EDU Review
The latest trends in education and parenting July 3, 2014
With summer officially here as of June 21st, many of us have that lovely refrain running through our minds, “ROAD TRIP!” And what says road trip more than bored fractious children whining, “Are we there yet?” But hey, it doesn’t need to be that way. There are so many great ways to keep kids happy in the back seat. Today we bring just a few.
Megan, over at Brassy Apple, discovered that burner covers are only 50₵ each and decided to see how many cool crafts she could create with this inexpensive item. She calls burner cover craft #4 “Road Trip.” Using a burner cover, chalkboard paint, spray paint, permanent marker, ruler, and some magnets, she created a two-in-one laptop game for road trips. One side is a chalk board, the other side a Tic Tac Toe board. We love the practicality of this game: the lip of the burner cover keeps the chalk from rolling away, and when not in use, the whole shebang is easily stowed away in a seat pocket. You’ll find the instructions HERE.
One of the main problems with road trip games is small pieces that roll away. Casey Orr at Cardigans and Curriculum came up with a simple yet ingenious way to keep dice from escaping the tiny clutches of your children: mini storage containers. Put the dice in the container, close the lid, and voila—dice that are fully usable without ever getting away.
Did you know that the Internet is filled with free downloads and printouts of games that can be played in a car? Here is one we really like: I Spy Bingo, a free downloadable PDF file you can download HERE. Print out on crack and peel paper and apply to heavy stock. This is ideal for two children. Print out two and give the kids dry markers. As they “spy” the items on the board, they mark their boards until someone fills a row, diagonally or horizontally, and cries out, “Bingo!” Have some small prizes on hand to reward victory.
Next up, we really liked this great road trip game idea from Shiloah Baker of what was formerly The Homemaking Cottage, a website that is now, alas, defunct. Shiloah fills paper bags with small prizes and treats and marks each bag with the name of a location along the way to the family’s ultimate destination. The kids get maps and must follow the route until they reach the locations marked on their “mystery” bags. The kids then get to open their bags and enjoy the spoils! We love this game because it is actually educational in that it teaches children a bit about geography and a lot about how to follow a map. Shiloah prepares several of these bags and gives them out about once an hour during a road trip.
Who doesn’t like bubble wrap? No one we know, including adults. There’s just something so satisfying and fun about jumping up and down on the stuff or even popping bubbles one by one. Apartment Therapy came up with a brilliant and educational use for the bubble paper with the really large bubbles. Create a template, using the bubble paper as your guide, and draw colorful items on the template, the sort of items one sees on the road, one for each bubble. Apply the bubble wrap with double sided tape and there you have it, a totally awesome game. The child watches out the car window for the items on the board and gets to pop the relevant bubble when she sees one. Your child is going to love this so make a lot of them. Full instructions can be found at the website, HERE.
We suspect with all these great activities, your kids won’t want to leave the car, even when you get where you’re going!
Bon voyage.
When you travel, don’t forget to download and use the Kars4Kids Safety app, the parents’ helper that helps keep babies safe.
About Varda Epstein
Varda Meyers Epstein serves as editor in chief of Kars4Kids Parenting. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Varda is the mother of 12 children and is also a grandmother of 12. Her work has been published in The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, The Learning Site, The eLearning Site, and Internet4Classrooms.