Travelling with Children
Some useful tips and games to keep the kids amused on car journeys.
To Help Prevent Car Sickness
Avoid heavy, high fat meals before setting off on your journey.
Avoid fizzy drinks whilst travelling in the car.
Keep the windows open slightly to allow in fresh air or keep the car cool
inside.
Avoid reading or playing hand held games whilst the car is moving.
Get sufferers to focus on a non-moving object in the distance, preferably
straight ahead, like a tree on the horizon.
Play distraction observation-type games, a few suggestions are given below.
Keeping Kids Amused on Car Journeys
Tried and tested games to help stop that inevitable question "Are we there yet?"
When they have had enough of playing games (or you have!), put on a Harry
Potter CD book to listen to, and enjoy the silence!
Alphabet Game
Firstly choose a theme, for example animals (other themes could be books, countries, food or films). The first person starts off naming an animal beginning with the letter A, the next player has to think of one with the letter B and so on through the alphabet. If someone can’t think of one, they are out of the game and the next person has to try with that letter. This continues until one player is left and is declared the winner.
Spot a Car
Each player selects a colour (or make, if they are into cars). They then have to look out for cars of their chosen colour/make driving past. The first one to get to twenty is the winner!
I Went to the Shop
The first player starts the game by saying ‘I went to the shop and I bought
….’ naming something beginning with the letter ‘A’. The next person repeats
the sentence and adds an object beginning with the letter ‘B’. The next
player repeats the previous list, and adds an object with the next letter in
the alphabet, and so on. Anyone forgetting the sequence or the next letter
is out. The last player remaining wins the game.
I Spy
An old favourite which children of all ages understand and parents can play
without requiring too much concentration! One player picks an item or object
that is constant view eg the sky. Then says “I spy with my little eye,
something beginning with …(the letter of the object)”. Everyone else has to
guess what it is. The winner then chooses the next object.
Number Plate Challenge
Look at the number plate of the car in front and try to make a phrase/name
that the letters could be an acronym for.
Twenty Questions
Another classic game, probably best played with two people! The first has to
think of an object (you can decide whether it has to be currently visible or
not) and states whether it is animal, vegetable or mineral. The second player then asks questions to try and identify the
object, to which the answer is only yes or no. If the object is guessed
before 20 questions are asked, they are the winner.
Car Cricket
As you need to drive past pubs, this game doesn’t work too well on motorways! You
score runs (points) for each leg in the title of the pub. Decide on the rules as to what is going to count as a run eg human and/or
animal legs etc.
Select batting order, or play simultaneously with two players sitting on
opposite sides of the car who each score runs with the pubs passed on their
side of the car.
Runs are scored when you pass a pub with legs on the sign, ie the Red Lion is
four runs, because a lion has four legs.
The winner is the one who gets the most runs in a certain time or at the end
of the journey.
There are lots of variations to this game, such as deducting runs for the
number of arms or heads in the name, or inanimate objects such as The Rose
and Crown could score a run.
This game might require an umpire to sort out disputes such as how many
horses are there in the Coach and Horses or bees in the Beehive!
The Gloucesteshire Oracle
July 2011