TURN YOUR SUMMER ROAD TRIP TO A LEARNING EXPERIENCE
Help your kids develop essential skills with these useful tips
Summer is the time for family holidays. Aussie parents love to pack up the car and take the kids camping or to the beach.
The family road trip is an experience full of laughter and happy memories. It’s a great opportunity to go off-the-grid and spend some quality time with the kids. Getting there is often the hardest part of the trip because children can become so impatient sitting inside a car for long periods. Instead of putting up with tantrums and tears, why not turn your summer road trip into a wonderful learning experience for your toddler?
We’ve divided the skills level into different categories and have identified simple activities and games you can do with your kids during your summer road trip. Don’t forget your toddler or pre-schooler has a short attention span so make each activity no longer than 10-minutes in duration. You can always repeat the activity.
Reading maps and learning about geography
Your kid’s learning experience can start even before you get into the car. Get the kids involved in the trip planning. Print a map of the route you will be taking and give the kids a copy each. Turn the map into a colouring activity for your toddler. Older kids can learn to read a map. They can also learn about states, cities, and towns. Encourage them to go online and google these places.
Ask questions like:
- Which state will be the one that we are travelling in the most?
- Do you know the name of the town that borders the state?
- Which motorway will we be taking to get to our destination?
- How many towns will we be stopping in?
- Which direction are we travelling in?
Kids today are digital natives. Giving them a paper map will be a new experience for them. Recruit the older kids as navigators for the drive. Get them to mark the towns and major landmarks you passed. Driving in a car is also a good time to teach your kids how to tell where the sun is.
Reading the alphabets
There are 26 alphabets in the English Language so you can play this game up to 26 times on your road trip! If your pre-schooler has only just started learning the alphabets, then play only the ones that they can recognise.
Point out an ‘A’ on the trip. This can be a road sign, a sign on a building, a license plate, or the ‘A’ on the Apple Juice carton that you give them to drink. Get them to find more ‘A’s.
Counting the numbers
There are 26 alphabets in the English Language so you can play this game up to 26 times on your road trip! If your pre-schooler has only just started learning the alphabets, then play only the ones that they can recognise.
Point out an ‘A’ on the trip. This can be a road sign, a sign on a building, a license plate, or the ‘A’ on the Apple Juice carton that you give them to drink. Get them to find more ‘A’s.
Training memory
Say an alphabet and get your toddler to name three things that begin with the alphabet. If your child is struggling, help him or her out by giving them the answers. Be sure to give them answers that they know. Say the next alphabet and get them to say all the things in the first alphabet and all the things in the second alphabet. The more times your toddler repeat things, the more they will remember it.
Naming the animals
On your road trip, you will spot many animals so turn this into a lesson about animals. Get your toddler to spot any animals they see like dogs, cats, cows, sheep, and others. Sing an animal song. Make animal sounds. Tell them the alphabet. Talk about where they live, their colour and what their babies are called.
Reading menus
At your pitstops, pass the menu to your toddler and encourage them to pick out the alphabets they can recognise. The big ‘M’ on McDonald’s and the ‘K-F-C’ on KFC are easily identifiable. Point out the letters to your kid and get them to read it. Make it into a spot the ‘Big M’ game as part of your road trip.
Literacy
Not everyone can read in a moving car. That’s we have audiobooks. Download an audiobook before you travel. Get your child to choose his or her favourite books and play them during the trip.
Where to find audiobooks for your road trip
Borrow e-books, audiobooks, and magazines from your local library with OverDrive. The service is free. All you need is your library card and a library in your community that supports this service.
Audible is a subscription service. There is a free 30-day trial. After the trial, a monthly subscription of $16.45 applies. Audible is part of Amazon Books and has an impressive library of books to choose from.
Scribd is a subscription service. There is a free 30-day trial. After the trial, a monthly subscription of $8.99 applies. The service has a large collection of e-books, audiobooks, and magazines to choose from.
LibriVox is a free public domain with a good collection of books.
If you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can download audible books from this platform.
Spotify is not just for music. The platform has a good collection of downloadable audiobooks to take with you on your road trip.
A free online podcast platform with original fairy tales and classic tales for children of all ages.
10 important things to pack your toddler’s road trip
Here’s a list of 10 things to include in your packing list:
- A comfortable age-appropriate car seat
- A foldable stroller
- A potty (for emergencies)
- A portable playpen (for pit stops)
- Rubbish bags and paper towels (including wet wipes)
- Games and activity pack
- Kids’ backpack
- Favourite pillow and soft toy
- Freshwater
- Healthy snacks
Ready for your summer road trip? Our suggestions will keep the kids entertained and learning so you can concentrate on the important task of driving and keeping the family safe.
