RMMB: “Have kids, will travel (but only with a portable DVD player)”
Okay, so I have done a little writing while on vacation in California, and the drive out was inspiration for my latest post on Rocky Mountain Moms Blog. Anyone else find a portable DVD player necessary when heading on road trips with the kids? And if not a DVD player then a plethora of other portable electronic devices? After our emergency stop at a Walmart in Elko (you can read more about that in the post) I started wondering why we’ve come to rely on movies to entertain the kids. Sure, it’s easy and keeps the car quiet but what happened to the good ol’ days of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” in rounds and pummeling each other while playing slug bug?
Have kids, will travel (but only with a portable DVD player)
Last Tuesday I packed all four kids, one sister, a few suitcases, one scooter, and lots of DVDs into our old-school ’95 Odyssey and headed west on I-80, leaving behind the mountains of Utah for the rolling hills of northern California. I’ve done the drive many times and as many moms know, the key to making an 11-hour drive feel more like 7 hours rather than 48 is finding things to keep the kids entertained, especially when they’re under the age of 5.
Our usual entertainment of choice is a good movie delivered via two portable DVD players, one for the two kids in the middle and one for the two kids in the back. That was all well and good until one of the DVD players broke and we were stuck with only one for four kids. And we even survived that until the aforementioned drive last week when our remaining player decided it preferred a bright blue Polaroid “loading” screen to playing movies. Faced with another six hours in the car without the help of Pixar or
Disney, I made an emergency stop in Elko for Walmart’s cheapest portable player. Twenty minutes later we were on the road again and the car was now quiet thanks to Maggie and the Ferocious Beast,who were having adventures somewhere in Nowhere Land—very fitting considering we had just visited a Walmart in Elko, Nevada.
This story is nothing you haven’t heard before, so why bother sharing it? Well, because for the rest of the drive along I-80 I thought how sad the purchase of a portable DVD player was considered an “emergency.” Growing up we took road trips all the time from California to Utah and my sole portable electronic device was a cassette player, and that wasn’t until I was older. So what the heck did we do for entertainment? Whatever it was it’s definitely a lost art when it comes to traveling with kids. I know parents still exist who take advantage of the time spent together as a family and utilize all sorts of creative ways to pass the time. I’m putting a call out to those parents to share with us their tips and tricks for non-electronic, non-battery-powered ways of keeping kids of all ages entertained on road trips.
To get your road-trip memories flowing here are a few of the things we used to play when I was little and which I need to reintroduce to my family:
- ABC game: Look for alphabet letters on road signs, business signs and billboards. You play the game silently to yourself and must go in order from A to Z. When you get to Z, shout out “Z!” The first person to Z wins! (You’ll find lots of variations of this game so use the one that works best for you.)
- Animal or Vegatable: Someone thinks of an animal or vegetable and the others take turns asking “yes or no” questions trying to figure out what the person is thinking. In other words, the questions asked can only be answered with a yes or no.
- Going on a Picnic: The first person starts by saying, “I’m going on a picnic and I’m bringing {fill in the blank}.” They fill in the blank with something they would bring on a picnic. The next person repeats the beginning and repeats what the person before them is bringing and then adds a second item to the list. This is a great memory game–see how many items you can remember!
- Magna Doodle and Etch A Sketch: You can’t beat these classic doodling games. The best part? No markers to fall between the seats that eventually bleed all over the upholstery and no crayons to leave in the drink holders that eventually melt into waxed oblivion.
- Travel Bingo: This was one of my favorite travel games on car trips; I’m thinking of buying it for my kids. The Regal Travel Auto Bingo cards have these awesome little windows you close when you find the items printed on the cards. (Opening and closing those windows is half the fun!) Five in a row wins or go for blackout! There’s Traffic Safety Bingo, Interstate Highway Bingo and Auto Bingo in pink or green. I’m not kidding–we loved this game!
You’ll also find some great sites out there like MomsMinivan.com with tons of travel games and suggestions. I would love to hear from YOU how you enjoyed passing the time while on family road trips. We are still in California and have a long return drive later next week–and only one DVD player… {insert theatrical scream here}.
Original Rocky Mountain Moms Blog post by Emily Hill, a mother of four who’s discovered the person in the driver’s seat doesn’t deal with the chaos in the car. No wonder her husband always offers to drive…
You can read more about the inspiration for this site 
Family vacations can be a nightmare. We all remember the car loaded with kids and an overabundance of luggage. The fighting, Dad yelling and slamming on the brakes until everyone quieted down, arguments over who gets to sleep in middle at the motel, and the folks just trying to keep track of everyone were all certainly ingredients for a family fiasco. However, as one ages, those memories are well-remembered and the topic of many humorous, late night conversations.
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