Turning Travel Time into Learning Time

Do you want to turn travel time into learning time?

Traveling with children can be an experience, but there is no reason that it cannot be fun, and educational. Our family has been traveling with our children since they were babies, and over the years we have come up with some fun travel activities that keep the children's attention and help them learn something in the process.

While on long trips, it can be very tempting to use the portable DVD player, and Ipod to provide entertainment for your children, and don't think for a minute that we don't use those forms of entertainment for parts of long trips, but there are some simple, fun games that you can play with your children that will help make the trip smoother and more enjoyable.

Traveling with Children

One of our most favorite games to play in the car is "I'm thinking of a person". This game is very easy to play and can be tailored for younger or older children.

One person in the car selects a person. The person can be someone the family knows, or someone famous. The rest of the group tries to guess the person by asking yes or no questions to the one who is "thinking of the person".

The questions can be anything at all such as: Is the person an adult? Is the person a female? Does the person have children? The group in the car then narrows down list of possibilities until the person is guessed.

This game has entertained us for many years of traveling. It is amazing the watch the children's deducing powers change over the years.

Going on a Trip?

Lately, we have tailored the game of "Going on a trip" to our family. "Going on a trip" is a fun game where everyone in the car tells that they are going on a trip and bringing something along. That "something" has to begin with the first letter of the person's name. You keep going along in that fashion until everyone guesses the first letter - first name connection. Now that our children are older, we have adapted that game to a pretty intricate game of logic. For instance, "I am going on a trip, and I am bringing an apple, a banana, and a cat." The next person might then say (if they know the correct connection) "I am going on a trip, and I am bringing a mop, and napkin, and an octopus." The play continues until everyone gets the connection. In this case, it was that all of the things that I am bringing start with consecutive letters of the alphabet. The person who begins each game selects the connection.

Teresa Mills, Kid Friendly Family Vacations

About the Author - Teresa Mills writes and maintains Kid-Friendly-Family-Vacations.com, a chronicle of her family's vacations. The web site's main objective is to motivate families everywhere to shake up the vacation routine and take their families on great kid friendly family vacations. Additional travel tips can be found on Kid Friendly Family Vacations' Family Travel Section.

Please visit her site!

And if your travels bring you to Oklahoma City, you are sure to have a lot of fun. It doesn't matter if you plan your trip minute by minute or if you see the sights spontaneously. The city is filled with fun, cultural events, great food and plenty of entertainment.

So, get ready to have a great time with your kids right here!

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