Share the ways you keep your children entertained on long journeys with Vodafone

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Every parent has their own special way of keeping long journeys fun – whether it’s through using devices to watch videos, or involving the whole family through songs and games. As the summer holiday season is in full swing, Vodafone want to know how you keep your children occupied on long trips.

Here’s what Vodafone has to say:
“It’s a glorious summer’s day. You’re stuck in the car and there’s 100 miles still to go. The kids are getting restless. But you know the perfect way to keep them entertained. A sure-fire way to keep them distracted just a little bit longer. That back-pocket ace card that you can play during times like these.

We want to know your secret!”

What’s your trick to keeping your children entertained for most of the journey? Are you a key part of the entertainment (think a family game of ‘I Spy’), or do you let them get on with it and hope for the best? Are there any particularly memorable journeys you’d like to share?

From young children to teens, what are your tips and tricks in keeping them entertained? Share on the thread below and everyone who does will be entered into a prize draw where 1 MNer will win a £300 voucher of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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We play 'guess the anything' ... a bit like I-spy combined with the Yes/No game. You can think of literally 'anything' then people take it in turns asking you questions but you can only answer yes or no, as soon as the question gets a 'No' then it moves on to the next person for questioning. It can be a lengthy game, but heaps of fun and we always end up in tucks of laughter!

Im pretty lucky my kids are good in the car. We have a tablet which dd sometimes plays on or watches films on but its sometimes more trouble than its worth. In general we just listen to kids music and chat/point things out! Whats a real help however is timing journeys. Its 3hrs to DMs house and we leave at bedtime. We traveled overnight to Dsis who lives at other end of the country. If we have to travel during the day having a few agreed stops and making a day of it can help too or having an in car picnic.

We play "think of an animal" which is a simple version of 20 questions.
One person thinks of an animal and everyone else has to guess, asking questions that have only yes/no answers.

On A road journeys we count legs. Any pub on your side of the road you get the number of legs in the name.
George and Dragon is 6. If the sign has more in the picture (e.g. George is on a horse ) you get the extra legs. No legs (e.g. queens head) is minus 1.
Side with the most legs wins.

We use our tablets so they can watch downloaded stuff or play games. However, because our 5 year old can be prone to travel sickness, she usually has a squishy to squeeze to allay her stress.
Lots of guess who and 20 questions games to pass the time also.

Audiobooks from Audible, from one phone with two sets of earphones (in trains). Was amazed my 11y old listened to Harry Potter read by Stephen Fry for 6 hours straight last week.
And lots of sweets...

We go to the pound shop and depending on the estimated duration of the journey but a small toy / book for them to open once an hour has passed. If the duration is 4 hours then 4 items etc. We wrap them too and they take a lucky dip from the bag. In between this we play games such as who can spell where we shout out a word and they have to spell it. We also play car bingo- where you have to spot lots of different makes of car- or state number plates if in America! Keeps them occupied and they enjoy it

The 'yes' 'no' game ( I say I'm thinking of.... an animal/place/person and I can only answer yes or no until they guess) usually distracts them for quite a while .

It depends on length and time of journey -

Evening journey we will usually have a story cd on because I want them winding down, possibly pyjamas on and blankets over seat belts, and we will talk

Day time short journey we have music on that we all enjoy and will sing along or chat to each other about what we are going to do / have done

Day time long journey we have music that we all enjoy and will sing along to, we will also do a mix of play memory games like shopping list, look out for a list of things and first to find them all wins, 20 questions, we chat about what we have done/are going to do

For really long journeys I also usually have a bag of Poundland stuff that I will get something out of every now and then which might be a snack/toy/book/cd/hair accessories/puzzle book/craft activity/colouring book and pencils etc, doesn't cost much and they are excited when I decide to get something else out (any asking, except saying they are hungry - I have other boring snacks available, and it is off limits for half an hour) in between a mix of the other long journey activities

