Hitting the road

Although the days of summer are long and somewhat exhausting, family road trips don't have be.

The road-trip classics such as I Spy, where one person spots an item and others have to guess what it is based on clues, or the ABC game, where passengers find items that correspond to the letters of the alphabet, can be fun, but may start to get old.

"Many families rely on DVD, MP3, and other electronic entertainment to keep children happy during travel," said Julie Albertson, director of Community Day School in Cape Girardeau, in an e-mail interview.

She said playing interactive games, like making up stories together, keeping a journal or crafts, will engage children and keep them more active during the trip.

"You can also pack special treats as prizes/incentives for your games," she said.

Momsminivan.com, a website for parents who are looking for activities to take on the road, also suggests having children making their own map or giving them their own copy of a map. Show them how far you have come, how much further there is to go and let them mark it with a crayon. Every time they ask "How much further?" have them take out their map and see for themselves.

The website also suggests making Car Bingo cards with different vehicles or objects on them for children to find. For younger children, it suggests puppets or a small container of bubbles for a passenger to blow at the baby.

New mom Ambra Robinson is an aspiring artist who travels often, taking her 8-month-old son with her. Robinson, who doesn't usually have other passengers to entertain her son, said for now she uses fake keys and mirrors to keep him occupied.

"I clip a mirror on the back of my head rest. When he looks at himself, he is so amused," she said.

Robinson said she thinks that younger children need alternative forms of entertainment other than electronics.

As a child, Robinson's memorable car activities included playing concentration and having singalongs. Concentration is a rhythmic clapping game where a player starts with a category such as animals, and then each player names an animal to the beat and cannot repeat what has been said. She said she plans on recycling these games when her son gets a little older.