hrivingon Car TSurviving Trips with Kids
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ou have planned your summer travel, then it hits you like a rock in the pit of your stomach… you and the kiddos are about to be “trapped” in the car for 5, 10, 15 hours! What to do? It may be tempting to just use the Ipad and DVD player, but you can do better than that! While the ideas I share are created for children with Sensory Processing Disorder in mind, they are a great fit for many kiddos.
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Books on CD Some favorites in my house are The Magic Tree House series and Junie B. Jones. These can be checked out (for free!) at most local libraries.
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Zip Bag Silly Putty/Play-Doh This allows the child to squeeze and squeeze to their heart’s content without the putty getting stuck in your floor mats!
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Origami Check out an origami book at the library, get a folder of paper and go to town. Voila! Mess-free art!
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Aluminum Foil Animals Is the origami too complicated? Give each child a sheet of aluminum foil, have them create an animal and see if the rest of the car can guess what it is.
Melissa Foster Children’s Therapy TEAM Occupational Therapist
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Color Wonder Books I know these things are a bit pricey, but they are fantastic mess, free fun and a great treat for long trips. Sing Along Children’s music is an obvious choice, but what about the songs you like? Download or make a CD of great sing-along songs kids may enjoy. Some of my favorites are “Sweet Caroline,” “Brown Eyed Girl,” “I Love Rock and Roll,” and “Funky Town.” I Spy Fill a clear-sided pencil pouch with dried beans/rice. Then add a few colored buttons or other small trinkets and have contests as to who can find a given item the most quickly.
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Gross Motor Breaks When you do stop, take 5-10 minutes for gross motor time. If a small strip of safe area is available, races are always fun. If space is limited, have children do frog jumps, jumping jacks or simply just dance next to the car for a few minutes.
Unwrap a Mystery Take old scraps of newspaper and wrap-up travel toys, new sticker pages, trinkets or games. Set trip check-points to unwrap mysteries as a reward for nice behavior.
Survival Kit Must-haves include wetwipes, tissues, snacks/ drinks, sport bottles, empty cups (for snacks) and lots of slide-top plastic bags. Also include the standard first aid kit with Tylenol, bandaids, antibiotic ointment, Dramamine, Benadryl, etc. as your doctor approves.