Things to do on long journeys
Travelling long journeys is fun. And boring. But exciting. They usually mean you are going somewhere exciting like on holiday or seeing a relative you love or barely know, but suspect you will love. Relatives, who live far away from you are likely to shower you with tons of affection and treats right? That’s why the long journey is worthwhile. But they can be boring. So check out our kid’s guide on things to do on a journey without getting bored and irritating your parents.
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Become a Master of Time
Have you ever played in a park and your mum or dad has said, “five minutes more, and then it is time to go home”. You say, “okay,” thinking 5 minutes is a nice long time, and it seems like 30 seconds later they tell you it’s time to go home? Why? Because time speeds up when you are having fun.
Have you ever sat in your classroom during a really boring maths lesson on a Friday afternoon and you see you only have five minutes left until the end of the lesson? You stare at the clock for the full 5 minutes, but it seems to last for hours? That’s because time slows down when you are not having fun.
Have you ever asked your parents on a long journey, “are we nearly there yet?” And they always say, “we’re half way there,” but you only left the house about 10 minutes ago.
Are your parents lying or is time itself lying? What is time anyway, and how can you master it? Turn to page 5 in your Travel Activity Book to find out more.
Playing with Cars
Do you like long journeys? Not many people like being trapped in traffic jams, but if you are why not play some games with cars? I used to create as many different words from licence plates that I could find. For example, P034 ELY could create Pole, Ley, Poly. This is a great way to practice Scrabble. I still do this when I am stuck in a traffic jam.
Maybe you can count all the different coloured cars and create a tally. You can find a car colour tally board on page 16 in your Travel Activity book.
Reading
Now is the time to catch up on some reading. Be sure to bring a real page turner with you. If you are enjoying a really good book the journey time will go so much faster. Check out our post on World Book Day. We recommend 10 of our favourite books of all time and most of them are part of a series, so you can read one book after another after another. See how many books you can read in one journey.
Solve Puzzles
It can be very therapeutic to solve puzzles. It means you are concentrating on only one thing at a time. Whilst your brain is busy figuring out the answers you won’t be thinking of how long the journey is taking. There are some great time-honoured puzzle-solving games available to try on your own. Here are our recommendations:
Roxenda Speed Cube
This set comes with three puzzles. All you need to do is twist the shape to match the colours. One is a small cube for younger players. It is simple to use and easy to hold. The second cube is a bit more complex and takes a lot longer to work out. The Pyramid looks super hard. Good luck with that one. Let us know in the comments below how long it took you to complete the puzzles.
The Genius Square
This puzzle can be played with just one player or you can compete with someone else. It has over 62,000 puzzles to solve with at least one solution. So that should keep you occupied for a long journey. The game also comes in a star shape just to mix it up a bit.
Solitaire
This classic game is designed for only one player, hence why it is called solitaire. The aim of the game is to remove all the marbles whilst leaving one marble in the centre. The marbles hop over each other like in a game of Draughts. You’d be surprised at how addictive this game is. I confess I have never worked out the pattern to accomplish the end goal, but maybe you will?
Read a Choose Your Own Adventure Book
Choose Your Own Adventure Books have been popular throughout the decades. I remember my brothers reading lots of them. In these books, you are the hero. You are given choices on what to do next. You can pick one choice and have a happy ending or pick another option and the ending might not be so fortuitous for you, but at least it was an adventure.
Write your own Story
Write a story. Use your imagination to write a short story during your long journey. Maybe it can be about a long journey, like a great quest. Maybe it can be about a holiday or space travel? The only limit is your imagination. Be sure to add illustrations and read it to your parents when you have finished it. We have added our own little story on pages 18-24 of your Travel Activity Book for you to enjoy.
Comments
We hope you have found inspiration for things to do during a long journey. We hope you enjoy our Travel Activity Book. Please let us know what you think of the Travel Activity Book. Also, let us know what you do to amuse yourself on a long journey in our Forum.
