Surprise Your Child With Different Toys Every Hour on Long Trips
Parents, you have heard the advice: when going on a long flight or traveling with small children, be sure to take classes with you. And you do it. As soon as young travelers put on their seat belts, you pass them a backpack or box of fun things to keep them entertained during the trip, and then recline the seat in bliss. You believe your job is done. Vacation, here we are!
This is mistake. Your kids will tinker with whatever special toys and activities you’ve put together, and before you can start the podcast you’ve been waiting for, they’ll ask the dreaded question, “How much more? … How about now? … How about now? … How about now? “ And you still have seven hours before your next stop.
You have to adjust to yourself.
As you travel, you have to be the keeper of the bag of goodies and surprise your kids with a different toy or activity every hour or whenever they finish with the one they are playing with. These items don’t have to be fancy – I think of things like a comic strip, a little puzzle, a memory card game, a mini Mr. Potato Head , a Cheerios bag and string for making necklaces, or five crayons and a notebook. Surprises also don’t have to be physical objects – on the road you can play a game (“I spy” is always popular in our car) or play an audio quiz for kids ( ExtraBLURT by Pinna – great), or announce that it’s “quiet time”. If you take your iPad with you, save it for the last leg of the journey – that’s when you need it the most.
It’s all about timing. Don’t burn out too quickly.