Road trips with kids are fun!

Thanksgiving is just around the corner (can you believe it?!), and maybe that means you have a road trip planned to visit some relatives or friends. My family and I love road trips, and we have taken plenty of them—so I have got a whole system down for how to have a successful road trip. Let me tell you, there is nothing worse than being stuck in a moving vehicle with anxious, tired and bored kids while driving at 60mph on a freeway in the middle of nowhere!

First and foremost, I have to have a lot of patience—that is key. Second, I bring plenty of non-sugary snacks and make sure we all get a solid meal before we go. Consider sugar to be your worst enemy when going into a car for a solid amount of time. When my kids were younger, I would run around with them at the rest area and that was great to get out some energy. I could even just tell them to run around a tree 10 times and they would. As they get older, I have to step it up a little since the tree suggestion is now usually met with a lot of eye rolling. During our last road trip I started a jump rope competition, since that is a skill both have not mastered yet. We went on a 2 week road trip (I know, sounds crazy), so we made a lot of stops and the competition continued at each stop. Each child had three tries and could mark the highest number as a score. The last day of the trip I had a little prize to give to the Jump Rope Master.  

Don’t forget to think outside the box when you’re on a road trip. Try to have other things to entertain the kids besides electronics, which are great in moderation. Audiobooks are nice cause then the kids will look out the window. Some nice games to bring are tic-tac-toe or card games. Or small crafts like bracelets, play dough or Legos are always great too. Don’t ask the kids if they want to do it instead of playing on their electronics—just start doing it yourself and they will join in. Ask them how to do something and they will get interested. Rock-paper-scissors and I spy are also great.

Use this opportunity as a time to bond with your family. You can learn more about your children and teach them things, or tell them stories about yourself or others close to you. Make the best of this time you have just sitting there with each other in a small space. Talk about the surroundings as you drive by. Here are a few good conversation starters:

·  Name some people who make you feel good just by being around them. (get to know the friends of your kids)

·  Name something cars do that buses don’t

·  What can you see from an airplane that you can't see from the ground?

·  Name some living things that don’t grow in soil

·  What could you find under the car seat?

·  How many things can you name that are the shape of a dollar bill?

·  Name five things you like about yourself

·  What colors do you see in the Spring? Autumn? Winter? Summer?


Drive safe and enjoy.

 

 

Fun for a rainy day

I love the colors of the trees and the fresh, cold air on my face in the Fall. Although I love this time of year, Summer so quickly turns to Fall here in the Northwest, and It can be challenging to go from staying outside all the time to being confined indoors. Once your reading is done, the board games get a little old and you have eaten all the homemade rolls, what else is there to do?

Well here are a couple of suggestions:

Make a ship and launch it.

Fold a paper ship, maybe even decorate it to get a little more creative! Wait for a break in the rain (if one ever comes) and go outside and in search of a big puddle, they shouldn’t be hard to find. Launch the ships and watch them float, or have a race with them. You can create your own wind by blowing on them if it’s not gusty enough outside for them to move on their own. If it is just too wet outside, the sink or a bathtub are also great places to try out your new creation.

 

Leafs can be fun too. They are more than just pretty colors in the Fall!

After you have thrown them in the air, jumped in them and covered yourself with them, gather different types of leaves. Once you’re back inside, make a little “Leaf Notebook” (you can even press them between the pages to flatten them out). Find a reference book or search leaves online to see if you can identify what type they are, then write down the names and draw the tree they belong to. Remember to make room in the notebook for fresh leaves you find when you come back in the spring/summer. You can also make collages with what you find and decorate your room. Or, tie string on the leaves and hang them from your windows. Maybe you’re having a party (or save them for Thanksgiving) and make nametags for the table with them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

That one thing you never use–use it!

Go in the kitchen and find that one machine or fancy utensil I bet you have stored away but never use.  Now is the time. Get the kids to help you. Pretend like you don’t know how to use it and have fun with it. Maybe they can give you some pointers. Maybe it’s a mini bread loaf pan. Those are so cute, but I never have a reason to make a mini loaf of bread—well, now is the time!

Use your imagination.

Throw all of your pillows and blankets on the floor and pretend like it the room is one big ocean with sea monsters that will catch you if you fall in. Climb and jump the room while you make up stories. This is so much fun for the parents too because you get to be a little silly. It’s like Dr. Seuss said: “I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.”

If you have any other fun fall games to play please share them here.