Traveling With Children Learning Activities For The Road

T raveling with children can       games is what my husband calls     be fun as well as very          “Toss Ups”. In Toss Ups, my        trying. Our family has been     husband simply tosses questions    traveling with our children since     up. For instance, “Who was the     the children were babies. Our         first president of the United      children are in their middle          States of America?” or “If I had   school years now, but over the        5 apples, and I gave 3 apples to   years we have come up with some       Tom , how many apples do I have    fun travel activities that keep       now?” Now, as you can see, the     the children’s attention and          questions can be very simple       teach them something in the           depending on your children’s       process.                              ages. If you have a larger age                                           span between children, you might   While on long trips, it can be        toss up general questions to all,  very tempting to use the portable     but throw in…. Now, this toss up   DVD player to provide                 is just for Adam… and then ask a   entertainment for your children,      question tailored for the younger  and don’t think for a minute that     child. This game was a huge hit    we don’t use that form of             with our children when they were   entertainment…. for parts of long     ages two through five, but even    trips…. but there are so many         now that they are 11 and 13,       simple, fun games that you can        every now and then we hear – Hey   play with your children that will     Daddy – give us some toss ups….    help make the trip smoother and       Believe me, trying to come up      more enjoyable. Here are some         with questions for smart           examples of activities that we        middle-schoolers is tough!!        have used to make travel time                                            smoother.                             Lately, we have tailored the game                                        of “Going on a trip” to our        One of my children’s favorite         family. “Going on a trip” is a     fun game where everyone in the        that all of the things that I am   car tells that they are going on      bringing start with consecutive    a trip and bringing something         letters of the alphabet. The       along. That “something” has to        person who begins each game        begin with the first letter of        selects the connection.            the person’s name. You keep going                                        along in that fashion until           These activities are simple and    everyone guesses the first letter     fun. The idea is for the entire    - first name connection. Now that     family to be involved and enjoy    our children are older, we have       the thrill of guessing the         adapted that game to a pretty         answers. Each of these activities  intricate game of logic…. For         can be played with just about any  instance…. “I am going on a trip,     age group and best of all, there   and I am bringing an apple, a         is no cost involved. Any piece of  banana, and a cat.” The next          information can be used in the     person might then say (if they        toss ups game from social          know the correct connection) “I       studies, science, history, math,   am going on a trip, and I am          or trivia… you name it. The idea   bringing a mop, and napkin, and       here is to have fun with your      an octopus.” The play continues       children and make travel time a    until everyone gets the               little easier.                     connection. In this case, it was       About the Author: Teresa Mills writes and maintains http://Kid-Friendly-Family-Vacations.com, a chronicle of her family's vacations. Published At: www.Isnare.com