Car games

[daffidazey]

We are going on a long car journey next week and need to keep a 6yr old and a 3 yr old entertained! Any ideas or suggestions? All help appreciated. Many thanks xx

[raysparx1]

Hi daffi, when our kids were young we used to play I-Spy, or to see who could count the most different coloured cars, pick a colour for all the ones in car, also counting sheep,cows etc. singing songs, telling jokes etc, they will still ask after 5 minutes " are we there yet" hope it goes well, Ray

[daffidazey]

Thanks Ray! Don't suppose you've got any tips on stopping the little one being sick? He isn't always but has been on a couple of occasions. xx

[raysparx1]

Hi daffy, that really takes me back, when our youngest one used to be sick, we told him to take his favourite teddy with him and teddy would look after him, trouble was after that, teddy went everywhere,, make sure you have plenty of stops,no fizzy drinks, and keep the window open slightly, good luck, Ray xx

[daffidazey]

Thanks very much Ray. If the traffic is clear we should be able to make the journey in under 3 hours. Not sure the teddy thing would work as he isn't overly bothered by them. Just hoping to keep him entertained! xx

[spudqueen]

Are you travelling on a motorway or on a road? The 6 year old may be old enough for an I-Spy book, they do them for motorways and a car journey. Even the younger one could help as there are pictures in the book which tell you what to look for and he could always be told what to look for.
On a road (not motorway) journey we used to play pub cricket. You look for pubs on 'your' side of the road. If the name has legs you count the number of legs as runs eg The Duke of Wellington has 2 legs, the White Bull has 4 legs and the Hare and Hounds has 12 legs (don't want anyone virtually winning it with 1 pub!). However if it has no legs you lose a wicket eg The beehive has no legs as has The Malt and Hops and the Queens Head. You can play it for a certain number of wickets or just the length of the journey.
Also, when my children were small I used to pack a bag of books and smallish toys and put it between them on the back seat. The whole of the back of the car would be littered with books and toys at the end of the journey but it kept them quiet to large degree!

[spudqueen]

Just remembered another one (can you tell we're used to doing long car journeys?!!), talking books. I used to get them from the library. A particular favourite was The Hodgeheg by Dick King-Smith.

[whiffey]

Poor you !

The correct way to deal with 'are we there yet' is to stop the car, look round at them and say 'yes'. Well it helps your own frustration.

All good suggestions so far - do they have nintendos or similar gizmos ?

[daffidazey]

Thanks Spudqueen! most of the journey will be on the motorway, but the last 20 miles or so is on country roads so will play the pub game then! Becauese of the littlest one getting travel sick, I didn't want them to do anything with books or computer games as I remember from a child, anything that made me have my head down made me feel worse! lol! Think i will devize an 'Who can see...' list which I will hold and tell everyone what we are looking for next, the first one to get it gets the point and we move on to the next item. See how long that lasts! We also play 'yellow car', and I-Spy should keep them entertained for a bit!
Thanks for the suggestion of stopping the car and saying yes whiffey, but I fear we will never get there! lol! Funny though! :-)

[bigmamma]

I used to play the who can see game with my son but it used to only last less than 5 mins because he always fell asleep , a bit of a bind if you are only going to the shops .
You can buy a set of flash cards for car games and first one to spot what is on the card , Early Learning Centre I think I got them . Good luck .:-)

[maxine55]

i took my grandson 18 months on a 800 mile journey across france a month ago and to entertain him i brought a in car dvd player and brought some great dvds the wiggles etc this kept him amused for ages also played spot the animals cows sheep etc he was as good as gold so i recomend a in car dvd player to everyone

[scoobydooby]

Not really any advice but it might make you smile.............my friend took her twin daughters on holiday when they were toddlers. She had a four hour drive and the only way she could keep the girls happy was by singing 'McDonalds, McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut' all the way there!

[daffidazey]

My 2 love that song!! xx

[Nathan_Adler]

We used to play Henry VIII.

Everytime we went under any sort of bridge of gantry we had to duck in the car otherwise we would be beheaded. It wasn't as macabre as it sounds.

Also, and this may sound really odd, in the counrtyside particularly look for discarded carrier bags and various other plastics that have blown in to the trees.

Seriously, unless you play the game one can not appreciate it. It is amazing how much plastic is on the roads, and also will be drawing their attention, however, young, to environment issues and litterbugging.

And finally everytine you see a yellow car you gently slap eachother shouting "yellow car"

If another yellow car appears during the slap, the other gets a free double slap.

At 3 and 6 I imagine they are easily amused!!!

[k9 fott]

Are we there yet mum

[annie0000]

Just completed 2 x 5 hour journeys with my two 7 and 6 - You will probably find that the 3 year old will sleep if you don't entertain him! My eldest also gets car sick and therefore cannot read or play computer games. We got some horrid henry audio books which went down well - they listened to them on a portable cd with a headphone splitter as I don't think I could have coped with horrid henry for a few hours! We tried the dvd a while ago but it made him sick as well. We did try some Kwells travel sickness tablets this time, as we were also going on a ferry overnight and we didn't know how they woud get on. The benefit of this was that older son could play for short times with the game boy as long as he had had his half tablet and we were on the motorway. We also count Eddie Stobart trucks! Whole jouney was complete with no sickness! You can play eye spy but with colours as well - thiss makes it easier for the little one. It is also better not to make the journey too early in the morning - sickness is always worse then. Try not to let him get to hungry or too full and stick to plain tasting savoury food - no sweets, fruit or milky things. I find that ready salted crisps or bland(ham) sandwiches are best with plain water or very dilute juice to drink helps.

[crossroads]

I keep the kids entertained by playing games like i spy things like that. You could take a portable dvd player or get them reading a book. My friends kids are always happy to play "How many lorries can we count".

Good luck!

[nutgoneflake]

We sometimes play "guess what's in the truck." We make up all kinds of stories about what's in a truck, who put it in there, why, where's it going, who'll take it off the truck, who'll eat it/buy it/use it/build with it etc...You have to be a bit involved, but it's great for letting their imaginations run away with them. I usually start them off with something daft like "that one has fourteen big boxes of blue orange juice inside...." then off they go!!

[raysparx1]

Reminds me when we first started playing I-Spy, when it was the youngest ones go he would say something like i spy with my little eye something beginning with " Tree" or similar still laugh at that now 20 odd years later.

[daffidazey]

Thank for all your suggestions xx

[nutgoneflake]

You'll be able to go twice as far now, with all this entertainment!