Stuck on a closed motorway with kids. Help!!

[Neednewcarpet]

Any ideas how to entertain 5 and 8 year olds when you're stuck in the car on a shut motorway? We've been here over an hour and no sign of movement yet. And we have no snacks. We've exhausted the usual I spy, and who can spot different coloured cars. We've finished our audio book, and they were getting sick of being quiet enough to hear it by the end anyway.

Obviously very glad we're stuck and not involved in the accident, but the kids are getting desperately bored. How can I entertain them? All ideas welcome!

(It's the M6 somewhere in Cheshire in case anybody's about to set off.)

My husband and I always play 'who am I' if we get stuck in a traffic jam. Think of a famous person & the other person can only ask 'yes' and 'no' questions to work out who you are.

You can use the same principle to guess anything - TV shows, books, songs etc.

No use for,you right now OP, but for everyone else and for you for next time...

This
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And ALWAYS carry bottled water and snacks.

I have a small ‘Travel‘ OFRS in the car. —it has the shewee kit, paracetamol, tampons, snacks, small first aid kit etc

We found snacks! Forgot we had them. So that's something.

We've walked around a little bit. I'm a panicker though, think that as soon as we start walking, the traffic will start moving. Not been walking anywhere near the hard shoulder though, lots of emergency vehicles going past.

Nobody injured apparently. Not sure about the horse in the crashed horse box.

Animal alphabet game going well so far. Going to get them to swap clothes next for fun.

Manchester evening news says traffic being released so wait might not be as long as you think.
Usually pretty good on their traffic reports

Quiz - ask them trivia questions on subjects they know and like. We play this almost daily with our DCs at the dinner table, always at their request.

Are they easy to use Harryo, and to use discreetly? I've been considering them for a while now.

OP i hope you get moving soon!

I remember an utterly hideous journey when mine were 3 and 1 that should have been 1h30 but was over 5 hours. We were too scared to let them get out the car and the screaming was immense. I think the older one was still in night nappies so we’d put her in one for the journey as it was evening but no idea what we’d have done re the toilet otherwise. Hope you get moving soon.

Get your kids to see who can stay quiet the longest... hopefully they'll both fall asleep don't envy you one but. 7 hours last year. Thankfully no kids but was dying for a wee...and it was my birthday.

@HelpMeTony

Are they easy to use Harryo, and to use discreetly? I've been considering them for a while now.

OP i hope you get moving soon!

Honestly? I used one at home standing up, for practice and it was fine. I haven’t had to try one sat down underneath my coat on the M5 yet.

I like the peace of mind it gives me though. Luckily my motorway driving has, like most other people, gone down drastically in the last 12 months.

Singing?

Making up a poem, eg, "I saw a gnu, in a blue canu" the next person needs to make up the next line.

Waving at other people - see how many wave back.

Can you get out and onto the grass verge?

"watching" your youngest might not get this but pick a person or car at random and say who you think they are, where do they work, age, brothers and sisters, where are they going?

I used to play this in a pub, we also had the 'advanced watching' where you actually make up a life story and then ask the people if you are right.

I loved it when my parents told stories about their own childhood, family life, school, favourite trips, funny incidents with their siblings, times when they got into trouble. Great chance today to talk and listen. Your DC's can ask questions or follow with a similar story about their own childhood so far.

It always ended with 'tell me another'.

3 statements about yourself, two lies one truth. Good opportunity for kids to learn about your pre-kid life and hilarious hearing their attempts to lie in a subtle way.

DH was getting the kids to touch the back of his neck the other day and trying to guess which one it was while they waited for me to get fish and chips.

Our 5yo is surprisingly good at Who Am I, you just have to establish if they are real or cartoon and also take her interpretation of boy/girl/animal with a pinch of salt!

Hope you’re ok OP? Looks like those stuck could be there until after 6pm?

It seems like the horse had to be sedated to be freed from the horsebox. Hopefully it’s ok but they are moving it into another vehicle so it sounds like it’s survived. Poor horsie..

Kids being really good, surprisingly. We've done a few of the suggestions above, with varying success, so thanks for those.

Emergency food/entertainment bag being packed before next long journey. Hopefully once we're freed, it'll be smooth running.

14:39 MEN reporting that the northbound carriageway is being reopened.

BTW the horse has been sedated, freed from the wreckage, and moved to another vehicle.

A lorry and a horse box have been in a crash. Hope the horse and the humans are all OK.

www.trafficengland.com/traffic-alerts

How far until your destination? When we were stuck for 7 hours last year we still had 2 hours to go except then got stuck in another accident for another half hour. It was only later on we heard somebody ny age had died in first accident.

Hoping you get moving again soon.

We were freed after just over 4 hours. Now home. Have no long journeys planned for the foreseeable.

Glad you are home!

I spy
How many green things can you see? Red? Blue?...
How can we get out of here? The more ridiculous the better eg. A helicopter could hover above and we could leave via the sunroof; Dora the Explorer could...
Guess the animal noise.
Rhyming words.
Singing.
Sponsored silence.

We have played trivia type games, done simple math questions, collective nouns ( a murder of crows), sang songs that have hand signs, that kind of thing.

Oh, and add "animal, vegetable, or mineral" to I spy.