You and your companions usually spend several hours together in the car before arriving at your destination – a luxurious lake house. Riding together as a family is often an unavoidable necessity to overcome on the way to more relaxing and enjoyable holiday activities. A longer trip in the confined space of a car tests the patience of everyone, especially children. It is not uncommon for passengers in the back seat to start asking questions like “How much further is it?” after just ten minutes behind the wheel. Toddlers will immediately cringe. You may find yourself complaining of boredom when you are trapped in traffic caused by detours or road construction. The following activities are designed to help distract children from the monotony of long car rides, although there is no one sure-fire strategy to make the time spent traveling go by faster. By the way, they will provide a reason to joke and have fun together, which will put the whole family in the vacation spirit.
With a few fun activities in the car, even the longest drive will pass once-two.
Although there is limited space in the car, your imagination is not. The following car games will provide plenty of entertainment for all members of the household, and the most important thing is that they do not require any prior organization or preparation.
If necessary, you can quickly edit or change the games to make them more suitable for your children’s age and skill level.
What comes to mind is.
Associations – a word game for travel
The game of associations can be played indefinitely. Since everyone has his or her own unique set of associations with a given topic, there is no way for anyone to cheat in this game or give an answer that contradicts the guidelines in any way. If you’ve never played before, the rules are as follows: the first person says any word, and the next person says what they identify with that term. You are free to change the rules if you feel that the original version of the variation, in which each player refers to the word spoken by the player before him, is becoming tedious for you. For example, if one person says a word, the next person is required to say everything related to that term, and you are not allowed to repeat yourself.
What do I think?
A variant of “What I think about” frees creativity and references to things and people that are not in sight now. The first step of the game requires each participant to think of a specific object; it could be a well-known animal or building, for example.
You can easily adapt the game to the age of your children by choosing an easier or more difficult theme.
By asking follow-up questions, others try to get information about the first person’s train of thought. They must be formulated in such a way that each can only be answered with “yes” or “no.”
A helpful hint is to guess well-known fairy tale characters.
Vacation at a lake house with children – fun to travel.
“Don’t say yes – don’t say no.”
The person running the game will ask questions of the other players, and these questions will require answers that do not include the words “yes” or “no.” Each successive round is a kind of test of the ability to concentrate and think creatively.
To answer the question “Do you like Grandma Helena’s chocolate cake?” with, for example, “I just can’t resist just for one piece!” rather than a spontaneous “yes,” requires a great deal of concentration from the respondent. Recommended areas of questions: fairy tales, sports, books, family, culinary. You will laugh together until you burst into laughter, whenever one of the participants in the game forgets himself and says the forbidden term by mistake. “Loser” then assumes the role of leader and the game is repeated from the beginning with him in the lead.
The word for the letter P
The participant makes up any word and passes it to his neighbor by ear. The person who heard the word is supposed to describe it with words only on the letter P. Let’s assume the words passed on by ear are “hare”. The describer can use the description : skips across the field. The rest of the participants must guess the root word.
Syllable chain
The goal of this game is to come up with new words that begin with the same syllable that was used to start the previous term. Someone suggests a starting word, such as. “lo_ko_mo-ty-wa”. Another word is formed by adding its last syllable, for example. “wa-row-nia”.
The next person participating in the game is required to start his word with the syllable “nia”, creating a new word, e.g. “nia”. “nia-ga-ra.” Other terms include. “ka-like,” “like-by,” “by-wa-lec,” etc.
Toddler-oriented version: to make the game more accessible to the smallest children, you can make up words that begin with the last letter of the word that came before them. For example, you can come up with words like “mom,” “watermelon,” “notebook,” “trunk,” etc.
Attractions for children on the go for a vacation at lake cottages.
There were still a few hours of travel left. We have more suggestions.
Surprise tales
Tell a classic fairy tale in a way that is uniquely yours! This time, weave some crazy details into the content of the piece, so that it outrageously stands out from the rest of the work. Other participants pay attention and try to notice as many changes as possible in the conventional fairy tale telling. As a result, Little Red Riding Hood will carry a Coke and a large kebab to her grandmother instead of treats in her basket, Ugly Duckling will turn into a dragon instead of a swan, and the Three Little Pigs have built a PlayStation game room instead of a house.
One point each time is awarded to the first person who recognizes the “nonsense”. The person who finishes with the most points is declared the winner of the contest. Boredom during the game is physically impossible, and inducing fits of laughter in young children is quite simple. There is virtually no limit to the number of different ways this game could be played.
