Tuesday, Jan 14, 2003 at 16:12
Hi Dock,
Only just caught up with this post so apologies for late reply. Here's a few more idea's...
First few are things my folks used to do with us kids during our many long distance trips. If you've got the time, do a bit of research about the area you intend travelling through, then:
1) make up a (long) list of "Spot This" (eg. emus, kangaroo, windmill, Sturt Dessert Pea etc) and give each thing 1-5 points for degree of difficulty. Each person gets a point everytime they spot something on the list. We never got prizes, just the fun and competition was enough. Also educational.
2) make up question & answer cards with questions relevant to the area you are travelling. Each person asks a question to the next person and so on. Keep score if you want. Again, a lot of fun and educational.
3) Give them life savers and see who can suck them the longest without breaking them. Can't talk too much when they're mouths are otherwise occuppied LOL.
Bit harder with the little ones. My son is 20 mths and is going thru a really bad travelling stage. Things I have found help are:
1) Constant supply of food like dried fruit, biscuits etc. I give him a few at a time in a paper bag and this keeps him entertained for awhile.
2) Hang some toys within reach. I got a bit of plastic chain from the hardware and hung it from the handle above the door and pegged toys onto it.
3) Got him a couple of very small torches (about $2 each from BigW). He has great fun shining these around, through his clothing, hand etc.
4) Give him his sandals to play with. He spends ages taking them off and trying to put them back on.
Recently I saw an organiser that fits on the back of the front seats. These have been around for ages but I thought this one was particularly good as the front folded down to 90 degrees and formed a flat surface that kids could use for colouring etc. We'll get one for Matty when he is a little older.
Lastly, stop regularly and give the kids a chance to run around, stretch and generally refresh themselves. Of course, this applies to adults too (
well maybe not the running around). And don't set unrealistic travel plans. Kids are on holidays too so it's not really fair to expect them to sit in the car for hours and hours.
Hope you can use some of my idea's.
:o) Melissa
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Follow Up By: Exploroz Team - Michelle - Wednesday, Jan 15, 2003 at 02:48
Wednesday, Jan 15, 2003 at 02:48
Yet again Melissa, you've got some top ideas that I will add to our Travelling with Kids page found under the Preparation menu.
Lucky I stumbled across this post, as I try not to spend much time reading the
forum myself and certainly only skim read post activity from my member
home page. You know how it goes - work on the damn thing all day, the last thing I want to do is actually read it for pleasure!! My recreational time is spent rebuilding/renovating our house, or playing with my daughter... anything that doesn't involve being in front of the computer!
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Follow Up By: Member - Melissa - Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 00:06
Thursday, Jan 16, 2003 at 00:06
I know what you mean Michelle. Before I had Matty I worked 50-60 hours a week, majority in front of a computer. Never touched the damn thing at
home. It's only since going back to work part-time in a MUCH less demanding role I have developed any enthusiam for the PC.
Finished our renovations 6 months ago and swore off any more for at least 2 years (we'll see). Only thing getting any attention now is the garden, family and of course travel/camping.
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