Boredom Busters for Kids

Compiled by Michelle Dally

DEVISE a surprise bag, filled with interesting goodies when making those long trips. Here are some suggestions on what you can pack into that bag:

• A selection of crayons, coloured pencils and pens along with paper or a colouring-in book

• Stickers, stars, gummed coloured paper and safety scissors for cutting

• Treats such as peanuts and raisins, jelly tots, marshmallow mice, biltong and cookies

• Story tapes with a book to follow or a selection of your children’s favourite songs. If each child has a cassette player with headsets, each can listen to their own tapes without disturbing one another (and YOU)

• Pipe cleaners for making figures

• A few old favourite toys from the child’s toy box

Activities for your children

• Draw an easy to follow map of the route you are planning to take, with the names of the towns you will pass through and the distances between them. Let the children trace the route, crossing off each town as you pass through. Ask them to look out for interesting landmarks so that they can draw or note it on the map

• Give your children notebooks and pens and encourage them to draw pictures of what they see. They can also play noughts and crosses, and hangman with each other or with you (of course only if you are not the driver)

• Get your children to play "I spy". This works by saying to them: "I spy with my little eye something beginning with (A, or any other letter)". They then need to guess what it is.

• Ask your child to look out for a certain make or colour of car and count how many they see over a 20-minute period. (You can make this activity last as long as you or the children like).

• Number plate watch: let your children write down the letters in number plates you see on the road and then make up silly slogans from them. For example, IWA123GP could make up the phrase "I want a general practitioner".

back