Road trips are hard enough, but throw in a car-sick-prone
kid, and you’ve really got a challenge. How will you entertain your child in
the car when she gets queasy reading, watching movies, or even coloring?
It is possible. Here are three easy groups of ideas.
Audiobooks
Once your child is preschool age, audiobooks are your
biggest lifesaver. Your kid can gaze out the window, yet be entertained. If you
choose stories that you’ll enjoy also, then the time will pass a little faster
for you too.
You can borrow children’s
audiobooks from your library, or you can buy them. We love the library, but I
know not everyone has a great one nearby. (Disclosure: Books and Giggles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC
Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a
means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to
Amazon.com)
Audible is owned by Amazon and has a wide selection of children’s books. Normally, you can try out the service for a month with one
free book. Right now, though, if you click this link
you can get two free audiobooks. Sometimes several children’s books are bundled together into one “book” too!
you can get two free audiobooks. Sometimes several children’s books are bundled together into one “book” too!Tips for Getting Started with Audiobooks
- Start with collections of simple short stories
- Try stories they already know
- Push <Play> when they’re alert and well rested
- Hit pause to explain
- If they don’t like it try a different story
We started with audio version of books we’d already read and
enjoyed at home. Some of our early audiobooks were classic children's stories:
(affiliates)
We listened to them on a road trip to Colorado when my twins were 4. The girls could follow along without seeing the pictures because they’d already seen them plenty at home.
(affiliates)
We listened to them on a road trip to Colorado when my twins were 4. The girls could follow along without seeing the pictures because they’d already seen them plenty at home.
Once the kids could follow short stories well, we introduced
chapter books. Our family has enjoyed many series books:
...and more (affiliate links).
- The Ramona books
- The Magic Tree House series
- The Boxcar Children
- The Humphrey books
- Wayside School stories
- The Ralph S. Mouse collection
...and more (affiliate links).
One final audio book tip – here’s a way to stretch out the length of
time each book lasts, plus increase comprehension: stop and talk. When you get to the end of a section, stop the story
and talk about it. You can...
- Check that your child understood
- Ask what they would do if they were in the story
- Have fun making predictions about what will happen next
- Help the child relate what’s going on in the story to other familiar stories and to real life.
Talking games
There are tons of verbal games you can play in the car. I
wrote about our favorite car trip games last year. Most of these would work for a carsick prone child. I
think we’ve gotten the most mileage out of I Spy, but you can only play that
for so long before everyone is tired of it.
We’ve recently started playing 20 questions – I’m not sure
my 6 year old twins would have been successful with it before now.
Another game we’ve started playing is “Would You Rather” based on the card game of that name. We ask silly questions like, “would you rather eat Brussel sprouts or chocolate covered ants?” and “would you rather go to school in your pajamas or sleep in your bed with your shoes on?” Everyone wants a turn thinking of outlandish questions, and we all end up in fits of giggles.
Another game we’ve started playing is “Would You Rather” based on the card game of that name. We ask silly questions like, “would you rather eat Brussel sprouts or chocolate covered ants?” and “would you rather go to school in your pajamas or sleep in your bed with your shoes on?” Everyone wants a turn thinking of outlandish questions, and we all end up in fits of giggles.
Music
Fill up your music player with all the fun children’s music
you can find. Make sure you like it too! I don’t feel as confident recommending
music as I do books. I love this list of
kids’ music that Nell on Rhythms of Play compiled. I can add just a few
more:
(affiliate links)
Soundtracks from your kids’ favorite movies might also be a
good bet.
Having a tendency for motion sickness doesn’t have to sentence
your child to hours of boredom. Car trips are a great time for families to
unplug and enjoy time together – and no one needs to get car sick staring at a
sceen.
P.S. I just found some great information from a pediatrician about motion sickness. If you want a medical perspective, you may find it helpful.
P.S. I just found some great information from a pediatrician about motion sickness. If you want a medical perspective, you may find it helpful.
Great ideas! I still get car sick and it is NO fun! I could use some of these tips for myself too!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry to hear you get carsick. Yes, these tips work for all ages, don't they :)
DeleteWe had so much fun with audio books last year and then the youngest got old enough to have his own opinion and vetoed every book the older kids wanted to listen to. The only thing that works this year are music CDs ...
ReplyDeleteOh, that's tough! I'm glad they at least share musical taste. My ids agree on audiobooks a lot better than they agree on music. A few years back, though, we could only listen to my oldest's audiobooks when the (younger) twins were napping.
DeleteI always got car-sick on trips as a kid and it wasn't until I became an adult and actually got to sit in the front seat for one that I realized that might have made the difference all along!
ReplyDeleteI just read an article that explains why that's the case. I'm editing this post to add the link!
Delete