When you’re travelling with your children, you’ll realise that it’s not always about the destination. Sure, at the end of a seven-hour drive or red-eye flights, there might be a resort with a kid’s club, pool and adventures to be had – who’s going to say no to that? But getting there is half the fun … isn’t it?
Road trips can make or break a holiday, especially if you’re only away from it all for a few days. And whether it’s a long-haul drive across the state or a couple of hours on the way to visit grandma, you want everyone to arrive not only safely but of sound mind and in high spirits.
We’ve come up with a few ideas to get everyone over the line.
Car games
There are so many games you can play with children of all ages that will keep them entertained and educated while on the road. Some might need a little forward planning while others can be very ad hoc.
Spotto!
Most children will start to learn their primary colours by about two, so this one is great!
Decide at the beginning of your trip a colour that you will all be on the lookout for throughout the drive. It could be a green car; it might be yellow. Whenever you see that colour vehicle, be the first to call ‘Spotto’ and win that round. Children of all ages will love to call ‘Spotto’ when they spot the target colour.
Hint: According to an iSeeCars study of 9.4 million used vehicles sold in 2019, green, beige, orange, gold, yellow, and purple were the rarest exterior paint colours. If you have older children, you might like to make this more challenging by choosing a rarer colour. Maybe choose blue or white for your littlies.
Would you rather?
This game is another version of the game ‘this or that’. The aim is to learn more about what the kids love to do in general, or to sort out the itinerary of your adventure. You might have all the things already planned but this gives the kids a little authority on their adventure.
Would you rather:
- go to the park or go to the zoo?
- go to the zoo or to the aquarium.
- eat pizza or chips?
Road trip bingo!
This is one you will need to plan ahead of time. Before you leave, create cards of things you are likely to see along the way to your destination. For younger children, you can get creative and print off pictures. For example, if you’re heading to more of a remote area, you can add things like, windmills, birds, a kangaroo sign, a cow, a tractor, a horse. When you see each thing along the way, mark it off on the card.
Variation: If you have older children, create different cards for each person and be the first to check everything to win a prize!
I spy!
We all know this one and we all have mixed feelings about it. Ever played with a tot and been trying forever to find the horse that starts with ‘T’? Why not create a variation of the game that’s more age appropriate and parent friendly? Think of the things your children are learning and the things they have down. It could be ‘I spy with my little eye, something yellow!’ or ‘I spy with my little eye, something that is round’ It will save you time and sanity!
Music
Admittedly, there’s not much better than singing your favourite tunes while driving. A quick search on Spotify will show you that ‘driving anthems’ are one of their most popular searches of the four BILLION playlists on the platform. It’s because of our love of music that we should understand that our children might want to listen to their favourite tunes too. Sure, there are numerous nursery rhymes playlists too, but singing some of their favourites along with them will go a long way to keeping their spirits high.
Some of the most popular are:
- I'm A Little Teapot
- Humpty Dumpty
- It's Raining It's Pouring
- Incy Wincy Spider
- Old Mother Hubbard
- Heads, Shoulders, Knees And Toes
- Ring-A-Ring O’ Roses
- Wheels On The Bus
- A sailor went to see
Food
Snacks are of course going to keep the nagging down a little in the back but there are few things to remember when it comes to feeding the kids in the car. Firstly, no lollipops. It’s been widely shown that they are a serious choking hazard and if you’re far from help, things could turn nasty very quickly.
Nutritionist Tanya Nagy helps us through road trips with children of all ages and how to pack the perfect snacks including hydration, high fibre, variety and coping with the highs and lows of sugary snacks.
