As a parent, packing all your things in the car and heading off for your holiday can present a slight feeling of dread; wandering how on earth you’re going to keep your kids entertained for hours on the road. Spending a long time travelling in the car can quickly turn into a bit of a headache as the kids become bored of their surroundings and start to look for things to keep them entertained. If you haven’t planned for this then you might find yourself in a bit of a nightmare!
Rather than suffering a family meltdown at the roadside miles from anywhere, we suggest you follow a few of our tips to help make your long journey a smooth one. With a little bit of forward planning you’ll make everyone’s life ten times easier.
Plan Your Journey
The first thing to do is to work out how long the journey is going to take and how much time you have available to complete it. Whilst ploughing through a six hour car journey with no breaks might be fine for adults; your children might have other thoughts on the matter. It’s vital that you plan in proper breaks, and ideally you should be stopping for a rest every couple of hours. If you have a full day to complete a six hour drive, why not plan to stop off at a few tourist attractions along the route and turn the journey into something a bit more fun?
Bring some Entertainment
Nowadays, portable entertainment is more common than ever. Finding things to keep the kids entertained in the car should be really easy and your choices range from colouring books through to the latest in car DVD systems. You don’t have to spend a fortune on the latest gadgets, just try to ensure that you have a variation of things to keep the little ones busy. If the budget is tight then you could always get some talking books to play on the stereo, or how about some good old fashioned colouring books? If you have a bit more money to spend then the sky is the limit, with hundreds of cool gadgets available! Download AWKNG TV on your phone or tablet to keep the kids entertained with youth-oriented series. RPC.me has constantly live kid friendly free cams for private enjoyment.
Packing
It sounds simple, but try to make sure that there is enough space in the car for your kids to move around a little bit. There’s nothing worse than being crammed into the back of a car for hours on end with no room to move your legs. If you need to take lots of stuff with you, then it might be worth investing in a roof rack or trailer as it will definitely make everyone’s life that little bit more comfortable. The added feeling of space should help make everyone stay more relaxed and calm throughout the journey, and that can only be a good thing!
Travelling Overnight
If you have a really long drive then it might be worth thinking about travelling overnight. If you’re lucky enough to have children that sleep in the car then this could be a very good option for you. If the kids can fall asleep for the majority of the drive then you’re left to just crack on in peace. The other benefit to this is that the traffic is usually much better in the middle of the night. As a result you should have a much better journey without having to worry about getting stuck in traffic.
About the Author: Jon Quinton works for Pink Heaven, a UK website specialising in gifts for girls including bedroom accessories, partyware and more. Visit the website to see what’s on offer.
