Are we there yet?! Are we there yet?!
With summertime fast approaching, lots of families are beginning to plan road trips with their children. The key to making long car rides fun for the whole family is to make them entertaining for the kids! If you’re planning a trip in the near future, try to make the experience for them as easy and enjoyable as possible – because if they’re not happy you won’t be either!
Last Christmas, we decided to go on a road trip and visit my husband’s family up in Ohio (we live in Florida), so the trip was about 1,000 miles long. By that time, my daughter was only two-and-a-half years old. It was a long trip for the grownups, let alone a toddler!
To make the experience as easy as possible, I made a list of the items my little one might need during the trip -- her favorite snacks, blankets and take along toys. Since our car doesn’t have a DVD player, we invested in a portable one (a real life saver…..I am speaking from experience). We also made a little plan, scheduled bathroom breaks and food stops in time intervals, and let her out of the car for a few minutes every so often to wiggle around.
One of my favorite tips is “talking.” We talked to our little one as often as possible and let her know about the things she was seeing out her window and who we were going to see when we made it to our destination. This was important to keep her busy so she wouldn’t be preoccupied with the fact that she was stuck in a car for so long.
Being comfortable for the long journey is very important for kids. We avoided tight clothes that would keep our child from moving comfortably, and when we were driving straight to the next destination, we put on her PJ’s.
By doing just a little bit of prep work, we made the 1,000 mile trip to Ohio and back to Florida without having a major inconvenience. Best of all, the experience was much more enjoyable than I had expected it to be!
By guest blogger Jenniffer Powell - http://kidzborn2impress.blogspot.com/
