Driving in cars with kids
Over the Easter holiday we are planning a short camping trip
to get away from our ever growing to do list, social media and all the other
modern contraptions that so easily distract and concern us. We are going out to
the bush laden with books, paper for writing and drawing and pen knives for
creating miniature boats and rafts to float in the river. We will cook over a
fire, sleep in a tent and not make any more plans than that. We will chat and play
games, reconnecting while taking deep breaths of tranquil air to relax our bodies
and refresh our souls.
However, to get to this longed-for oasis, we must first have
a car journey laden with all the things we will need and with 2 boys inside!
As a child, I have distinct memories of car journeys
especially driving down to the South of France with a laden car where we would
each be provided with a blow-up neck pillow (I loved my blue Mickey Mouse one)
and the car would be well stocked with audio books on tape. Our long suffering parents
also had a tape called silly songs, the soundtrack to Joseph (we knew all the
words, sang them loudly and I still think I pull off a mean version of
‘Pharoh’s dream’!) and a book entitled ‘songs for car journeys’.
I love a good road trip, however there can certainly be
downsides when travelling, especially if you have children who are not as
appreciative of the rolling scenery! Here are my top tips for travelling in
cars with kids covering illness, comfort and a range of ideas for keeping the
children entertained.
Travel sickness
It is an unfortunate ailment that affects a large number of
children (and adults) and can make a fun journery much less pleasant for all
involved. My biggest tip is to keep
the sickness-prone person cool whether by fanning, winding down windows, taking off jumpers, applying a cold compress, or
putting the air con on full blast. It seems that cold children are less likely
to be sick than warm ones, though it is also good to be prepared. I always have baby wipes and kitchen towel
to hand and either a selection of ice cream tubs with lids and a few pieces of
kitchen towel in each (if used, simply put the lid on and deposit in the
nearest bin) or having a series of small bags filled with cat litter to absorb
both the liquid and the aroma! I once worked with a colleague who swore that getting a travel-sick child to sit on newspaper prevented them feeling ill!
Comfort
Though at home the teddies are mainly kept to the bedroom, when
we are going on long car journeys we have them in the car to be snuggled up
with. We also have a selection of blankets which can be used as coverings or
scrunched up as pillows.
For secret Santa this year, by husband got a small cool box
that is just perfect to sit between the 2 front seats and keeps our ‘treat’
drinks cool (Appletiser is my beverage of choice) though we also each have half
iced bottles of water. And of course, enough snacks to keep the ravenous beasts
happy!
Keeping the children
entertained
 |
| Where's Wally? Still a fantastic book for engaging children. |
However, aside from coping with illness, one of the biggest
things is how to keep children entertained in the car. DVD players are a great
attention-absorber and will help the time to fly by however there are other
alternatives for a digital detox – particularly if your car, like mine, is not quite modern enough
for a DVD player!
Watching the world go
by. It is amazing how much there actually is to see as we drive along. My
sons have spotted Dassies jumping over rocks, a procession of calves with
accompanying ox peckers and a boy collecting water from a pond all of which led
to conversations and my attempt at answering the inevitable ‘why’ questions!
 |
| What can you see in the clouds? |
Shapes in the clouds
I have always loved watching clouds but my 5 year old has recently re-awoken in me the ability to see pictures in the clouds and how they really can become
dragons, bunnies and castles if you give yourself a moment to see them.
The alphabet game: Choose
a topic, take it in turns and go through the alphabet to name something from
the topic for each letter. For example for animals, you could have Antelope,
Bear, Cat etc. Topics can be anything though we like
Go to Space: My
sons and I frequently do this on the school run. We aren’t just driving to
nursery or school, we are on a mission to Mars and as we drive we have to put
on our space suits, complete the count down and marvel at the things we see passing
us by be they flying cars and trees or a local family of aliens who are then fully described (the last had purple heads, 6 arms and 4 legs) and given names (the fluffbump aliens).
The things you can do
with a licence plate!
Number sentences: I discovered recently that the lovely
Sam likes to make the numbers on a licence plate make mathematical sense. For
example 369 makes the calculation (or number sentence if you will) 3 + 6 = 9..
I love this as I do a similar thing with dates and love when they make
mathematical sense or have a pattern for example 7/1/17 was a cool date last
year and earlier this month 6 / 3/ 18 could make 6 x 3 =
18.
Words: However, I was surprised when Sam told me
about her game that it wasn’t my first instinct when I look at licence plates. I
look for words being made by the 3 last letters such as ASK, or even better a
name such as BEV or KEN. I then go on to imagine that the car is driven by Bev
or Ken and create characters for them – great for storing away for future
writing sessions!
Alphabet game:
My husband and I have always played the licence game where you each have to
spot a licence plate that begins with A, then B, then C. etc. but you cannot
use the same car another player has used and at least one other player must
also have seen the car. Not quite so good in Bots where they all start with a B
so we use the end letter instead!
Stories: Finally, with my Father we used to make up
sentences to match the plates. For example, our old Volvo had the plate J159BGT
and so the story was: John’s 159 Beans Grow Tall.
Audio books: We
love a good story cd and have listened to hours of Julia Donaldson stories,
Roald Dahl books and The Wind in the Willows (my personal favourite) on our journeys. My children
listen as they watch the world go by, and I have really enjoyed revisiting some of the Dahl books I haven’t read since I was small. However, we have recently discovered the wonder
of podcasts which you can download ready for your journey!
Podcasts: My boys
both love ‘Wow in the World’ which is a science pod cast where ideas are explained with humour. ‘Storynory’ which has a range of different stories and ‘Brains
On’ which is another science podcast. I recently discovered this great list detailing
far more than we have listened to http://sayyes.com/2018/03/26-podcasts-kids.html
I am looking forward to trying ‘Peace Out’ which is a mindfulness podcast, ‘5
minutes with Dad’ which is 2 children having a short chat with their Dad about
different topics and ‘Classical Classroom’ which explores different classical
composers. 
I also have some personal favourites for if the children
have fallen asleep. Anyone talking to us about podcasts before will have heard us recommend ‘Cumberbin’s Treasure’ which is the highly amusing BBC Cabin Pressure series
starring Benedict Cumberbatch about a very small airline and the troubles they
face keeping their business going. This is one that would be fine for children’s
ears too, they just may not find it quite as entertaining!
I recently discovered Simon Mayo’s Confessions
which is also mostly suitable for family listening though they will give a
warning if anything is going to come up that is unsuitable. People write in
with their confessions and ask if they should be forgiven by the team. For those looking to spend the journey learning something new I can really recommend the 'TED Talks Daily'
If you are travelling over the Easter weekend we wish you safe journeys and hope you have wonderful adventures. We shall be closing the Honeycomb Hub for Good Friday and Easter Saturday but will be open again from Bank holiday Monday 2nd April, and will then be open all day on a Saturday.
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