Keeping kids occupied on long road trips

Are we there yet?

Are we there yet?

Are we…OK, you’ve probably heard that, oh, a hundred times before – sometimes within a ten-minute time period – if you’ve ever taken a kid on a road trip. Or said it, if you were ever a kid yourself.

The attention span of the under-18 set seems to be directly proportionate to the ability of anyone over, say, the age of 30 to come up with ways to occupy them. And our capacity for understanding what’s interesting to young people also seems to diminish in that same ratio, as well.

I’ve developed a complex system for discerning what will distract kids on road trips: making them do different things, and then seeing how long they shut up during each one. The most effective turns out to be a game we call “wear this duct tape,” but it turns out that it has a low approval rating from various parenting groups.

And so here are some that are more politically correct and fun.

Bananagrams

Age range: 7 and up

Basic concept: One to eight people can play this fast-paced game that’s sort of like Scrabble without a board. Tiles are dumped into the center of the table, and everyone has to come up with vertical and horizontal words on their own personal grid. They add and subtract tiles as everyone yells “peel” and “dump” until finally someone is “bananas” when all but a few tiles are used. It sneakily teaches spelling and fast-thinking and is fun. It’s ideal for RV travel because it requires a flat surface, but can also be taken along on a camping trip for down time at a campsite or a rainy day, because it is carried in a small, zippered pouch. The same company also makes a cool word game called ZIP-IT.

Shut-up time: It can go for a good hour, depending on how many people are playing.

Cost: $15

Find it: bananagrams.com

Travel Auto Roadtrip Bingo I Spy

Age range: 4-9

Basic concept: As everyone is tooling along, call out the things you see, and the tykes can slide the little plastic windows over the items on their cards. You can keep little trinkets or treats handy as prizes. You’ll need to keep them a bit engaged, as it might take a while to find enough things to get five in a row for “bingo,” depending on where you’re driving.

Shut-up time: This is more interactive, but it does keep everyone talking for a bit about something besides how long the drive is taking.

Cost: $14 for three cards.

Find it: amazon.com

Radica’s 20Q

Age range: 4 and up

Basic concept: Remember the game 20 questions? This amazing little electronic ball will astound you with how good it is at playing, and you may find yourself stealing the ball away from your kids to try to stump it. The game also trash talks you when it thinks it has outsmarted you, which it does, infuriatingly, most of the time. Kids with tiny fingers may need help with the buttons, but they’ll figure it out fairly fast – you’re the one who may be asking for help.

Shut-up time: Varies, but hands-down one of the most distracting items we’ve had over the years. We’ve purchased several versions of it, gotten updated ones, and given it as gifts many times.

Cost: $10

Find it: Target, amazon.com

The roadtripster is the handle of a longtime Coloradan who travels the country by any means possible, sometimes in an RV, sometimes car camping or in the backcountry, with kids and without.