The story of THIS registration
This is a game that is very useful in a traffic jam. It is easier to read the license plates of vehicles in front of and behind your own vehicle. Everyone playing the game takes turns coming up with humorous statements by unfolding the letters from the license plates. For example, from the WBO GU27 board, you can form the sentence “A big beaver drained the main street” if you follow the instructions.
A puzzling suitcase
This game is another one that is considered one of the best classic word games and goes wonderfully with the holiday spirit. The person begins the statement by saying: “I’m packing for my vacation and putting in my luggage…” and then proceeds to finish the sentence with an object of his or her choice, which could be, for example, a pair of sunglasses or a ball. The next person starts a sentence with the same phrase. Before adding their own belongings, the next person must recreate the entire packing process and make a list of the items in the luggage, placing them in the correct order.
A fun variation, is instead of a suitcase to “pack” a garbage bag. Since things that children and adults don’t particularly appreciate, such as broccoli math homework and dirty socks, also land in the bag, the laughs are much more plentiful in the process. When all the memory decks are used up, this indicates that the garbage bag is already filled to the brim and needs to be emptied at the next location.
City-states
Yet another item from the catalog of the world’s most famous word games. Discuss with each other the different types of categories that can be added to the classic version of this game to make it more suitable for children who are constantly on the move. These can include things such as types of ice cream, objects that can be found on the beach, fruits, vegetables, things that are round or square, playground attractions, and characters from fairy tales and fables.
The possibilities are endless.
Fun for the whole family
Colorful world
Even the youngest toddlers will have fun playing this game, and it is even more fun when they have the opportunity to compete against each other. One can count cars that have a color of their choice, such as. yellow or red. The color of the vehicles changes after the first child counts 20 of them. The winner will receive a prize, which can be, for example, a piece of fruit of the same shade.
From A to Z
To get started, adults in the car should select a category: animals, plants, countries or vegetables. Be careful that it is not too challenging for players who are just learning the letters.
The first person to participate in the game must come up with a word that begins with each letter of the alphabet, starting with the letter A (e.g. “amur”) and continue in this way until all the letters have been used (e.g. stork, hamster, moth, hoopoe, etc.). Those who are unable to name a concept are eliminated from the game or must seek help from more experienced players, depending on the established rules.
We pass the time together pleasantly on our journey to holiday cottages
Activities other than games that can help make the time spent traveling go by much faster.
Package on the road
Especially during a long trip, children will be delighted to be rewarded with small surprise packages. For example, one such package can be given to them for every 100 kilometers traveled. This way you can keep your children occupied and make them feel better when they are a bit irritable.
There is a possibility that the package includes:
- coloring pages,
- snack
- toy
- book
- scratch card
- skill game
- puzzles
Tickets on the go
Another version of the activity, cutting out tickets from different colors of paper and preparing them at home to use when traveling along the route. After driving a certain distance, another ticket can be given to children in a special ceremony or “punched” to show that they have earned it. It will be much easier for children to imagine how long the whole journey will be if it is presented in this way. Already on site, they purchase the last available ticket.
The tablet is also ok.
A trip that a child will spend with his or her nose buried in a tablet isn’t exactly a constructive technique to combat the boredom that can arise in the car. However, the monotony of a long trip can be broken with a decent amount of electronic entertainment, such as an episode of a beloved cartoon. Most tablets can be easily attached to the rear of the driver’s or passenger’s backrest. In addition to watching movies with your child, you can also play him an interesting audiobook or some of his favorite music. Parents are able to breathe and enjoy the peace and quiet while their children are immersed in the adventures of the fairy tale characters they are listening to through the headphones they are wearing.
A couple of tips to pay attention to.
In case your child gets sick unexpectedly, you should never be without a paper or plastic bag on hand.
Install an additional mirror so you can keep an eye on your child while on the road. You’ll avoid constantly turning your back.
Make sure you plan enough stops.
When traveling with children, it is important to stop for breaks at regular intervals. When children can stretch their legs, get some fresh air and run around for a while, little passengers feel much better. Try to park in areas that are not too busy, and if at all possible, park in forest parking lots that have benches so you can have an outdoor picnic.
It’s easy to beat boredom if you use a little of your creativity or follow our tips, but there is no one sure-fire strategy that will make time pass more quickly during your trip.
Your children will stay in good spirits if you keep them entertained with games and activities during the trip, and family fun will help put everyone in a carefree holiday mood even before you reach your destination.
