How to make long car journeys with kids better?
Discussion
This friday, driving to the south of france with a 10 yr old and a 6 yr old.
We'll be breaking the journey frequqently and have the usual snacks and drinks.
We play lots of games in car already, as we're not big on just pluggin them into devices for hours on end (although they'll be some of that).
Looking for any ideas to make the journey more interesting and rewarding for them?
We'll be breaking the journey frequqently and have the usual snacks and drinks.
We play lots of games in car already, as we're not big on just pluggin them into devices for hours on end (although they'll be some of that).
Looking for any ideas to make the journey more interesting and rewarding for them?
When we drive through France we play Departement Bingo with the car numberplates. All the french cars have a number/occasional letter as part of the number plate. The challenge is to spot all of them. We either use a paper list or more often now they're older on the phone. Be aware they aren't all straightforward - there's no 20 for instance only 2A and 2B now. It's a classic game that generations of French children have played. Now the kids are older one has even made a list with hyperlinks to the departments wiki page so you can see where it is and how big it is etc
Edited by zbc on Tuesday 8th August 12:10
Douglas Quaid said:
Earplugs
Almost the obvious "dont take them" 
We've managed to get our 9 year old fairly accustom to long journeys now, Cheshire -> Cornwall is a few times a year and last year we did a long road trip in Europe with her, longest leg being Metz -> Cheshire and Ashford to Annecy which was a fair haul.
We just tend to stagger the various games, yellow car is a good one, as you get further away from Calais spotting a UK car/lorry.
Spotting the various EU plates and which country then talk about the the country (capital city guessing, something interesting about the country etc)
Departments is a good one.
Letting the kids choose the music for a bit etc but making sure it isn't hours and hours of Barbie/Matilda Soundtrack!
Our daughter does get quite car sick if reading/using a screen so the option to stick a film on an iPad or something is a no go with us anyways!
Audio books. They are a fantastic way to pass the time and the whole family get to hear the story which can help with chatting about it during the holiday.
Roald Dahl is a great one for 6-10 years.
Eta i have a set on CD but since a change of vehicle we download/stream now.
Roald Dahl is a great one for 6-10 years.
Eta i have a set on CD but since a change of vehicle we download/stream now.
Edited by braddo on Tuesday 8th August 15:37
Also off to France in 2 weeks with 4 kids aged 4 to 10, headrests holders for tablets is a great shout! We've a wifi box as well with unlimited data which helps. We've been on long trips before and just promise them a stop every few hours and they get to choose something at that stop (Drink, sweets, crisps), which they then look forward to and think about, then scoff on the next leg.
Try the long versions of the original famous five, great to spot all the "I can't believe that was said in those days" some of these stories last for hours, great to chip away long trips. Those scamps got into some real mischief. Hunt YouTube and you'll find loads of Enid Blyton stuff.
Drive overnight is our preferred tactic. We got from Calais to Le Buge (Dordogne) in one go overnight, arriving approx 7am. Similarly we drove out from Calais to Perros Guirec overnight although we had to break at Saint-Brieuc after a rather unfortunate roadworks detour around Caen added 90mins to our planned journey. Kids were a little younger than yours but slept from about 8/9pm until 6 or 7.
In contrast we went from Calais to St Aubin Sur Mer with a lunchtime stop off at Honfleur last year, with Chunnel crossing about 7am. We are now sworn off travelling in the day time again!
In contrast we went from Calais to St Aubin Sur Mer with a lunchtime stop off at Honfleur last year, with Chunnel crossing about 7am. We are now sworn off travelling in the day time again!
French Radio, Contact & NRJ! Then into spotify, let them be the DJ.. & drive as fast and smooth as you can safe! put the tablet they are watching a movie/audio book on through the car system.
We can hit the Med in a day from the south east (8 & 4 yrs old), don't miss potty training however and pulling over on the Swiss/Italian motorways when we use to aim for southern Italy, French motorways tend to have toilets here and there etc..
Enjoy the time..
We can hit the Med in a day from the south east (8 & 4 yrs old), don't miss potty training however and pulling over on the Swiss/Italian motorways when we use to aim for southern Italy, French motorways tend to have toilets here and there etc..
