10 Ways to Entertain Your Kids on Those Long Summer Road Trips (Guest Post)

Summer’s just around the corner and with it comes those two glorious words: summer vacation! I remember loving all the vacations we went on as a kid. Florida. Quebec. South Carolina. Cape Cod, Massachusetts. My sister and I were always so excited every year when my parents would sit us down and tell us where we were going that year.

Except for the very rare trip out to San Francisco, and once or twice to Florida for Disney World, we generally took our car. Yes, even to Florida. My parents were great at planning things out though, so we had a few neat stopping points on the trip to help break it up.

The funny thing, though? Back then we didn’t have portable DVD players. We didn’t bring a Nintendo DS or iPhone with us. No tablets either. I’d bring a giant stack of comic books, listen to the radio and stare out the window mostly.

These days, we can’t even drive to the pizza joint around the corner without the kids screaming for their iTouches. “We’re bored! What are we supposed to do?” And of course, the most asked question of all, "Are we there yet?" My wife and I take turns distracting the kids or telling them, "Another 20 minutes." I feel insanely bad for those single moms out there who roadtrip it on their own with their kids. How do they not completely lose their sanity?

Just thinking about taking a long road trip with them this summer makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. But it really shouldn’t be that way. You’re spending a lot of time with your family, so why not make it quality time?

What follows are 10 Ways to Entertain Your Kids on Those Long Summer Road Trips:

The Letter Game – One person starts this game by saying the name of something. Pick a genre to start (movies, celebrities, athletes, superheroes, cartoons, etc.) . Then the next person has to say a word that starts with the last letter of the previous word. So if my son said Green Arrow, I’d have to say a superhero name that starts with W. Something like Wonder Woman. Then the next person would start with the letter N. My family’s played this tons of times, usually focusing in on Mario characters or something video game related. My kids really seem to like it and it certainly helps the time fly by.

The License Plate Game – This was a big one for us when I was a kid. My mom would take notes on a small pad and every time we saw a car go by, we’d shout out the license plate’s state and mom would write it down. The longer the road trip, the better chance for variety. Your goal as a team is to see how many different states you can “collect.” We once scored a Hawaii on a trip and you better believe that was the highlight of the trip. Yeah, that’s how hardcore we got.

Audio Books – Pick a good, appropriate series (like Harry Potter) and get an audio book version to listen to in the car. Everyone gets to listen in and if it’s a good story, you’ll all be sucked in quickly and be at your destination before you know it. Your local library may even have copies of audio books to borrow too, so you won't even have to spend a dime!

Fortunately/Unfortunately Storytelling – Have one person start a story by using the word “Fortunately,” and then saying something positive about a character, scene, setting, etc. The next person continues the story, but switches to “Unfortunately” and tells of a negative twist in the story. Continue alternating and telling the story until you’ve all had enough or the story’s gotten so out of hand, you need to end it.

Travel Games – Hit your local toy store and pick up a few portable versions of your kids favorite games. Many travel sets come with magnetic pieces to keep the game from flying all over the place while you drive. Old standbys like checkers and backgammon are great, but you can also find some fun ones like Sudoku or Connect Four.

Roses & Thorns – This one's a great way to pass the time and to get your kids to actually tell you about their days. If you have girls, you probably never have that issue. If like me, you have two boys who never say more than “nothing” every time you ask them “How was school today?” this game is perfect. Go around and have every say 1 rose and 1 thorn that happened to them that day (or yesterday). A rose is something good, and a thorn is something bad. Being on vacation is a rose for sure! Being stuck in the car for more than six hours with non-stop whining kids who apparently have to go to the bathroom every 8 minutes is a thorn.

Mad Libs - These were popular when I was a kid and now seem really big again. These days they even have Mad Libs themed after popular kids properties like Star Wars, Club Penguin, SpongeBob SquarePants, etc.

Surprise Presents - Before you head out on vacation, swing by the local dollar store and buy up a bunch of toys, games and books that you think your kids will like. Then wrap them and bring them with you in the car. Every hour or so, offer to give them a present if they behave for a set time limit. Yes, bribery works.

The Quiet Game – My dad always tried this one on us and it really did work when we were super young. The object is to be as quiet as you can for as long as you can. Once someone says even one word, they’re out. This could be good for a nice five or 10 minute silence break. Or if you’re really desperate, pony up a prize (a new DS game, $10, whatever) for the winner if he can list over 30 minutes.

Benadryl – If everything else fails, there’s always the old “Benadryl” trick which should knock your little whiners out for a few peaceful hours.

How do you keep your kids occupied on road trips?

Andrew Kardon is the Editor-in-Chief and Daddy at Large over at Mommy's Busy, Go Ask Daddy. He just loves being a daddy and loves being a writer. That's why he's also a freelance writer who regularly shares his parenting observations (warts and all) over at Singlemommie.com.