Kit Bennett
Founder AmazingMoms.com
Your family and gifts are packed strategically into the van, headed for a holiday extravaganza at Grandma's.The kids are understandably excited,
but it stopped being cute 75 miles ago and if you have to hear "Jingle Bells, Batman smells" one more time your head may very well explode.
Once again, from the back seat comes the piercing cry
"Are we there yet?"
You know you have another three hours before the next stop...
What do you do?
A - Scream, "That's it, I'm walking home!"
B - Tell your children your leaving them at the next rest stop.
C - Tell the kids that Santa isn't coming unless they settle down!
D - Play a Game!!!!!
Needless to say, I encourage you to select option "D"
and I've provided games to choose from!
Noah's Ark
Work your way through the alphabet naming animals from
A-Z (Aardvark
-Zither ).
You can alternate letters or everyone takes a turn
with each letter.
Whether you're traveling by car, plane, train, or canoe,
you'll still want to keep your children busy.
Minimize whining with a shoe box of their own. A plastic storage box filled with
snacks, juice packs, paper, cards crayons etc.
You supply the family, the box will supply the fun!
Fooler, Fooler
State three facts about
yourself.
The trick is that one
of the facts, are not fact at all.
The challenge is who can discriminate fact from fiction.
Take turns being the "fooler".
The players who stump
everyone are the winners
Would You Rather
First select a category...Food for instance. Then each other questions phrased like
this: "Would you rather eat
bugs or French fries?
French Fries or ice cream?
Ice Cream with whipped cream or nuts...and so on.
Topics can be serious
or silly.
Junior Opera
For a designated period of
time, tell your kids that when they want to say something, they have to sing it instead.
Build a Story
"Once upon a time there lived . . . ."
Finish the sentence...
Then the rest of the family continues the story one or two
sentences at a time.
The Category Game
The first player names a category i.e.. first names, last names, animals, countries, friends, feelings, foods, hot or cold
things. Then take turns naming things that belong in that category.
A player is out if they name something that does
not belong in the category or if they can't think of another item.
The game is over when only one person remains.
Then start over with a new category.
Three Nouns
State three nouns. Everyone takes turns creating a
sentence with
those three nouns. Alternate who is the noun giver and the sentence makers.
An example from my son: Apple, mailbox, cow
"The cow was excited because
her apple red bonnet arrived
in the mail box today."
GO
Give the kids a magazine. When you say "Go", Each child has a full minute to study
the same page from the magazine. Then put the page away and let everyone take turns
recalling items from the page.
I'm Going on a Trip
The first player says, "I'm going on a trip and I'm going to
pack. . . ," finishing the sentence with the name of something
that begins with the letter A. The second player repeats what the first player has said and adds the name of another item starting with B. The third player repeats everything that has been said so far and adds something that begins with C. And so on throughout the alphabet. Anyone who skips or misremembers an item is out.
Related Links
Tips for Traveling with Kids
Christmas Family Fun
Thanksgiving Family Fun