Enjoy the time..
PugwasHDJ80 said:
This friday, driving to the south of france with a 10 yr old and a 6 yr old.
We'll be breaking the journey frequqently and have the usual snacks and drinks.
We play lots of games in car already, as we're not big on just pluggin them into devices for hours on end (although they'll be some of that).
Looking for any ideas to make the journey more interesting and rewarding for them?
Spylo:We'll be breaking the journey frequqently and have the usual snacks and drinks.
We play lots of games in car already, as we're not big on just pluggin them into devices for hours on end (although they'll be some of that).
Looking for any ideas to make the journey more interesting and rewarding for them?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/275985993649?hash=item4...
It's great =)
The animal game:
Whoever is in the hotseat draws an animal, doesn't show it. Play goes round clockwise.
each person gets to ask a yes / no question, then guess an animal.
E.g "does it have 4 legs"? Yes.
Is it a dog? No.
Next guesser.
Is it a farm animal? Yes
Is it a cow? No
etc until someone guesses sheep.
Mine are similar ages, and they love that game. They'll quickly move on from dog, cat sheep, and end up with Meerkat, Reindeer etc etc. Their drawings can be class as well =)
If you had planned this further in advance and live close to an airport then buy them cheap one-way plane tickets for the day of arrival at the destination.
When The Vikingettes were younger, I've driven the car and belongings from Kent to Glasgow, Inverness, France, Germany, Austria and Ireland for various holidays. Bliss on the way out alone, at your own speed with your own music at your own volume, no-one needing toilet, being bored or hungry, you can deviate to see anything interesting and a night alone sleeping star-shaped at a Premier Inn.
The next day, they get Grandmas Taxi to the airport, shopping therapy in Duty Free and a short flight on a plane. When they land at the destination airport, they have no luggage and are out fairly quickly.
When The Vikingettes were younger, I've driven the car and belongings from Kent to Glasgow, Inverness, France, Germany, Austria and Ireland for various holidays. Bliss on the way out alone, at your own speed with your own music at your own volume, no-one needing toilet, being bored or hungry, you can deviate to see anything interesting and a night alone sleeping star-shaped at a Premier Inn.
The next day, they get Grandmas Taxi to the airport, shopping therapy in Duty Free and a short flight on a plane. When they land at the destination airport, they have no luggage and are out fairly quickly.
As much as I hate excessive device use, it has enabled us to make some pretty mega journeys with our 3 year old (actually 2 last year when we first did so) such as covering ~600 miles a day for 4 days in a row.
I treat it a bit like a long-haul flight as in you do what you've gotta do, to get through it in one piece.
In a few weeks time I'll be picking the wife and kid up in Serbia (they flew over 2 weeks ago) then doing a fair bit of driving around the Balkans, then heading home with 3 overnight stops in Croatia, Austria and Belgium.
He seems to hold up pretty well to it, if we can stop for food somewhere where there's a good play park for him to wear himself out then we get a couple of hours of nap-time which allows for solid progress.
I treat it a bit like a long-haul flight as in you do what you've gotta do, to get through it in one piece.
In a few weeks time I'll be picking the wife and kid up in Serbia (they flew over 2 weeks ago) then doing a fair bit of driving around the Balkans, then heading home with 3 overnight stops in Croatia, Austria and Belgium.
He seems to hold up pretty well to it, if we can stop for food somewhere where there's a good play park for him to wear himself out then we get a couple of hours of nap-time which allows for solid progress.
We have just come back from Argeles sur mer, which we have done regularly with our boys, it’s 1030 miles from home. It’s evolved from the days of portable DVD players.
Now just
Neck pillows
Pod casts
Play lists
Plenty of drinks and snacks in a cool bag.
Don’t try cram their seat space with luggage, give them space.
So many cars we saw with kids wedge between a car ramped full.
Now just
Neck pillows
Pod casts
Play lists
Plenty of drinks and snacks in a cool bag.
Don’t try cram their seat space with luggage, give them space.
So many cars we saw with kids wedge between a car ramped full.
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