How To Keep Your Children Occupied On Long Journeys
The Easter holidays are fast approaching, with long weekends away, sunny trips out and the summer holidays soon after, we know that often these breaks come with far from desired long journeys. Whether you are travelling by car, bus, train or plane, you will need a few distraction methods to keep your little ones entertained until you reach your final destination. From modern technologies to old fashioned note pad and pen, Easy2name have devised a list of tips for travelling with kids and keep the whole family entertained for hours.
Healthy Travel Snacks
First off…. Bring some snacks! Both you and your children are bound to get hungry, and when hunger strikes, stress arises. You need something tasty that is going to make as little mess as possible with a minimal sugars and additives to avoid a mad 5 minutes. We recommend making your own snack bag for each child, to avoid the arguments of who has eaten more! Here are a few ideas:
- Squeezable yoghurt tubes, at room temperature or frozen - these are both yummy and fun to eat.
- Tortilla wraps – get your children to make up their own before they leave, getting them involved in the prep of their food makes them more engaged when they munch on their own homemade snack.
- Granola bars or dry cereal – quick to eat, but also filling. Although they can cause crumbs, they are quick enough to clear up!
- Dried fruit or chopped up vegetables – healthy and fun, the more colourful the better to introduce your children to new textures and colours.
- Popcorn – not only delicious but it will ensure your vehicle smells delicious too. Whether you buy pre-popped or pop before you leave, this can be sweet, salted or both!
Games And Films For Long Journeys
Sometimes the latest technologies provide endless amount of fun. Taking a tablet on holiday fully loaded with games and movies gives you that ultimate quiet time when you need to concentrate on driving or navigating. If you are travelling with more than one child, we recommend headphone splitters to let them watch the movies or play the games together. Many downloads can be fun for all of the family too. Do you have a ‘child friendly’ camera? If not you could invest in a disposable camera. This way they can document their journey, get them to produce a small scrap book after, showing what they saw on their travels. Children love to get involved with the ‘adult jobs’ too! Let them get involved in the journey they are on, and the destinations they are going to. Purchase a map book or an atlas, getting your children to help with navigation is both fun and educational. It is always best to check their directions first…!
Back To Basics: Children’s Diary
I’m sure you have already gathered together the puzzle, sticker, colouring and story books, but sometimes you just need a note pad and pen. We love car (/plane/train etc.) bingo, before you leave give your children a list of items, people, signs, places, etc. they are likely to see, the first to complete a row wins! You can make a few cards for this, so when you have a winner you can then start a new game. A diary is a great idea for children to remember and reflect on their travels, get them to write down what they did, where they are going and what they saw in their own personal diary. Bringing a pack of cards on holiday can keep your children busy for hours, obviously this depends on whether you have the space to play. From Snap, to Go Fish and Cheat, depending on their age, discover these top
Family Travel Games
If your luggage space is limited and you can’t take much with you, there are many family games for long journeys that you can play with just a little imagination. One game that can be great fun is “Would You Rather?” – this is not only for adults. By creating a funny child friendly version can help everyone get creative. Check out these fun questions to start off your game of Would You Rather for children. Children also love the never-ending story, go around the group, everyone adds their own sentence and you create your own fictional story. What about the alphabet game? Whether you are naming girls names, boys names, countries or fruits, take it in turn going through the alphabet and listing your subject that begins with the next letter! A personal favourite is your own version of guess who, if you are stuck in traffic or waiting in a queue, choose a person and all guess their name, what they do, where they are going etc. When you travel with kids, it’s amazing what you can do with a little creativity! Remove as much stress from your journey as possible, keep your luggage in order with Easy2name’s range bag tags all personalised to help you identify your luggage. We have a variety of fun themed name labels and name tags your children would absolutely love, from lockable to woven, we have a design for everything!