Older kids can be quite tricky to entertain on long car trips. What worked when they were younger (frequent distraction, sing-alongs, plastic novelty toys, and juice boxes) might not fly now that they’re growing. Probably the best thing you can do at this point is to give them some sense of being involved in planning the trip. Talk about it beforehand, go over the route, and discuss how often you might need to stop for breaks, what you might need to bring, etc. And do leave time to be flexible en-route, too-that way neither you nor your kids need miss those once-in-a-lifetime road trip discoveries. A few suggestions you might want to consider in order to make the trip an adventure instead of an ordeal:
Maps: Make sure each kid has a map with the route drawn on in highlighter pen. If they prefer, let them make their own maps, with their own special landmarks drawn in. Kids feel more in control if they can actually see where you are in relation to where you’re going and where you plan to stop next. Plus it’s also fun to giggle at all the silly names you can find if you look hard enough.
Mad Libs: These are always a favorite way to pass the time. You can buy Mad Lib books to use (there are hundreds of them, on all types of themes), or you can even make up your own. Just write a short (1-page) scenario or story, leaving out key words (every few words), then label each word with what part of speech should go there (noun, verb, adjective, etc.) and have players supply their own words accordingly. A fun, painless way to learn grammar!
Scavenger Hunts: Make up lists of items (ranging from easy - cow, gas station, railroad tracks – to relatively hard – sign with a “Z” on it, pink car, etc.) for each passenger to spot along the way. The first one to spot all of the items (or the one to spot the most items on their list by the end of the trip) wins.
Round-Robin Story: One person starts a story, and continues on for as long as they want…or until someone else (Mom, maybe?) says “next”. The next person then takes up the story where it left off, and continues to tell it in their own way, and so on, with each person in turn adding and changing until the story might be completely unrecognizable from how it started out!
Travel Diaries: A great way to get kids really involved in a long trip. Ahead of time you might want to read and share with them books like “Amelia Hits the Road” (by Marissa Moss) or “Molly’s Route 66 Adventure (by Dottie Raymer), then help them take pictures and collect special postcards or other mementos to paste in a special scrapbook they can also write in or draw in along the way to create their own very special travel journal.
Collectibles: Even if your kids don’t want to go to the length of writing a whole book about their trip, you can all get involved in a hunt for small, silly souvenirs (crazy postcards, strange flavors of candy, silly keychains or sunglasses, etc.) from each state or region visited along the way.
Wacky Roadside Attractions: There are a number of books and web sites devoted to the silliest, tackiest, most outrageous roadside attractions (think World’s Largest Cowpat or some such) to be found all throughout the U.S. Take a look at some of these sources before you set out on your trip, and, if time permits, have each child select one (or several) must-sees along your route. Be sure to get a special souvenir (or at least a postcard) from each one!
With a little luck, creativity, and cooperation, you might be able to turn that road trip into some very pleasant memories…or at least a silly souvenir collection to giggle over when you get home.
