Travel Games: keep the kids from being bored in the car
If you are planning a long road trip and have children, you may want to plan ahead to keep them entertained along the way so that you don’t constantly hear them ask, “are we there yet”. As adults, it is easier for us to tolerate a long trip by just talking or listening to the radio and watching the landscape go by, but for children - especially little ones who can’t even see out of the windows and only see treetops and clouds going past - the trip can be long and difficult.
There are many game kits available for children that are especially designed for travel, and you can find these at department stores and bookshops. Within these kits will be many educational games that kids can play by themselves or with others, to help pass the time. Of course many modern gadgets have electronic games attached to them, and if you are not opposed to having your kids spend hours playing electronic games, that is one of the most effective ways to distract them. They can even play the kinds of games that are imbedded in Ipods, cellphones, and laptop computers. And for the ultimate in on the road entertainment - which also gives you some control over the educational value of how the kids distract themselves - nothing beats a portable DVD player. The children can watch DVDs and be perfectly content, for hours on end. Many cars and vans now come with DVD players already installed, or if you own a laptop computer with DVD technology, you can power it with your car’s cigarette lighter and let the kids use your laptop to play DVDs which they can watch on the laptop screen.