As a child I went on road trips with my Dad almost every school holiday. Squeezing into his Datsun 120Y, our trips included camping, skiing or heading to Melbourne for Christmas. In those days there were no DVDs or iPads, in fact I\u2019m not even sure the car cassette player worked. I remember spending hours reading my Dad jokes from a joke book, singing songs or playing “I spy\u201d. Now I\u2019m a mother of three small children creating fun memories of our family trips. Keen to make your own fun memories? Here are some tips for happy family trips:<\/p>\n
Time your trip around nap time if your children still have day sleeps \u2013 it\u2019ll make for much easier driving. I know many families who swear by a 4am departure, the theory (which I\u2019ve yet to test) being that adults get a decent amount of sleep by 4am, kids will fall asleep again once in the car and you may get three hours of driving under your belt before a breakfast stop.<\/p>\n
Drivers need a rest every two hours, so whether it\u2019s a \u201cleg stretch\u201d or a driver swap, this is a good time to make changes for the kids too. When you\u2019re taking a break, find a park, beach, playground etc and let the kids burn off energy for 15-30 minutes. We travel with very young children and often pre-plan stops in towns we think will offer something interesting. If just changing drivers, consider swapping kid activities \u2013 switch from a movie to games or an audio book.<\/p>\n
My children are finally old enough to be entertained by the car DVD. Strapped to the front head rests, it\u2019s my new best friend on long trips. iPads are another popular item for families and can be mounted on the head rests too.<\/p>\n
Some kids can read in the car and some can’t due to motion sickness. As a child I always had my nose buried in a book in the car. If you\u2019re lucky enough to have kids who can read in the car, this is a great way to pass the time. Audio books are an alternative especially for children who are too young to read independently.<\/p>\n
I confess to knowing every Playschool song by heart. A family sing-a-long (with or without a CD) is a fun way to spend time \u2013 it even entertains my 15 month old. It works for all ages if you know what songs they love to sing.<\/p>\n
Different games work for various ages. Our family favourites include:<\/p>\n
\u2022 I spy \u2013 we have two versions. Our five year old plays the traditional \u201cI spy with my little eye something that begins with \u2026\u201d but if our three year old plays we say \u201cI spy with my little eye something the colour of \u2026\u201d. They never seem to tire of this game!<\/p>\n
\u2022 Coloured cars \u2013 everyone picks a colour and has to spot passing cars of that colour. Simple fun but it entertains them for ages!<\/p>\n
\u2022 Shopping game \u2013 my five year old loves this game. The idea is to create a shopping list that each person adds to while remembering correctly everything that has been said before. It goes like this \u2026 Person 1 \u201cI went to the shops and I bought some milk\u201d. Person 2 \u201cI went to the shops and I bought some milk and some bread\u201d. Person 3 \u201cI went to the shops and I bought some milk, some bread and some chocolate\u201d. You keep going until there is a winner. Strangely addictive!<\/p>\n