It’s summertime, and for many that means ROAD TRIPS. Whether it’s a two-hour drive to the lake or a multi-day, cross-country excursion, we’ll probably spend some extended time in a vehicle with our families over the next two months. While fun, these trips can also be extremely stressful with kids fighting in the backseat, complaining about being bored, and covering the entire car with a combination of ground-up goldfish and juice. The person riding shotgun often has to turn around to clean up a mess, distribute a snack, or respond to a host of “emergencies.” It’s no wonder the temptation to use screens to entertain our children can be so strong. I’m hoping this article will help encourage our Redeemer parents to resist the allure of the “easy” as much as possible.
Last summer, my family spent nearly 90 hours in a pickup cab together (all six of us!) as we traveled more than 5,500 miles to various National Parks across the country. And we, for the most part, did so without screentime. It wasn’t easy, but it was worthwhile. Here are some of the activities that we found particularly helpful and engaging during the trip.
Car Games
These good, old-fashioned car games are staples for a reason: they’re entertaining for everyone.
The License Plate Game: See how many different states’ license plates you can spot. And bonus points for the most unique one.
The Alphabet Game: Try to find each letter of the alphabet — in order — on license plates, trucks and the road signs around you. This can be done together as a group, or made into a competition.
Car Colors Game: Assign each person a color, then set a time limit. Each player counts how many cars of their color they see in the allotted time.
20 Questions: One player thinks of an object/noun, and the other players try to guess what it is by asking up to 20 yes-or-no questions.
Travel Bingo: you’d need to make up cards beforehand, but they can be filled with all the things you might see on a road trip: school bus, signs, airplane, or whatever you can think of. The best part is you can play different kinds of Bingo with the same set of cards.
Or search the internet for other fun ideas.
Reading
Not everyone can read in the car due to motion sickness, but those who can should. You can’t beat feeding your imagination with a wonderful book. Then there’s the added bonus of making progress on your Summer Reading List!
Audiobooks
This one is on our family's list of favorites. Audiobooks provide a shared activity that can be enjoyed by everyone, including the driver. We completed five audiobooks during our cross-country trek, and collectively, they were among the best times we had while in the car. It’s not often that an activity can be calming and entertaining at the same time — but audiobooks achieve just that. And as an added bonus, it gave us one more thing to talk about together even when we weren’t listening.
Activity Books
Activity books, coloring books, and Mad Libs are a great way to pass the time on a road trip. They’re fun, engaging, and embrace creativity. You can purchase these or make your own. It doesn’t need to be anything fancy — just some pages stapled together. The nice thing about making your own is that you can tailor it to your child’s developmental stage and their likes. The internet has lots of crossword, word search, and puzzle generators, as well as blank coloring sheets that you can easily add to your customized book. Pair the pages with a nice pack of colored pencils, crayons, or markers and you’re ready to go.
Podcasts
Similar to audiobooks, podcasts can be great for everyone in the car. They have the added benefits of being free and divided into smaller chunks, which can be better for some younger audiences or for shorter trips. Some of the family-friendly podcasts that we’ve enjoyed together include:
The Alien Adventures of Finn Caspian
Wherever the road takes you this summer, I pray you stay safe, have fun, and make the most of the time you have with your family and friends. And I hope these suggested road trip activities might be a start to helping you engage brains and knit hearts together. Happy trails, Griffins!