Entertaining a 12 yr old on a European road trip

[Dddqueen]

we’re driving through France and Italy this summer in a campervan. Our youngest son (12) is the only one coming too. Does anyone have any advice on the best ways to keep him entertained when he gets sick of the view/stops/parent banter on a 7 hour journey? Is a smartphone enough to get by?

Watching with interest as same question here - but my plan is podcasts - unspookable is good.

We live in the EU and it's a 7 hour trip including the tunnel to get to my family in the UK which we do 3x a year.

DC (9 and12)always have a bag each in the back. No smartphones/tablets allowed in the car though we might relax this for podcasts/audio books in the future. They have: books (mostly comics, graphic novels, Pokemon encyclopaedia ), a magazine, some kind of summer puzzle book, pencil case, sketchbook, soft toys, fidget toys, little cars and whatever other nicknacks they choose. Always chuck in a neck pillow, eye mask and blanket now as well so they can snooze if they want.

My kids are used to not having access to electronic devices - if I have them a smartphone I can guarantee they'd be on it for the whole journey.

When I travelled through France as a child (admittedly more years than I care to remember) my dad got my brother and I a book of things to look out for - for example the French reg plates had a number system back then which had 2 digit numbers indicating where the car come from.

You had to look out for all the numbers and make them off.

Not sure if a 12 year old will enjoy this but wirth a look.

I drove all over Europe with my DS from 8 to 16. In the beginning, a bag of lego was fine, but in later years, he tended to watch movies on his laptop, organise the car music, and then talk excitedly about life. I also included destinations for his specific interests - eg., anything to do with cars, trains and planes. This included diversions to small airfields, a visit to Le Mans and the Nurburgring, go kart tracks and a few one day visits to theme parks. The journey became part of the holiday.

It's fantastic that you're doing this - and it has the potential to become a "marker" in his childhood. Can he help choose the route? Does it have to be the fastest or can you divert off the autoroute to visit something he would find interesting? My DS (now 24) still talks about the trips we did, and happily drives all over Europe with a) friends b) a girlfriend and c) sends me photos of "car snacks" (something we used to buy together - the little packs of dried sausages they sell in French autostops, Capri Suns, apples and an unhealthy amount of sweets).

Good luck!

Why does he need entertainment? Put music on or podcasts - adult ones, kids are fine to learn things!

I took 2-3k road trips with mine each year without the benefit of tablets, they hadn't been invented when they were small and then we didn't have one. We played word games out loud, eye spy then stuck on the radio when they were smaller then podcasts once we had the tech.

And of course you can always play yellow car

And yes do get "car snacks" - special trip to the supermarket for Capri Sun, cloudy lemonade cans, crisps etc (apples were bought by me!) but added advantage is it reduced costs at stops as snacks really add up at service stations (we bought proper meals though)

Around the same age we used to take the coach to Spain (from Northern England, so over 24 hours including ferry and stops).

Before mobile phones had been invented. I had books, puzzle books, possibly a Gameboy and headphones, a Walkman, travel games.

Oh god. It’s a curse. I say it aloud when I’m driving by myself. Don’t start him on that road to madness.

Saying that, when DS was 12yo we got the entire Cabin Pressure CDs for a road trip across Northern Europe, and he still
loves them and quotes them 10 years on.

@Dddqueen, a really good audiobook/series/podcast is a great solution. The original Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy was another very successful road trip choice for us.

Get the boy a phone and a huge data roaming bundle. If there was ever a time from screens this is it.

Puzzle magazines for ours. Logic problems, wordfit and hanjis are their favourites. And lots of books.

Cabin Pressure as @JurassicClark mentioned is far and away the best comedy radio show ever written. The whole family can quote it verbatim. It gets pulled out for every roadtrip.

I'm assuming he doesn't get car sick?

🤣

Brilliant - and amazingly speedy - advice, thanks all! So, I’m now packing that bag for him in the back, going off piste as the mood takes us and feeling mikes more confident knowing that you’ve all got positive survival stories. Thank you!

I know it’s old fashioned but ..a book ? Assuming it won’t make him carsick ofcourse - I can’t read in the car for this reason.

Another number plate one! at that age my children loved looking out for all the different country number plates and proudly announced where the cars were from. You get so many more nationalities driving around than in the UK

Podcasts from iplayer - Desert Island Disks, Just a Minute and often I do Woman's Hour while dd likes the murder ones (Murder Mile not on BBC about murders within 1sq mile of London was memorable).