Traveling With Kids – Too Much Dvd?

A long automobile trip with children can be miserable so like many people, I bring along the item that grants us to arrive at our destination with our sanity intact. This, of course, is the miraculous portable DVD player. How did our parents do without such a device when we were kids? Quite well. In the era before automobile seats, we played on the large back bench of our full size Chrysler New Yorker. We had ALL of our toys with us for hours of uninterrupted play. Most of the time the question “Are we there yet?” just didn’t matter.

Now, children are encased into automobile seats so tightly that if the head moves, it means that you didn’t duct tape the bubble wrap tightly enough. Kudos to the emphasis on safety, it’s just that current innocuous practices have come at the expense of our kid’s comfort and of their enjoyment of the family trip. And we all know that when the children aren’t happy, nobody is happy. Thus our reliance on the Domestic Volatility Defuser, the ever present DVD.

While I’m strapping in the DVD player, I inevitably begin worrying about what I call DVD head: the condition caused by watching too many DVDs over a prolonged period of time. The most noticeable symptom of DVD head is the blank stare on your kid’s grappling when you first shut off the player. Interactivity with humans requires effort compared to the low-bar exigencies asked of DVD watching.

In addition, the latest brain science tells us about pathways and connections in the brain. The more we do something, the more neural pathways are created in the brain that assist in that task: practice does makes perfect. Just as violinists can physically modify their brains with repetition, so can a child repetitively watching the same DVD. When I was a child, I watched far too much television but at least I rarely saw the same thing twice, re-runs notwithstanding. Today’s child will watch the same DVD dozens, if not hundreds of times. Regardless of how benign the content might be, it doesn’t seem wise to be imprinting images of Barney to such a degree on such plastic and developing minds, not unlike the phantom images that get burned onto your personal monitor when you don’t use a screen saver.

So during your next trip, there are certain strategies you can employ to limit the use of DVDs. These do require discipline on your part, particularly if your children are accustomed to their DVD fix whenever they set foot in the car:

1 – Set a finite length of time they can watch and stick to it e.g. apiece child can pick one DVD.
2 – Set a milestone where they can begin watching e.g. pick a town on a map halfway to Grandma’s and no DVD before then.
3 – Provide alternate games/toys. There are many great travel toys out there. Small Etch-A-Sketch, Doodle Pro and attractable signpost Bingo are just a few that come to mind.
4 – Play guessing games like I Spy or Pick a number.
5 – Sing songs.

One other new piece of technology that could help is a portable, speaker based MP3 player. These devices designed specifically for children play music through a speaker, not headphones, so you don’t need to worry about your child developing hearing problems. In addition to music, you can load up the player with stories to keep your child entertained throughout the trip.

Why is an audio player superior for your child’s brain than a DVD player? Humans have been listening to music since the dawn of time. Contrast this with the fast moving images of a DVD where there is no equivalent in the “natural” world. Also, listening to stories on an audio player, from the brain’s point of view, is like being read to. Listening requires imagination, attentiveness and concentration therefore, effort. Many studies are showing that reading to young children promotes language acquisition and is linked with overall success in school.

The next time you are covering a long automobile ride with kids, place the DVD on pause and try some alternatives!

Traveling With Children – Too Much Dvd?

Family Travel Tips: 18 Ways to Enjoy a Road Trip

Whenever one of my friends returns from some time away, I ask: “Was it a vacation, or was it just a trip?”

When traveling with kids, true vacations are pretty hard to come by. With the packing, the automobile seats, the change in sleeping schedules, and all the inevitable whining that comes along, it would be way easier to stay home (especially when traveling by car.)

And yet traveling is important. When we travel, we open to a world that was previously unknown to us. We touch other cultures and other ways of life; we broaden our own perspectives and understand, finally, that our small problems are just that.

When we travel with kids, we open their eyes to all of this and more. Even when we take a easy trip to visit distant relatives, we show them a world of love that they might not had known existed.

Here are eighteen tips to help you enjoy road trip traveling with your kids.

Before the trip:

1. Use online trip planning websites to locate kid friendly parks, historic monuments, and other attractions in advance. Plan at least one child oriented activity apiece day, even on those driving days. Involving your children in the planning of your pass will help them to get excited about the trip, too.

2. When you are doing your research and booking your destination, think about an all inclusive resort. These types of arrangements (in which your lodging, dining, attractions, and activities are included) can really help you rest and enjoy your precious pass time.

3. Have apiece child pack their own small backpack with the books, workbooks, and activities that they most want to bring.

4. Have a kid friendly travel map on hand, as well as a pair of binoculars.

5. Think about buying or borrowing a portable DVD player. We only get ours out on long trips, but it has been really helpful, especially if you are traveling very long distances.

6. Get apiece child a special book of games, puzzles, or easy coloring books, just for the drive, along with some washable markers.

7. Bring some music that everyone will enjoy singing along to. We love our CD of old campfire songs. You can even create your own CDs of family favorites.

8. Bring a Frisbee or a football for when you stop at a park. You want to help your children burn some energy in a reasonable amount of time.

9. Pack healthy snacks, such as nuts, trail mix, apples, energy bars, and bottled water. A package of baby wipes often comes in handy for tiny messes in the car, too.

10. Pack a journal and a disposable camera for apiece child, so that they can document the trip in their own way. These items can be gift wrapped and given to the children as you need a diversion from boredom or sibling arguments.

11. Make sure to speak about your pass like it is the eventual adventure. The enthusiasm that you bring to the prospect of piling into the automobile will help in untold ways.

In the Car:

12. If you can, do as much traveling as doable while your children are sleeping. Of course, country is paramount. If you find yourself getting at all sleepy, pull over and switch with your spouse or find a hotel.

13. If you do not like to drive at night, or you are driving through countryside that you would like your children to see in the daylight, make sure you leave plenty of travel time. Plan on a maximum of seven hours of driving per day. Get up early, drive a bit, and then check into your hotel in the mid afternoon and enjoy the swimming pool. Have a nice, relaxed dinner and leisurely check out some local sites in the evening.

14. While driving during the day, plan to stop at least apiece hour and a half. Stretch, take some bathroom breaks, and remember that getting there is half the adventure.

15. Finger knitting really helps my children to pass the time. All you need is a ball of yarn. There is no mess and you can find easy instructions online by doing a Google search for “Finger Knitting.” During our last automobile trip, we all arrived at our destination with lovely pink finger knitted scarves.

16. During a routine fuel stop, ask apiece child to select five or six postcards, which they can send to their friends. Make sure to bring your address book and postage stamps so you can mail them on the way.

17. Grant one child to be the “navigator” apiece day. The navigator looks at the map and gives suggestions on where to stop for snacks, gas, and meals.

18. Try these easy Travel Games:
The Alphabet Game: Find all the letters of the alphabet, in order, on license plates, billboards, and road signs. Or find objects that start with apiece letter.
I Spy: One mortal spies something in the landscape or in the automobile and gives clues. (One doable variation on this game is “20 Questions.”)
License Plate “I Spy”: See how many says you can spot.
License Plate Alphabet: Find all the letters of the alphabet, in order, on license plates.
Letter Bingo: Print out Bingo sheets with clip art or words depicting sites you will see on your trip.

Ultimately, it is important to remember that there is no such thing as a perfect family vacation. Prepare as much as doable in advance, and then rest and go with the flow.

Family Travel Tips: 18 Ways to Enjoy a Road Trip