Car Travel with Children… |
The prospect of a long car journey with the kids is enough to strike fear into the heart of the most calm and serene of parents. However, we all have to do it at some point, and a little preparation can go a long way to minimise the stress for everyone! Here are some top tips for a peaceful and happy journey. Stock up on essential items like wet wipes and tissues for those inevitable messy moments, and take a couple of spare plastic bags for rubbish and empties. Make sure you pack up a mini coolbag with an ice pack and plenty of water, it’s a good idea to take individual bottles with sports caps, as they do not spill easily. Comfort is key, try to ensure the children are not too cramped and that most of the luggage stays in the boot. Make sure you pack a couple of small blankets to keep younger children warm and cosy if they want to sleep. And let each child take a favourite teddy or toy to cuddle. If you are travelling in the summer months, consider buying a couple of sunshades to protect the children from the uncomfortable glare of the sun. Sunshine Kids do a pack of two pop-open car window shades, or try Clippasafe’s Fun Sun shade two-pack, both available for under £5 from Amazon.co.uk. Pack a selection of healthy snacks and drinks to stave off hunger pangs en route. Try to avoid too many sweets and fizzy drinks, the sugary buzz they give is not best suited to a confined space, and avoid chocolate – it melts very quickly in hot weather. Try small cartons of fruit juice, breadsticks, grapes, strawberries, mini boxes of raisins, cocktail sausages, or crackers. If you are travelling with babies, then it is useful to buy a bottle warmer which plugs into the cigarette lighter – Sunshine Kids and Babytec do a bottle warmer for under £10, both available at Amazon.co.uk. For entertainment, buy or borrow some story tapes or CDs. These are great to entertain the children for an hour or two, and are sometimes given away free with the weekend newspapers, worth keeping an eye out for. Also, take some nursery rhymes on tape or CD for younger children to sing along to, and let older children take a couple of their own favourite music CDs, even if it is High School Musical! As for in-car games, the old favourites like I-spy are always popular, and try ‘who am I?’, where you each take it in turns to be an animal and the others have to guess what kind of creature you are by asking you a series of questions to which you can only answer yes/no/don’t know. Visit www.car-travel-games.co.uk for a list of free games you can play in the car. Spend a few pounds on a new box of crayons or colouring pencils and a couple of small notepads and/or colouring books, then let the children scribble away to their heart’s content. It is best to avoid felt tip pens in the car with younger children. For older children take a couple of word search or activity books, or comics. To keep everything organised, you can buy seat back tidies for the kids to store their pens and books, Sunshine Kids make a ‘Stuff and Scuff’ seat back tidy which has an area for storage and also protects the seat from muddy shoes, available for around £8 from Amazon.co.uk. Children get very bored of sitting still and it’s a good idea to plan a comfort stop or two where they can run around and burn off some energy. Visit the website www.motorwayservices.info and type in the motorway(s) you are travelling on and it will list all the service areas along the way so you can check out their facilities and select appropriate stopping places which have a children’s playground. So above all, stay calm, plan well, and be prepared. Keep the children happy and you are well on your way to having a fantastic holiday! Bon voyage! Article published on MyFamilyCareVouchers.co.uk (Subscribers Only Parenting Site), May 2009 Go back to main Samples page ***** Go back to Home page ***** View a list of our Clients |