How to keep kids amused on your travels

It’s the summer holidays, a time of long car journeys with the whole family. Advance preparation is required – here are our tips and ideas for how to manage long journeys with kids.

25. 7. 2024 Škoda World

Whether they are two or twelve, travelling long distances by car is always tough for children. That makes it a good idea to prepare for the journey, come up with some ideas for what to do to keep the kids entertained, and how to make it work so that kids and parents alike don’t end up tearing their hair out. Even a trip across half of Europe can be managed easily. And even enjoyed.

Children of different age categories want different forms of entertainment on long summer road trips.

“Road trips can be a family experience that everyone will remember perhaps as much as the holiday itself. It’s important not to take preparation too lightly and to take advantage of all the options car journeys offer – that means stopping whenever and wherever you want. Have something to look forward to, pack enough food and drink and stay in good spirits,” says Lenka Bittmannová, family therapist at the Nautis Special Education Centre.

Plan it together and make notes

“Getting your children involved in organising and preparing the trip is extremely valuable. It makes the kids feel important, especially when they can have a say in decisions such as how to get to a destination as a family, where to stop and so on. I recommend working with navigation systems and maps, both printed maps and those on mobile devices. Numbers can be fun for some children. They can write down how many kilometres you’ll travel from stop to stop, how many in total, and look up information about the cities and countries you’re going to. There are also lots of travel journals for kids where they can write down their itinerary with your help and draw the important sights they’ll see. In addition to preparing your route and destinations before a long trip, it’s important to get plenty of rest (just as a driver shouldn’t be tired before a trip, neither should kids) and make sure you have your favourite food and activities ready for the trip,” advises Bittmannová.

Active and passive entertainment

How can you keep the kids entertained, what games should you play, and how often should you stop? These are the questions that every parent asks before a trip. It all depends on the kids’ age and interests. It’s good to combine individual and collective entertainment, i.e. fun that involves everyone in the car. It can be passive entertainment, like listening to music or an audiobook, or active, where we can use various games – word chain, puzzles, repeating increasingly longer sentences, counting signs or cars of different colours, inventing stories based on different rules and so on.

Teenagers tend to prefer listening to music or playing video games.

One interesting alternative for older children can be chatting with the voice assistant Laura. You can give her a task to perform, for example. Children usually find it gratifying when they get the right answers and can learn something new and interesting in the process.

Get Laura involved in the fun by setting her various tasks.

Games and films

Tablet or phone – yes, or no? “I wouldn’t rule them out – a favourite children’s series or film, songs or smart games can be good. But the important thing, like at home, is to have a time structure. A tablet is a bigger attraction for children than playing various word games. So leave it as a last resort, when the children are tired or bored and start to fidget and get bad-tempered. Agree in advance how long they can play with the tablet or phone or watch something on it,” the child therapist says.

Tablets or mobile phones can certainly come in useful on long journeys, but they shouldn’t be the only source of fun.

The Škoda e-shop sells a range of tablet and mobile phone holders.

Parents will love having a mobile coffee machine in the car.

A car cool-box will keep drinks and snacks fresh.

Every child will appreciate having his or her own headphones.

Make frequent stops

The frequency of breaks depends on the age of the children and how long they can go without needing to use the toilet and run about. It’s a good idea to stop after three hours at the latest, in a place where children can run around and stretch their legs. What’s ideal is to combine the stops with some kind of incentive, perhaps agreeing that they can have an ice-cream or other small treat at each stop. You can also use tracking games. For example, you can hide a word in a playground or in the grass at each stop, and the children can combine the words to make a phrase.

Take frequent breaks on long journeys and stretch your legs and run about a bit with your kids.

Something different for every age

The younger children are, the more likely they are to get bored. Young children need to be kept very active, so offer them different stimuli and more frequent activities. To avoid conflicts, the best thing is to have the same number of everything as you have kids – so each child has his own headphones and his own activities that suit his interests. This helps avoid unnecessary arguments about whose turn it is. In the case of more expensive gadgets or electronics, it is important to agree on the rules in advance, including time limits, and to put the schedule down on paper and take it with you.

Good night!

If you’re driving through the night, getting the children to fall asleep is a key issue. Some families find it so problematic that they prefer daytime journeys.“ In general, we recommend making things comfortable – an ergonomic pillow, a blanket, a favourite stuffed animal, an audiobook with a bedtime story… Lemon balm tea or other herbs can promote sleep. Some children find it helpful to wear an eye mask so they aren’t disturbed by light. It’s a good idea to stick to a sleep routine. If your children are used to going to bed around eight o’clock at home, don’t let them stay up later in the car, but try to get them ready for bed around the same time,” advises Bittmannová.

A child’s cushion is a wonderful aid for getting your little ones to sleep.

Coping with traffic jams

Finally, Lenka Bittmannová has one last tip to add on how to deal with situations like traffic jams or bad weather: “Make a joke out of it. How parents behave is important in this regard. If their own mood doesn’t turn sour, they can turn the situation into a joke and get the children involved – it doesn’t have to be a major problem. A long traffic jam may be the right time to offer the kids what they like best. Like that tablet with stories, fun educational apps or games, or interactive books.”