts, etc. – It’s always a good idea to have a small stockpile of these, and a container of crayons, pencils, pens, erasers, etc. The Dollar Store usually has puzzle books, and here are a few more ideas (but you know what your kids like):
- National Geographic Kids Ultimate U.S. Road Trip Atlas
- The Everything Kids’ Travel Activity Book
- Boredom Buster
- Scratch Art
- Tape Activity book
- Secret Decoder Activity book
- Write and Wipe book
- Window markers
- Wikki Stix
- Puffy Sticker Activity books
- Reusable Sticker pads
- Travel Spirograph
- Pipe cleaners for making sculptures
Or customize your own puzzles with words about where you're going or what you'll see along the way, with Discovery Education’s Puzzlemaker.
4. Car Games – If it was good enough for us when we were kids, it’s good enough for our kids, right? Play the License Plate game, the ABC game, (both with or without printables), I Spy, 20 Questions, “Would you rather?,”etc. For more car game ideas you may not have tried before, check out this very fun list of 14 Road Trip Games Adults Will Actually Enjoy.
Look here for printable car games like Bingo, Tic-Tac-Toe, Battleship, and the license plate game. (This site also has a cute “How Much Farther?” idea to use.) Or combine two games with these printable License Plate Bingo sheets.
You can also purchase travel games for the car – things like:
- Rubber Neckers (or Travel Scavenger Hunt, which is very similar)
- Travel Bingo cards
- Games on the Go
- Magnetic games like Hangman or Snakes and Ladders
Please check out our school store for small games and activity books that would be perfect for the car too!
Here’s a great idea for storing all those travel items, from Frugal Family Times: hang bags behind the front seats that kids in the back seats can easily access. Fill them with their coloring and activity books, crafts, games, etc.
And here are a few more travel entertainment ideas we heard about:
1. Heads Up app/game – This is slightly cheating, since you’re using an app (and therefore a device) to play the game, but it’s interactive and can fill a few minutes of time here and there with plenty of laughs.
2. Presents – If you have a loooong trip ahead of you, try wrapping up a few of the books/crafts/games/activities you’ve bought and pass them out as gifts every couple of hours or so, or when you feel like the kids are getting restless. It might buy you another 30 minutes of peace, and will be something the kids look forward to!
3. Journal or Scrapbook – Give each child a blank journal and let them take photos along the way, as well as collect things when you stop, like postcards, candy wrappers, brochures, leaves, etc. As you’re driving from stop to stop, they can glue in their latest treasures and add photos at the end (or if you have one of those snazzy polaroid cameras, they can add them instantly!).
4. When you make stops – Here’s a great tip from a reader at Minitime (read more of their travel tips here.):
“I have four kids under 11. When we go on a road trip, I pack a toy bag with essentials that encourage my kids to burn off some of their excess energy at highway stops: a few jump ropes, bucket stilts, a couple of inflatable beach balls, and sidewalk chalk (for playing hopscotch and four-square). Oh, and I also like to pack an inexpensive stopwatch, since my kids are more motivated to run to, say, a big tree and back, if I time them.”
5. Don’t forget the snacks! Here’s a fun idea: Road Trip snack boxes.
We wish you all fantastic family vacations this summer, and can find that sweet balance of screen and non-screen time while you travel. We hope that you make fond memories together not only at your destinations, but while you’re in the car too!
Please leave your own favorite screen-free travel ideas and tips below in the comments:
