This summer we have done our longest ever travelling with Erin, we had decided we wanted to pack in as much as possible before school starts in September. It was to be our summer of fun. This has involved short breaks in the UK, visiting grandparents and day trips to Lollibop with friends. Basically we have been a bit busy! We have regularly made two hour plus car journeys. Therefore I thought I’d share how we coped.
Tips for the preschooler:
1. I had some new colouring supplies tucked into her back pack to discover once settled in the car.
2. I plan travelling so that if she is going to nap it wont impact on the normal bedtime routine. Likewise if I don’t want her to nap we travel in the morning, car journeys about 1.30 will always result in Erin falling asleep.
3. The ipad was loaded with games that were suitable for a pre schooler.
4. The bag also contains some of her favourite Disney figures and she makes up stories and occupies herself. I love a preschooler’s imagination.
5. Have snacks, drinks and baby wipes to hand. We usually have dried fruit, mini cheddars and so on to hand.
Tips for the Tween and Teen
1. Electrical gadgets. Make sure everything is fully loaded especially if travelling more than a few hours these entertain them for most journeys. My brother took a box set and his Mac and barely spoke to anyone until we landed some seven hours later!!
2. Have food, nothing is a moany as hungry teens!
3. Get them magazines or a book to read and enjoy on the journey.
4. Dyl is currently working towards taking the 11+ therefore we use car journeys as a time to test him on his times tables, or give him mental maths challenges.
Tips for parents:
1. Plug in your headphones and ignore the kids!
2. Be organised, I never leave without my sat nav which ensures I know exactly where I am headed.
2. Pretend to be asleep, unless your the driver of course!
To be fair the children were all really good on most journeys. Portable dvd players are also great and the children often watch a film like Frozen or Up. By the time its watched often much of the journey has past. Travelling with children can be done it just takes a bit of planning. Parkdean holidays recently asked just over 1400 people for their journey tips and here is the result:
I’d like to know your top tips whether travelling down the road or to a north norfolk breaks
Disclosure: This post is in association with Parkdean Holidays
