Tips To Surviving Long Road Trips With Your Preschooler

Tips To Surviving Long Road Trips With Your Preschooler

Long road trips can be a challenge for any family, what more one with a preschooler in tow. Children between the ages of three and five have short attention spans. Compound that with a confined space for an extended period of time, and you have a potential crisis on your hands. If you’re going on a lengthy car ride with your preschooler, it’s best to plan some activities to keep your youngster as comfortably occupied as possible. Here are some suggestions. Please note that most of these activities are best conducted by the non-driving adult as much as possible, to stay safe.

1. Play the ‘I Spy Alphabet’ game. This activity develops your child’s observation skills, improves his letter-sound recognition and entertains him all at once. Have your child look out the window. Describe something that begins with the letter A that you see and let your child guess what it is. Example: “I spy something that begins with the letter B, it’s big and yellow, many people can fit inside it and it takes them to where they want to go. What is it?” (Answer: Bus). Adjust the difficulty of your clues according to your child’s age and reasoning level. Go through the entire alphabet, and take turns with your child on being the spy and the guesser. Your child will enjoy spotting things and crafting alphabet clues on his own too.

2. Tell the Never Ending Story. This is a nice game to play on the road, especially if there is more that one child in the car. Ask your children to choose a story theme (princesses, school, outer space, etc), and begin a storyline for the chosen theme. Lay out a basic plot with a character and maybe just one or two events, and then leave it hanging. Have the next child continue the story in her own words, taking over from where you left off. Let her develop the character and add maybe two more events before passing the story on to another member of the family. Keep going at this, taking turns among everyone in the car and have fun with the wacky twists and turns in your never ending tale!

3. Share Family Talk. Kids in a moving car are a naturally ‘captive audience’. Use this opportunity as bonding time to share the important and interesting stories of your family. Tell your child about the day he was born. Tell him about your wedding day, or how both of you (his parents) met. Keep your tone interesting, as if you were reading to him from one of his books. Encourage him to ask questions. If there are older siblings present, encourage their participation by asking them what they remember from that particular day. Oh and make sure to share the important stories of those siblings too. It’s been our experience that children of the preschool and early grade school age love hearing about the day they were born over and over again. Little girls also enjoy their parents’ wedding day story very much.

4. Pop in some of your child’s music. Bring along your preschooler’s cassette tapes or audio CDs. This is the time to benefit most from that expansive Disney soundtrack collection, or enjoy a compilation of Nursery Songs. Playing your preschooler’s tunes in the car is a good way to get some time for yourself too. Whether you’d like to take a short nap or just need some uninterrupted minutes, having your child safely buckled up and enjoying his music is a good way to satisfy both your needs.

5. Set aside quite time for snoozing. Though mentioned last, this tip is something you should set with your child in advance. As you plan your trip, approximate a stretch of travel time when your child can take a nap. Let your child know that it will be time for his nap by a certain hour, or after you pass a specified place. As much as road trip activities are useful in keeping your preschooler occupied, he needs his rest just as much as he needs it when he’s home. An over-stimulated child can turn into a very cranky one if he doesn’t get enough rest.

An extended car ride with your preschooler is an excellent opportunity for witty word games, imaginative story-telling and plain old family bonding. Beyond just making the trip bearable for him, you can actually turn the journey into an enjoyable and even educational experience for everyone.