freedom from family hassle on the road

on the road

Think hard about the ages and personalities of your children the constraints of car travel, before packing toys and games for the trip.

• Do your children get car sick? If so, you will want to avoid anything visual.
• Is everyone happy to listen to the same nursery rhymes the whole way across America, or will you all go mad?
• If there is only one portable CD or walkman, will it cause more arguments than it's worth?

Here are some do's and dont's for child car travel:

do's

• For peace of mind, take your own child or booster seat as requests for these items cannot be guaranteed in all cases due to limited availability in some locations.
• Choose a few tapes or CDs which everyone can listen or sing along to.
• Bring some suitable reading material. Some children's authors, such as Dick King-Smith, Anne Fine or Beatrix Potter can entertain a surprisingly large age range.
• Allow each child to bring one toy or game to play with alone.
• Try out some of the old favourites, which often involve looking out of the window (good for anyone worried about car sickness) or thinking hard.
• Play "I Spy". This can drive parents to insanity in 10 minutes, but small children love it and generally lose concentration before everyone loses patience.
• Play "20 Questions", the old "animal, vegetable or mineral" thinking game in its simplest form. Good for children of 8 and over.
• Play 'Collecting', a simple race to "collect" objects you might see from the car window. Each person chooses their object - red cars, for example, or a certain petrol sign - and keeps their own score.
• Make frequent stops for refreshments, leg-stretching and toilet visits.
• Have an emergency stash of food in the car in case you can't stop when you want to. Dried fruit and glucose provide much-needed energy.
• Try and get them to look out of the window - that's why you're travelling!

dont's

• Have games or food that can be fought over or spilled easily.
• Allow children to spend too long with playstations or books - constant use of the eyes in a moving car can induce nausea.
• Let games or rows get so raucous that they distract the driver.
• Stop for fast food & fizzy drinks too often; they make some children hyperactive.

off the road

Through the links below you can purchase discounted and advance tickets to some of the UK most popular family attractions including Alton Towers, Chessington World of Adventures and the London Eye.