Making Car Trips Fun

Mon., July 22, 1996

Lynn Gibson Correspondent

It ain’t easy, traveling with kids. The family road trip to the vacation destination is the pain before the gain. Children are hot, cramped, hungry and squabbling, and you’ve only been driving 20 minutes.

Although traveling by car can be a challenge, there are tricks to making it tolerable and, perhaps for a few blissful moments, enjoyable.

Kathy Peel and Joy Mahaffey, co-authors of several parenting manuals from Focus on the Family Publishing, offer these tips:

Prevent sibling squabbles by changing the seating arrangement whenever possible.

Provide each child an individual lap box of games and activities. Limit the items to what will fit in the box, and discourage games with small parts.

Have plenty of healthy snacks on hand such as carrots, fruit, bagels and granola bars.

Bring along a bag of candy for an hourly reward to the child demonstrating courteous, cooperative behavior.

Keep a pair of sunglasses in the glove compartment for each child to prevent the bright sun from setting off short emotional fuses.

Take stretching/bathroom/ refreshment breaks often.

Try books on tape from the local library.

Pack a few surprises (books, hand puppets, washable markers) to take out during the last hour of the trip when patience is thinning.

Some of the most enjoyable games require no equipment. Find the alphabet from license plates, road signs and billboards. Try classic memory games such as “I’m thinking of …” and “I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing …”

Travel games hasten the miles:

Many favorite children’s games come in travel versions where the game pieces are integrated into a small, often hand-held unit.

From Milton Bradley, check out more than 10 travel games such as Travel Yahtzee, Travel Memory and Travel Trouble. Parker Brothers has travel versions of Sorry, Monopoly, Outburst Jr. and Boggle.

Prices range from $6 to $8, available in retail and specialty game stores.

Travel solutions are in the bag:

A successful car companion is the new Travel/Activity Bag for Kids, from Kid In A Box company.

Made of sturdy nylon fabric, the lightweight bag will hold favorite belongings and opens up to become a lap desk. Unzip and fold back the casing to reveal a sturdy drawing surface. The bag includes crayons, a pencil and sharpener, paper and a coloring/activity book.

Easy to clean and sturdy, the bag also doubles as a school bag, available in red, blue or purple.

To order, send a check for $16.98 (includes shipping) payable to: Kid In A Box, 1120 Yew Ave., Blaine, WA 98230. Specify color desired.

Help with family vacations:

Bestselling author Vicki Lansky offers “Trouble Free Travel With Children” ($6.95, Practical Parenting), giving practical advice on plane, train and car travel with hints on packing, sleeping, eating and how to deal with “car seat blues.” To order, call (800) 255-3379. Lansky has also written a terrific travel-sized children’s song book, “Sing Along Songs For Kids,” with the words to 30 family favorites. Send a self-addressed stamped envelope (two stamps) and $1 to: Practical Parenting, 18326 Minnetonka Blvd., Deephaven, MN 55391.

, DataTimes MEMO: The Family Track is a weekly column of notes and information for families. Send items to Lynn Gibson, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615, or fax (509) 459-5098.

The Family Track is a weekly column of notes and information for families. Send items to Lynn Gibson, Features Department, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615, or fax (509) 459-5098.

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