Every road trip with children seems to involve that dreaded chant of “are we there yet?” Children everywhere are under the impression that mom and dad have arrived at the destination and just not shared the information with the kids. It can be exhausting for the parents and end up ruining a perfectly good trip. Instead of getting upset when the chant starts, find ways to avoid the “are we there yet” all together.

1. Make a fold out map for the kids, complete with symbols for stops that you will make along the way or major landmarks that you will pass. Give them stickers to place on those stops and sites. Challenge them to find certain sites or items (city limits signs, historic marks and things of that nature). The map will keep them busy and informed about the trip.

2. Plan a movie time experience during the trip – complete with movie snacks and a new release rented from the local movie store. Be sure to save it as a surprise so that you can spring it on the kids when they begin to get tired of traveling. Include headsets with your portable DVD and the adults in the car will be able to have an actually discussion during the movie.

3. Keep the kids engaged in the travel experience. Let them research the trip before you leave and find interesting points along the path that you are taking. Use those points as breaks where you can get out and walk around, or use them as “mile marker” so that the kids know how far they are from the destination according to the information they discovered.

4. Play along the way. Bring along travel games or make up games that will keep the kids occupied during the trip. The more they have to keep them busy the less they are likely to be concerned about arriving at the destination. Make the travel as much fun as the destination and you will never have to hear those dreaded words again.

Traveling with kids is often challenging under the best of circumstances. Sitting for long periods of time, feeling out of control and just being bored will often lead to whining – usually involving the phrase “are we there yet.” With a little planning and a lot of patience the whole family can survive the next road trip with out having to worry about that phrase tagging along.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 5:37 pm and is filed under Family Travel, Travel Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.