How to Amuse Children on a Long Car Ride
Long car rides can be fun--unless you have screaming children in the back seat. Then the car ride can seem unusually long and become extremely stressful. Children need activities to keep them occupied for a long journey, and time will fly by if everyone in the car is happy. Here are some tips on how to amuse children on a long car ride.
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Instructions
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Pack snacks. Bring along snacks that are healthy and not messy, such as apples, goldfish, cheerios, graham crackers and sippy cups with water. You want to avoid foods that will melt or get sticky when your little one is eating them. Don’t give your child all of the foods at once; let him pick one item and give him the water. Avoid giving your child juice or milk, because if the juice or milk spills, it can stain and begin to smell. Water dries out quickly and won’t be a huge problem if spilled.
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Bring a few of your child’s favorite coloring books and “washable” crayons. Washable crayons clean up easily if your child misses the paper and gets the crayon on her clothes or the car seat. Pack a baggy of crayons for each child and give out coloring books one at a time. Encourage your child to color a picture to give as a present to a grandparent, aunt or uncle.
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Bring a CD for the kids to listen to. Play our child’s favorite CD and encourage him to sing along to the music, and join in and sing along with little ones. Books on tape can be handy for adults to listen to, but may not work with children in the car. If you want to listen to a book on tape, play it while your little ones are sleeping.
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Talk to your kids. Talk about the destination you are driving to. Talk about who you are going to see and what you are going to do. You can talk about things you see on the side of the road, such as signs, animals or colors of cars.
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Bring along a portable DVD player and DVDs. Turn on a program for your children to watch on the long car ride. Give older children earphones so they can watch the DVD without everyone else having to hear it. Otherwise, turn the volume down low so the sound from the DVD player is not competing with other conversations in the car.
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Take a break. Don’t drive 10 hours straight with children in the car--that's exhausting and stressful for everyone in the car. Take a stretch break every 2 hours and let the kids walk around, use the restroom and get a drink of water. It will be good for everyone to get out and stretch and get a bite to eat.
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Tips & Warnings
Charge the batteries for your portable DVD player before you leave so it doesn't run out during the trip.
Don’t go on a long car ride without stopping every 2 hours. Stop and let everyone get out and stretch their legs and use the bathrooms. The break will benefit everyone in the car.
