Family Car Trip Games and Ideas

Here's how to keep your family sane on long car trips without using duct tape or earplugs.

Important Supplies
Buy each child a sketchbook and a 64-pack of crayons to share between them. Also visit a toy store the week before the trip and purchase small games and toys; one hand-held electronic game with an on/off switch for the sound, one handheld puzzle, one game that you fill with water and press buttons to make colored balls dance around, one handheld maze and one handheld drawing gadget. Keep these items secret from the children. The only items you disperse at the beginning of the trip are sketchbooks and the crayons. Save the others to periodically surprise them with. Once they understand that Mommy has a "Fun Bag" under her seat, they'll be motivated enough to stop poking at each other to be good enough to get the next toy.

Music
You'll get further by putting some thought into the travel music. Bring an entire CD case full of CDs that fit into three categories: Grownup Music, Kid Music and Everybody Music. Grownup music includes anything from Norah Jones to The Cure; Kid Music consists of comical CD's from their favorite cartoon shows, as well as both soundtracks and compilation CD's from famous children's movies. Everybody Music is made up of that quintessential, "everybody singing in the car" songs, like greatest-hits records from Elvis, the Beatles, Crowded House and Tom Jones, and the mother of all singalong CDs, ABBA's Greatest Hits. Alternate CD's between the three categories, and listen to the mellower Grownup Music when the kids are asleep. During times when anyone complains about the music, have one Discman to rotate around.

Diaries
Ask each child to use crayons and sketchbooks to create a diary of your trip. Our son (who can't yet read or write and who we dubbed The Official Artist of the Trip) was asked to draw pictures of different things we saw from the car, things we ate for dinner and his sister sleeping across from him. Our daughter (The Official Cartographer) was asked to keep lists; a list of all the states we passed through, a list of all the major cities and monuments we passed and a list of highways we drove on, which can come in as a handy tool when you get lost and need to backtrack. Be prepared to spell a lot of titles and to come up with a creative explanation for why Arkansas is spelled and pronounced the way it is. The diaries can be the best trip mementos of all and either kept or used later as Christmas gifts to the relatives you're going to see.

Snacks and Meals
Snacks should be available to the kids, but not anything that will wind them up or end up on the floor mats. Bring a box of juice packets (containing 10 servings) for the way there, and another box for the way back. Potato chips in a resealable bag or tube prove to be a great idea, as do previously-prepared, sealed baggies of fruits and vegetables that travel wel, such as carrots and green pepper slices or grapes and dried apricots. Make it a point to stop for ice cream at least once per travel day, usually close to the time you're checking in to a motel. That way, your children can burn the sugar off in the motel pool, and they still get to have dessert and sleep well later. Usually, motels offer free breakfast as part of your stay, and you can later opt for a fast-food lunch. Dinner can be more substantial, at an inexpensive, home-style restaurant. Doing things this way makes sure that everyone has enough to eat and has the added benefit of minimizing food costs while still keeping things varied and enjoyable. Make sure you remove straw wrappers before you give straws to the kids, unless you want spitballs on the back of your neck for the next 50 miles.

Car Games
The best piece of advice I can offer about car games (and occupying children in general) is that nothing cracks a child up like a grown-up acting deliberately and unexpectedly silly. Pretend you forgot which day it is, or where you're going. When you're getting dressed at the motel, put your pants on backwards and ask the kids why they feel funny. Cross your eyes at them for no particular reason. It's goofy, but it works. Just make sure you're clear about the boundaries of jokes, because kids will take jokes as far as you let them.

Rhyme Time
Use a simple word, like "cap." Everyone takes turns going around the car, finding words that rhyme with the chosen word. This allows kids to realize that certain things rhyme and allows you the chance to be laughed at when you say things like "elephant" when it's your turn.

Complaining
When everyone is getting stressed out (and there will be times like that), declare that it's time for everyone to complain. Then you all take turns complaining. After a while, everyone runs out of complaints, and it gets silly because you have to make up things like, "My pants are itchy," or "I can't stand movies with robots in them." The game only works if you keep going after the actual complaints have stopped.

Mistaken Identity
Begin acting as though you have forgotten which child is which. Call each child by the other's name, wonder why they are dressed in the other child's clothes and sitting in the other child's seat. The kids may deliberately start acting like the opposite child, with hilarious results. They may even suggest that they act like the parent and you act like the child, which is both fun and educational.

Basic Dos and Dont's of Long Trips with Children
DO:
Stop for at least one corny tourist stop

DON'T:
Let kids go to rest-stop bathrooms alone

DO:
Declare quiet time periodically

DON'T:
Play louid music during quiet time

DO:
Choose cheap motels with a pool

DON'T:
Forget inflatable water wings

DO:
Tell stories about childhood family trips

DON'T:
Say how dysfunctional they were

DO:
Be honest when kids ask how much longer

DON'T:
Wait too long to find a bathroom

DO:
Have napkins and wipes handy

DON'T:
Let your son turn them all into puppets

DO:
Have a trash bag in both front and back

DON'T:
Hesitate to pull over if a kid removes the seatbelt

DO:
Find many opportunities to be silly

DON'T:
Ever forget that this, right here, is the good stuff