Any handy tips for travelling with kids?

[PhilipGG]

So we’ve had our T5 California for a few years now and we travel to France a lot. We have two kids, age 7 and 5 who travel in the back in car seats. Does anyone have any tips on how to keep their things while travelling (colouring books, tablets, water bottles etc)? I always try a new way, e.g. bags for each, a basket in between them but not long after we’ve left, the whole lot ends up in a big mess on the floor and then of course, they can’t reach anything and if they aren’t occupied, they get very bored.

I’d also love to hear of any other tricks and tips you may have.

Cheers

 

[Amarillo]

I'm guessing your children sit in seats 1 and 3 on the bench, as they are the seats with isofix.

We have four Brandrup hooks each side over the middle side windows. We hang toys on these hooks that our boys can access while on the move.

Yesterday we had a five and a half hour drive (seven hour journey) and the boys were fine.

Water is kept in bottles in the cup holders on the left and there needs to be some cooperation between the two boys over passing water. This is not always forthcoming, but the promise of a rice cake can help.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[Amarillo]

I'm guessing your children sit in seats 1 and 3 on the bench, as they are the seats with isofix.

We have four Brandrup hooks each side over the middle side windows. We hang toys on these hooks that our boys can access while on the move.

Yesterday we had a five and a half hour drive (seven hour journey) and the boys were fine.

Water is kept in bottles in the cup holders on the left and there needs to be some cooperation between the two boys over passing water. This is not always forthcoming, but the promise of a rice cake can help.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[2haw]

We hang an iPad from the roof with films / kids TV on.

The iPad cover slides in between the roof lining and and roller shutter.

Connected a Bluetooth speaker to the iPad for the sound.

With a couple of films, it kept the kids quiet for a few hours.

 

[Aca_chap]

We hang an iPad from the roof with films / kids TV on.

The iPad cover slides in between the roof lining and and roller shutter.

Connected a Bluetooth speaker to the iPad for the sound.

With a couple of films, it kept the kids quiet for a few hours.

View attachment 31386

Hi this looks like a great idea! I really struggle to position the ipads in a secure and visible place for our 2 and 4 year olds and I think this might just solve it. Could I ask what brand this cover is? Do you leave the hatch open and sllide it beneath the matress? Thanks for the tip!
All the best

 

[Amarillo]

We hang an iPad from the roof with films / kids TV on.

The iPad cover slides in between the roof lining and and roller shutter.

Connected a Bluetooth speaker to the iPad for the sound.

With a couple of films, it kept the kids quiet for a few hours.

So far we have avoided films on the move for fear of travel sickness - but as we have only suffered one bout of travel sickness in 42,500 Km, that fear might be unfounded.

I really like your method for hanging up the ipad.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

 

[2haw]

Hi this looks like a great idea! I really struggle to position the ipads in a secure and visible place for our 2 and 4 year olds and I think this might just solve it. Could I ask what brand this cover is? Do you leave the hatch open and sllide it beneath the matress? Thanks for the tip!
All the best

Sorry i dont know the brand but It's just a cheap cover that has the extra fold in to normally form the triangular desktop stand.

We had the roller shutter closed but it didn't fall down.

Also positioned it slightly closer to the passenger seat to enable me to see out of the rear view mirror.

You need to connect to a Bluetooth speaker otherwise the sound from the iPad is really close to the passengers ears!

Also adjusted the Radio balance right forward so that we could listen to music, albeit fairly quietly.

My girls watched Grease and Frozen so it killed 3 hours without stopping!!

 

[Aca_chap]

Sorry i dont know the brand but It's just a cheap cover that has the extra fold in to normally form the triangular desktop stand.

We had the roller shutter closed but it didn't fall down.

Also positioned it slightly closer to the passenger seat to enable me to see out of the rear view mirror.

You need to connect to a Bluetooth speaker otherwise the sound from the iPad is really close to the passengers ears!

Also adjusted the Radio balance right forward so that we could listen to music, albeit fairly quietly.

My girls watched Grease and Frozen so it killed 3 hours without stopping!!

View attachment 31390

Sounds like bliss! Thanks for the great tip!
All the best

 

[WelshGas]

Sounds like bliss! Thanks for the great tip!
All the best

I would prefer something like this. Closer to the kids and means you don't have an iPad swinging above the driver/front passengers head. Others available on Amazon and eBay.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0779BY8FQ/?tag=eliteelect-21

 

[bigmac77]

My kids just watch DVD’s and play on the iPad or phones. At home they have pretty strict limits on watching tv and playing on phones, PS4 etc but if we are driving to France or any long journey they are stuck in the back of the Cali so I don’t care if they watch tv for hours, it’s only a one off. They have seat back mounted DVD players with noise cancelling headphones so my wife and I can listen to music as loud as we like. We also have a seat back iPad mount from Amazon which works great. In addition we carry a lot of snacks and bottles of water and to be honest don’t hear much out of them except when they are hungry or want a wee.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Now that birth control is too late, I can only suggest I-Spy books.