Our son gets very easily bored on long car journeys.. on any car journey actually!! We had to find some way of making it more pleasant for him to ease the stress on all of us!
When he was younger, we used nursery rhyme CDs which he really loved.. we used them so often in fact that I would often be caught belting out the jazz version of Humpty Dumpty while at work.. oh the shame!
Now he's older - he loves quizzes so we do a lot of Harry Potter based quizzes. Audiobooks are a great option for when I have run out of questions!
His favourite game however is 'The Name Game' - this is a great little game adapted from a drinking game we used to play at uni. The idea is that one person names a famous person (adapted for our son so he names a school friend or film/book character) both first name & surname - for example: Harry Potter. The next person then has to think of another person whose first name starts with the first letter of the surname of that person - so if the first person said Harry Potter, the next person would need to think of a person whose first name begins with a P - for example: Petunia Dursley, the next person would then have to think of a person who first name began with a D & so on. If the persons name is an alliteration (i.e Peter Pettigrew) you change direction. It's a great game although sounds very complicated when typing it out!!
If all else fails you could bore the kids to sleep by explaining the rules to the game as I have typed them above!! :)

We play a lot of memory games... 'I went to the shop and I bought.....', naming a-z of different topics(choc bars is my favourite). Xx

We often use the following:

• audio books or music cds
• games like I spy
• colouring & stickers
• small toys like little figures or cars
• snacks!!

We normally have a few games on long journeys, counting silver cars, who can take the strangest or most beautiful picture of the sights we pass(driver not included) . We have singalongs and I also make use of my Vodafone data hot-spotting to my sons iPad so he can watch a film or play a game part of the way. The last game is whoever is silent for the longest gets a sweet 😂

Audio books and lots of games eg I-Spy, Alphabet game, spotting games (different colour cars, tractor, car transport, police car, motorbike, pedestrian etc), describing people in cars by the letters on their numberplate, eg OHW old hairy woman. The hours just fly by...!!
Oh, and if it's a really long journey it is punctuated by snacks.

I spy is a family favourite, as is traffic cricket

A backpack packed by her with snacks, card games, little toys, colouring, pens and a good ol' tablet

I usually start talking to my daughter about when I was young or when I met her father. This is a sure way to send her to sleep or she pretends to..

I like to make busy boxes or busy tins. Finding small, manageable toys and games that you can separate into little bags and get out during the journey. A few big hits have been:

• Mini magnetic sketch pads
• Crayons and colouring in sheets
• Peg boards and a few elastic bands, or some string
• I spy activity sheets

Oh and snacks. All. The. Snacks.

We talk a lot in the car and sing along to CD's or the radio. My DC is 11 and will often read a book or go on her tablet, but not for the whole journey. I don't agree with plugging them in just to shut them up and as a single parent, there is nobody else for me to interact with, so we have a great time actually engaging with each other.

When she was little we used to count the windmills on the way to Cornwall. Now we do other things, like red cars, or cows, or first one to spot a tractor etc.

A fully stocked lunch bag also helps, as it doesn't matter if you get delayed, you don't get the whines of "I'm hungry"......

A DVD keeps mine happy on long journey's - fortunately neither of them get car sick! And snacks...

We do also play a game whereby you have to come up with words using the 3 letters from the number plates on the cars in front - longest word wins. Animal guessing game is a favourite too along with good old fashioned i-spy.

My teens are happy on their phones watching YouTube!

We do a mixture of stuff.
Play games like Word Association, make up a story with each person telling a bit of it, listen to story and kids podcasts, listen to music and then tablets come out.

Lots of singing, audiobooks, and games of i-spy.

We play lots of visual games, for example who can spot a green car first or who can see a horse first. We also bring some nibbles and drawing books.

We always play the country/city/town game, we go through the alphabet and find as many beginning with A and so on! It's educational and fun! It keeps them quiet for a good hour if they are bored!!!

Colouring Books. Colouring books are perfect for something physical to keep little hands busy