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Long car journeys with children aren't really that peaceful, are they? If it's not winding each other up, it's the constant 'are we nearly there yet?' questioning or requesting snacks or crying about anything/everything or desperate demands for the toilet. It's understandable because long car journeys can be boring and it's harder for children to understand the concept of time. But how can we make them more peaceful and enjoyable for all those involved? As a parent to three children with family who live a long way away we are often making 1.5 hour+ length journeys, so we constantly have plenty of practice and have learnt a few tips/tricks along the way.
Use a teebee box filled with entertainment during the journey. The teebee is an innovative and unique travel toy box that your children can take everywhere, provides hours of entertainment and can be used as a lunch box too. The cleverly designed box fits in-between children's legs and then it opens up to create a lap tray. Each teebee contains a sorting tray, brick plate, leather strap, an eye-sticker for personalisation, a colouring book and colouring pencils. On one side there is a brick plate, in the middle there is a sorting tray and underneath that there is a spacious storage unit. The brick plate allows children to make their own creations using bricks or Lego, which can conveniently be stored either in the storage unit or sorting tray. Isabella and Poppy both absolutely love their teebee boxes, not only for long journeys, but also for taking to meals out, when visiting family/friends and playing at home too. They really are the perfect way to transport entertainment around for your children, giving them independence when playing and keeping everything contained too. You can choose from five different colours when ordering your teebee, including pink, grey, blue, green and red.
Teach your children how to play magnetic travel games, so that they can play by themselves in the car. Magnetic games are ideal for long car journeys because the pieces don't get lost and it keeps children focused. Interplay Games have a range of magnetic games called Take N Play Anywhere Travel Tins, which include Hangman, Chess, Draughts, Bingo, Matching and Noughts & Crosses. These games are aimed at a range of ages starting with Matching for 3 years+ up to Chess for 8 years+. Their compact design makes them ideal for keeping in the car, taking into restaurants or to friends/family. All of the games include everything you need to play and once they've finished all of the pieces can be stored in the square tin.
Mess-free colouring from Crayola takes the worry out of younger children colouring in the car. There's no risk of them adding a dash of colour to your car seats and it is also ideal for using when on holiday, visiting family/friends or when they want to colour independently.
Pack snacks, which is a tip that I'm sure is relevant in almost all parenting situations! BEAR has a delicious range of toddler and child-friendly snacks that are made with pure fruit, no added sugar, high in fibre and 1 of their 5 a day. Their range includes yoyos, paws, claws and alphabites all in an array of fruity flavours. Each snack is conveniently individually packaged making them ideal for grabbing on the go and it is reassuring to know that they are having a snack made with 100% fruit and vegetables. Isabella and Poppy are both big fans of BEAR snacks and love keeping the collectable BEAR cards too.
Keep the entertainment flowing; personally I've found that Isabella and Poppy will start irritating each other up when they get bored, so ensuring that there are loads of different activities for them to do keeps them entertained.
Play Podcasts for the children to listen to. We used to play CD's with children's music on, but our new car doesn't have a CD player so we've recently discovered the world of child-friendly podcasts. The Cbeebies Radio Podcast is a really good one for stories, familiar characters and is completely free.
What are your top tips for peaceful longer car journeys with children?
Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :)
Helen x
That's such a lovely idea. I remember when we were kids all we had was the radio or a cassette. As soon as we go on a long journey mine want to watch things I would much rather they played.
ReplyDeleteWe don't drive but do go on trains and we always have to take plenty of entertainment and snacks for Erin. It's hard to take everything on a train though.
ReplyDeleteWe have the take n play games, the kids love them. The boxes do look awesome too
ReplyDeleteOh the teepee looks so good, I definitely need one of those.
ReplyDeleteI love the little storage box, such a great idea and handy to fill it up with so many difference things
ReplyDeletewe travel quite a lot with a car with 2 kids and I think thatthis will help mea lot, thanks
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