(Just getting coat now)

 

[PudnBob]

We used to travel 100’s miles with our children and we had a selection of car games.
Car cricket (best played on motorways)
Loose a wicket if overtaken by a red car.
Runs were made by overtaking vans and lorries (the number of wheels have you your runs)
Overtaking an all black lorry was 100 not out
If you included pub signs the number of “legs” gave you your runs (horse and hounds was another 100 not out)

Depending on the age of the children we played “name that tune” using their CD’s, bit sad when we won with the nursery rhymes!

Telling a story using one sentence each ...... that’s usually when the toilet humour starts, the 4yr olds were the worst. Had to pull over once as we were all laughing so hard!

Good old I spy and we make our own check list of views/things to collect get ticked off depending on the journey

We didn’t use films etc as ours got car sick, but story cd’s were invaluable and introduced them to Just William, toad of toad hall, CSLewis, Harry Potter the list is endless. And headphones as a treat when they wanted to listen to something no one else wanted to hear. As for the music my poor children learnt all the words to Bat out of hell by the time they were 5 and Elton John still gets us all belting out a ghastly version of yellow brick road! Xx

 

[BikerGran]

When my children were children we used to play a car game called..... well I can't remember what it was called but it involved spotting differnt coloured bicycles, possibly dogs? - and badgers (men with beards), and getting different numbers of points for them. Can't for the life of me remember how it was played but I do know the highest score was for a red badger on a green bike!

 

[Cali-on-Camping]

We have twin 4 year old boys. Being a Scot living in South England they have been used to travelling long journeys from birth. We bought DVD players that are mounted on the head rest. They were purchased with Tesco Club Card points and can be linked to play the same media or can play as an individual unit. I must say the have been a great purchase but we haven't been able to get the boys using headphones yet so get Paw Patrol in ear for hours at a time.

https://www.tesco.com/direct/voyager-9pp-dual-9-inch-portable-dvd-player/500-8499.prd?skuId=500-8499

We have just bought them Amazon Fire Kids Edition for our upcoming European trip. The problem is, we operate a rewards based system and they might not have them by the time we go away unless they start behaving!!!

not long after we’ve left, the whole lot ends up in a big mess on the floor and then of course, they can’t reach anything and if they aren’t occupied, they get very bored.

Ah yes, the dreaded dropping of water bottles, soft toys or anything that is keeping them occupied for five minutes. Here's our solution.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002R0005Q/?tag=eliteelect-21

 

[J0Xd4E]

We've found these quite useful: http://www.helpinghand.co.uk/catalogue/detail.aspx?pid=55732&gid=42879&pg=SINPr8Icr0s=

So when everything inevitably ends up on the floor the passanger can pick most of it up.

 

[GeoS4]

Our kids are a bit older - 11 and 6 - but have been traveling long distances for years. For the past few years they have loved Nintendo 3DS game consoles - they play against each other using one Mario Kart cartridge over the console’s in-built WiFi. They have so much fun with it that we now each have a Nintendo: we can play 4 player Mario Kart or, if I’m on my own, Brain Training (Sudoku) or the lovely Professor Layton games.
Coming at it from another angle (I’m a teacher), when going on school outings, we often print out treasure hunts - a check list of things to watch out for (pictures for the little ones) a yellow house, a green car, a brown & white cow, a wind turbine etc. Keeps them entertained for a while!

 

[Borris]

Personally, I'm not that keen on all these electronic devices to distract children when on long trips. I can appreciate that they do keep them quiet but I have always felt that they should be noticing and learning to appreciate the ravishing beauty of our passing British countryside. We try to point out and explain everything around us as we go along. Yes, they may get bored from time to time but should our kids have every miniute of their days filled with distractions to keep them happy? IMO, being bored as a kid isn't a bad thing as it encourages the child to think and not just watch.

Failing that there's always Gin...............................................only joking.

 

[Owlish]

Personally, I'm not that keen on all these electronic devices to distract children when on long trips. I can appreciate that they do keep them quiet but I have always felt that they should be noticing and learning to appreciate the ravishing beauty of our passing British countryside. We try to point out and explain everything around us as we go along. Yes, they may get bored from time to time but should our kids have every miniute of their days filled with distractions to keep them happy? IMO, being bored as a kid isn't a bad thing as it encourages the child to think and not just watch.

Failing that there's always Gin...............................................only joking.

Same here. Our 5 & 7 year olds don't watch telly at home, just the occasional film, so have no expectations of films on the road. They do have an iPod loaded with audiobooks though - this is especially good for the 5 year old who's not a confident reader yet. The 7 year old reads instead mostly. We usually buy him a new book or Beano for a long trip so he's absorbed in this for a spell, looking out of the window and so on. He also likes delving into the fridge for snacks!

 

[jimmypett]

So far we have avoided films on the move for fear of travel sickness - but as we have only suffered one bout of travel sickness in 42,500 Km, that fear might be unfounded.

I really like your method for hanging up the ipad.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu

Have read about your blog in numerous posts but it's seems to be inactive. Would love to read about you one year trip as we are thinking about doing the same thing with our three kids in our Beach. Need all the help we can get here... Any chance of reading your posts anywhere?

Cheers from Sweden