Although travel is essentially a year round activity for today’s families, summer is the time that we spend more time travelling to campsites, cottages, on visits to grandparents, family weddings, beach trips and so on. It can be exciting to embark on plane, train, and automobile trips, and it is also challenging to amuse kids in transit for extended periods of time.
At Woozles, we see a lot of customers who drop in looking for travel activities for their children of all ages. We would like to share some of our ideas with you, and welcome you to let us know of travel secrets of your own that have helped keep the peace while en route!
First and foremost, it goes without saying that a good, well-stocked and chilled snack bag is a must, regardless of the age of your children. You can pack sandwiches, muffins, crackers, cheese, dried fruits and nuts, washed and prepared fruits such as cherry tomatoes, vegetable sticks, bananas, apple slices, grapes, watermelon (if you can bear with the drips and dribbles that will fall!), and drink bottles or juice boxes, all subject to your family favourites.
As for activities, always bring your child’s favourite toys for holding, cuddling, gumming, and chewing. If you are worried about losing the favourite toy in transit, many parents have a second identical one as backup!
Regardless of age, always have a supply of paper (pads, or loose with clipboards), pencils, crayons, washable markers, and stickers. There is so much that you can do together with all of these from drawing shapes and pictures, writing, playing tic, tac, toe, folding origami, and so on. It is also fun to have a magic erase pad or a small whiteboard, as a change from paper and pencil.
The following are some of our suggestions for other things that might help to provide much-needed distractions (while in transit or on a rainy day):
For young babies (0-9 mos):
- A new colourful toy with interesting textures, such as:
- the Whoozit
- a Skwish
- a small soft doll
- Sophie the giraffe
- Eyecatching ankle and wrist bands.
- A quiet noisemaker (an oxymoron perhaps?!) such as a rainmaker or a small maraca, so that you can introduce some nice sounds with which to distract, and for the baby to look at and hold too.
- Books!! Bring familiar favourites as well as new touch and feel books, books with a built in finger puppets, books with fun, simple, rhyming text such as I Went Walking, Barnyard Dance, Toes, Ears, and Nose, and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
For young babies to toddlers(9 mos – 2 years):
- A new colourful toy such as:
- a small Viking truck or soft Lamaze goldfish bowl, with items to put in and out of it
- a small soft doll or play figures
- Playmobil 123 characters (animals, people, vehicles) to examine and play scenes with (age 1.5+)
- Peg puzzle or small 3-9 piece puzzles
- Container of playdough and cookie cutters
- A CD with some favourite music for all to listen to as you drive.
- Books!! Some lift the flap and touch and feel books, familiar favourite stories, and new ones with fun, simple, rhyming text such as Sheep in a Jeep, Tumble Bumble, Jamberry, and Where’s Spot.
For children aged 3-6 years:
- A new colourful toy such as:
- small vehicles for ‘driving’ on laps and tray tables.
- dolls, Calico Critters, play figures such as Thomas trains, knights, dragons, and horses.
- Playmobil characters (animals and people) to examine and play scenes with.
- Pretend foods, such as wooden velcro ones that you can “cut” apart, and felt pita pockets by Educo.
- Travel memory games, made by eeBoo and Melissa & Doug.
- A CD with some favourite music for all to listen to as you drive.
- An audio book for all to listen to, such as Winnie the Pooh, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Olivia, and The Cricket in Times Square.
- Themed sticker books, such as the popular Usborne Sticker Dolly Dressing books, Lego City, Star Wars, and Harry Potter sticker books, Going on a Plane sticker book, and the Richard Scarry Big Busy Sticker & Activity Book.
- Books!! Familiar and favourite stories along with new ones such as Percy the Park Keeper, The Mysterious Tadpole, Mog the Forgetful Cat, Splish Splash Splat!, Blackout, and Dodsworth in New York.
For children aged 7 and up:
All of the above ideas can work, and the child will have their own ideas of what they would like to do and bring as well.
Other ideas that you may consider include:
- Mad Libs! If you have never tried a booklet of Mad Libs, these provide great family entertainment. and also help players know what a noun, adjective, and verb are. Each page has a themed story with words left out. Take it in turns filling in the blanks as prompted, then fill in the blanks as you read the story back with the words you have chosen. Very amusing for all!
- Play conversational games using books such as Ask Me by Antje Damm. This book provides possible topics for conversations such as what is your favourite food, what are you afraid of, where would you like to travel, and so on. There is nothing like the car for some great somewhat anonymous, no eye-contact conversations!
- Instead of I Spy, where the subjects can whiz by too fast, everyone can try to think of things that are squishy, then soft, then bubbly, or perhaps wavy, and so on. Make up your own themes for all to reply to.
- Try conversations around “what would you do if….” and present a scenario. Test out everyone’s problem solving skills!
- Do some summer writing! Woozles has some lovely journals, notepads, and postcard booklets to help record your travels and report on them to family and friends.
Most importantly, roll with what happens, live in each moment, and enjoy the time that you are all together, regardless of where you are.
Happy trails from all of us at Woozles!
Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown,
Betsy Wickwire’s Dirty Secret by Vicki Grant
High Dive
Swim the Fly
The Miles Between
My Name is Memory
In which we ask Shane Peacock our 10 Questions
Shane grew up in Kapuskasing, Ontario and studied at Trent University where he did a degree in English Literature and History. He later completed his masters at University of Toronto where he studied with Robertson Davies. Shane has enjoyed a tremendous variety of jobs, including stints as a labourer and as a bush sprayer. He has also worked as a journalist, and has written numerous plays and documentaries. His first young adult novel was The Mystery of Ireland’s Eye and his most recent series, his Young Sherlock Holmes series, has been the recipient of numerous awards and accolades.
Toes, Ears & Nose, by Marion Dane Bauer, ill. by Karen Katz