A parent is always a teacher to her children. As the children became older, I would take a subject that one of the older children was learning in school and write about it on a pad of paper. This can be anything from all you know about frogs to poetry and geography. Then beginning with the youngest, each participant wrote one fact he or she knew about the subject and passed the paper on to the next person. Or a person could write one line of a rhyming poem and then pass it on, the only rule being that the poem had to rhyme not necessarily make sense. At the close of the day’s driving, we would share our creation with the family. This can become quite comical. Try bringing along a small tape recorder [and lots of batteries]. The first person can pose a question or record a sound and the recipient needs to answer the question or guess the sound. A story can be created this way with someone starting the story and the next person continues the story thread. Just like the poem, the story does not have to make sense, just continue to build. Then listen to it at the end of the drive. [This particular parent is also a creative writer…can you tell?]
We have mixed and matched these ideas over the years, and because of them, we have crisscrossed the United States and have even visited some of the northeastern provinces of Canada and made it all the way out to Newfoundland.
Hi Victoria Marie
You certainly put a lot of thought into keeping your children occupied. They are lucky, many kids nowadays are an hindrance to their parents and have very little quality time.
I bet you have clocked up some mileage on your travels across the US and Canada.
Bill
http://www.walksintameside.co.uk
Thank you, Bill. My children are my life. I think motherhood is a very important career choice. It's certainly very demanding.
Yes, we have clocked up thousands of miles, but I tend to think of them more as memories–treasured family memories. We have been very lucky.
Thank you so much, Bill, for visiting my blog. Please stop by again.
You have great ideas for traveling. And to think we usually get by with audiobooks–I've been missing out on some fun games!
This is such a great idea for travelling. When I was young I did a lot of travelling with my parents and brother and I remember lots of long trips of boring. This would've made it sooooo much better!
I love audiobooks myself, Theresa, although I need to be careful if I am driving as I listen so intensely to see how the author puts the plot together. Audiobooks are great for children. I'm just trying to allow my children some time to think on their own.
It takes lots and lots and lots of time to drive across the United States, Lynda, or north up into Canada. With five children in the car, I needed to keep ideas fresh in order to have a peaceful drive. My children would always listen to my stories around the campfire, so I thought why not allow them some time to create their own.
Thank you so much, Theresa and Lynda, for visiting my blog. Merry Christmas and a successful 2013 to both of you. Please stop by again.
Great advice for a lot of younger parents who are at a loss during this time of the year when people are traveling long distances for the holidays.
Traveling with young children can be difficult, Marie, especially during the rush-rush of the holiday season. Hopefully these tried and true suggestions will help others.
Thank you, Marie, for reading my blog post. Merry Christmas to you, and may you have a healthy and successful 2013. Please stop by again.
This sounds like a great idea. Too many times I see children in vans either watching television or playing video games. It does seem like most parents just want to keep their children quiet. There is not a lot of interaction between children and their parents anymore. I hope to travel with my future children and hopefully entertain them in similar ways. Thanks for the ideas!
You are welcome, Michelle. True, it seems that parents would rather have quiet from their children rather than interaction with them. I think it's important to help children become creative in their own minds by turning off the electronics and television and allowing them to open their own minds.
Thanks so much for visiting my Camping with Kids blog, Michelle.