I miss the days of travelling in my parents' non-airconditioned station wagon with our legs stuck to the vinyl seats. Oh, the days of squabbling in the back while my dad threatened to pull over and make us walk! Once my sister torture-tickled my brother so hard, he ended up denting the roof of the car with his toe.
It wasn't all mayhem. Our family would spend hours playing games on the road to while the time away. Everyone participated, and often games would lead into various topics for discussion.
I miss those days. Life is so much easier now with air conditioning, DVD players, and handheld devices, but something is missing. It's just so sterile and isolated. Why not try to mix it up a little with some unplugged activities for the whole family to enjoy?
Here are some oldies but goodies:
TWENTY QUESTIONS.
One person has to think of a famous person, dead or alive. Other players must guess the person in 20 questions or less, and answers can only be "yes" or "no." Don't get stumped!
NAME THAT TUNE.
Turn the radio on to a favourite station, and see who can identify the singer and song first. Lower the volume before the announcement of the next song coming up. It's also fun to sing along.
COUNTRY/CITY.
You'll need paper and pens for the kids. Make columns with the following categories: Country, city, fruit/vegetable, animal, famous person, object. One player chooses an alphabet letter at random. Players have one minute to fill in the categories with words that begin with that letter. Repeated words are crossed off, and the player with the most original words wins.
I'M GOING ON A PICNIC.
The first player says, "I'm going on a picnic, and I'm bringing _____________________." The next player repeats what the first person said, and adds an item of her own. Players are out when they can't remember all the items in the imaginary picnic basket.
LICENSE PLATE GAME.
Older kids can make phrases out of the letters in license plates. For example, FYH 992 can become Feed Your Hens. Younger kids can each pick a license plate, add the numbers, and see who comes closest to 21 without going over.
AUDIO BOOKS.
Everyone can read the same book at the same time without getting car sick, and it makes for good discussions. Good picks include Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Coraline, Lemony Snickett, and the Narnia series. Your local library is a good place to start, but you can also check www.audible.com to purchase downloadable versions read by authors and professionals.
We'll be packing up the mini van for our own road trip soon, and I'm looking forward to mixing it up with some plugged and unplugged activities.
Stay tuned for a future post about cool apps and websites that won't turn your kids' brains to mush!
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