How to keep kids busy in the car

Don’t let a fun road trip turn into a nightmare drive to your holiday destination. Here are ten ways to keep the kids happy and busy while strapped in their seats.

• Draw up a sightseeing countdown

When planning the route, write down interesting geographical features, road signs, monuments or other sightseeing spots. Draw up a list that kids needs to tick off and tell them which spots mark where you’ll spot for a rest, the halfway point and close to the destination. Give a reward to the child who spots the most items first.

• Get them to make a photo diary

Most kids these days have a tablets or phone with a camera. Make sure they focus on the outside of the car instead of just on the screen by getting them to make a photo diary documenting the trip. You can draw up a list of things they need to photograph like mom and dad eating ice cream, an interesting road sign, someone herding animals by the side of the road or a cloud shaped like an animal or just let them snap whatever they like.

You can print out the pictures at your destination, buy each of the kids a large notebook and get them to ‘tell’ the story of the journey through pictures. You can use scrapbooking supplies like coloured paper, stickers and colour pens to add some extra flair. Kids can even save pamphlets, coasters, feathers and other little souvenirs to paste into the books.

This can make great gifts for grandparents.

• Keep your brain active with car games

Go the retro route and make the kids put away their phones and tablets in favour of some old-fashioned games.

In I spy with my little eye, each person chooses an item and the others have to guess what it is by asking questions about it.

With Spot the Car, one player chooses a specific make or model and the first person to see it wins and gets to choose next.

The Alphabet Game consists of moving through the letters of the alphabet by naming something inside or outside the car starting with that letter. Every time someone can’t name something, they’re out. Last one in the game wins.

Play the story game where someone starts with a sentence and each person has to add another to make a complete story.

• Stock up on story and puzzle books

Pack in a few storybooks, which will keep the bookworms in the family happy and quiet for a bit. Puzzle books with crosswords, word searches and other games can also be a hit. Just make sure the pens or pencils they use can wash off of any surface in the car.

• Reward the kids with some TV time

Although you don’t want the kids glued to little screens for the whole road trip, it’s good to bring along a few DVD with movies or TV series. If you don’t have a portable DVD player, you can download movies from sites like Showmax, Google Movies and iTunes and save them on your chosen laptop, tablet or phone.

• Turn up the radio

Pack in some of their favourite CD’s or create special playlists on a memory stick, your phone or other device. Singing along can keep them out of trouble and in good spirits. For a change of pace, get a few audiobooks as even kids who don’t like reading will enjoy hearing a story. In addition, you won’t have to sing Let it Go or other Disney hits, which might be the case when playing your favourite songs.

• Pack in plenty of snacks

Make sure that you stock a cooler bag or two with enough healthy snacks and drinks to keep the kids (and adults) happy. If you’re travelling off the beaten track, you may not be close to a shop when it’s time for a meal, so a picnic lunch may be the way to go. Yummy options include sandwiches, mini wraps, quiche, meatballs, chicken strips and slices fresh veggies and fruit and salads like potato, coleslaw and grated carrot or butternut with pineapple.

Remember a plastic bag for all the refuse and wet wipes or a wet cloth for messy hand and mouths.

If you keep everyone well-fed, chances are they’ll be less cranky and likely to start loud fights in the back of the car.