Preparing for a long journey by car with a child will require efforts and imagination from adults. Active children find it hard to tolerate forced inactivity, especially when strapped in a child car seat. A long journey can turn into a tiring ordeal, unnerving for both driver and passengers. The tranquility and peace that prevails in the cabin is a guarantee of a safe trip.
What can entertain a child while traveling?
The choice of entertainment means: toys, books, gadgets is dictated primarily by the age of the traveler. For the kid, type a lot of bright safe objects: cubes, ducks, birds, large construction set parts, thick felt-tip pens, beautiful pebbles. Anything that, in your experience, can be of interest and will not pose any danger in a moving car. Place in a large clear plastic jar with a resealable lid. It is good that the child himself can open and close it. This is also an element of the game.
This kind of impromptu game simulator can keep the child busy for a long time. Adults will have to take an active part in the entertainment. Name objects, colors, help fold, remove and re-fold content in various combinations. This will not only keep the kid busy for a while, but will also serve as a lesson in getting to know the properties of objects.
Bright large pyramids, volumetric stickers, magnetic screens for drawing, books with large bright drawings - all these are things that can take the attention of a small child for a long time. Parental control and participation in the game are a must.
A more difficult task is to captivate children of middle and senior kindergarten age for a long time. The natural desire to comprehend the world in motion does not allow them to do one thing for a long time. Switch the child's attention to different games and objects every 20-30 minutes.
For cars, toys have been invented and produced that are attached to the glass of the car or to the back of the front seat. These are various arcs, musical wheels and horizontal drawing tables. Convenient protective screens on the side glass. They are made in the form of plastic arches with figures or soft toys suspended from them and, along the way, protect the baby's car seat from the sun's rays.
It will be interesting for children to "steer" with their dad. For this purpose, you can purchase a toy steering wheel, which is attached to the front seat of a car or to a child seat. The bright, fun steering wheel has a variety of buttons and levers that you can click, toggle, and, of course, "beep".
A variety of gadgets will also come to the rescue. Cartoons on the screen of a tablet or built-in car monitor. Audio fairy tales, cartoon songs uploaded to the audio player - all this can be used on a long journey to entertain children.
Find what your child likes. Favorite cartoon characters will help pass the time. However, remember that it is wrong to substitute them for communication with parents. In addition, it is difficult to monitor the screen in a moving car and this does not benefit children's health, as well as a long stay in headphones. Talk to the kids more. It is more difficult and tiring for an adult, but much more useful for a small person.
Travel is a time for communication and child development
Use the time given to you by the circumstances to communicate with your child. Even the smallest ones will be happy to listen to rhymes and songs, learn them with you. Older children will willingly learn letters, words, numbers. You never know what can be counted along the way: from apples on the seat of a car to cars on the highway. Search together on the signboards for a given letter, word, sign.
Do not forget that after two or three hours of the journey, you need to stop and give the child the opportunity to get out of the car. Warm up: wave your hands, jump, squat.
Traveling by car, in any case, will become a bright event for the child. Make every effort to ensure that a long time on the road will be remembered as a joyful experience for all travelers, and not become a nightmare memory.
