Search results matching tag 'car games'

Car Kit

Anonymous — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 14:00:00 GMT

Heading out on a summer road trip? Do you have your car packed?

Don't forget to grab a bookbag and throw in these items for some print-rich entertainment on the road:

(image source)

A variety of books for your reader to enjoy independently. Include fiction, non-fiction, activity books, novelty books, etc. Need some ideas? Here's my road trip book list. Or for more great title ideas, check out my all-time favorite picture books and board books.
A clipboard
Paper pads (lined and blank), notebooks or other blank books
Pencils and erasers
Magnetic drawing boards
Pencil sharpener depending on passenger age, and whether you like pencil shavings in your back seat.
Crayons and colored pencils
Audiobooks: Here are some of our favorites. (You can also download these from sites like audible.com)

What else would you add to your kit?

If you haven't already, be sure to download Read and Write on the Road. It's full of games to keep the little passengers entertained, plus you can sneak in a few reading and writing skills while you're at it.

Happy Travels!

Most of these links are Amazon affiliate links, which means I receive a commission if you click through my site and make a purchase. Thanks so much for supporting my fun little blogging hobby!

Reading and Writing on the Road

Anonymous — Mon, 02 May 2011 06:36:00 GMT

I can't believe it's May! It's been nine months of driving kids to school, to practices, to play dates, home from school... Are you getting tired of the same ol' driving routine yet? If so, here are some ideas to spice up your commute. (Walkers and bus riders can get in on the fun too.)

Fortunately during car rides, my kids are usually willing to just sit and chat with me, something they are slightly less likely to do when they aren't strapped down. For the most part, we talk and listen to music and look out the window. But then there are those days when the passengers (and/or the driver) are just feeling a bit grouchy, annoying, or argumentative. Those are the days when we need a distraction. That's when we bust out the car games!

I started to keep a list of our favorite car games, and I noticed that lots of them have some reading and writing skills built in. (Shocker, I know!) So I typed them up to share with you. Just click here and print your own, cut pages in fourths and attach with a binder ring. For best results, I recommend printing on cardstock and laminating.

Reading and Writing on the Road is a little guide for you to print and keep in your glove compartment for those times when you'd like some fun ideas that sharpen literacy skills while passing the miles.

In the guide, you'll find fourteen games and activities, including old standards, like an alphabet themed version of I Spy. There are some ideas for creative storytelling, and persuasive speaking, and games that practice letter and sound recognition and reinforce comprehension skills. I've also included some suggestions for creating road kits for your kids, and a few of our favorite audiobook recommendations.

Directions are short and simple, so you can get the gist of the games while you're parked and remember them long enough to explain them while you're driving.

And as I mentioned, it's May already. Which means summer is around the corner, and these would be perfect for a summer road trip.

What are your favorite tricks to keep the kiddos happy in the car?

Reading and Writing on the Road

Anonymous — Mon, 02 May 2011 06:36:00 GMT

Letter Love #4: Effortless Literacy Fun

Anonymous — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:00:00 GMT

Ok, I suppose a truly effortless literacy activity would be like, "Hey kids, go watch Electric Company." But what I'm really after are those activities that require minimal materials and very little advance preparation. Something I can do with my kids in the car, a restaurant, while waiting in line at the post office, or at home when I find a (rare) extra fifteen minutes to put to good use.

These activities are great because they make a big impact in a little time. They send the message to kids that literacy is fun!

(image source)

We're the least scheduled family I know, but life is still busy. On any given day, I can think of at least a hundred discussions I could have with my boys, activities to do, books to read together... And then I can think of a hundred more things I could get done myself if I'd just let them play X-Box. When they come home from school, the last thing I want to say is, "Ok, children, let's get the phonics flashcards and practice your reading skills." Literacy is super important, but kids need to play in their spare time, so my goal is to make the reading and writing foundations and skill practice we do at home playful.

Ultimately, if we're going to raise lifelong readers and writers who read and write even when we're not looking, literacy should never seem like work.

This doesn't happen perfectly for us every time. Plenty of literacy activities I've tried with my kids have bombed, or they were fun once but my kids wouldn't come back to them again and again. I'm learning, through lots of trial and error, that the best activities are usually the easiest ones. They are usually the ones that come about authentically during the process of play. They usually mimic the real-life literacy activities grown-ups do. They have a real purpose. (And btw, doing something for pure entertainment is an excellent purpose!)

Here are some of our best effortless and playful literacy activities:

(Mini Marker Wallet from Dilly Baby)

We play these in the car:

The Alphabet Game: Find something that starts with every letter of the alphabet OR Spot the letter in the alphabet on road signs. On short trips, we look for the letters in my kids' names.
One Minute Story: Tell a story that lasts exactly one minute. These are usually ridiculous and have very abrupt endings. My kids think they're hilarious. Variation: Give a one minute speech on any topic. It's fun to let the other passengers pick the topic for the speaker. Or challenge your older kids to go a minute without saying a particular word, for example my dad used to challenge my sister and I to talk for one minute without saying the word "like." (Ah, the 80's were, like, totally awesome!)
Rhyme Game: What do you see out the window? What rhymes with that? House-mouse-louse-spouse. Hey, what's a spouse... For extra challenge, make up limericks. Rhyming is good for learning sound recognition, spelling patterns and even vocabulary development, (if you use new words and explain them.) For more rhyming games, click here.

(Eeboo Big Blank Book)

These are good for restaurants or spare minutes at home:

Draw a Story: One player draws a series of pictures showing the events of a story. Other players guess which story he is drawing. This is great story sequencing practice, and lots of fun for kids who would rather draw than write. This comic book paper from Zakka Life works well for this activity.
Word games like Hangman and the activities described here. (Just do these with paper and pencil rather than magnets if you're at a restaurant.)
Puppet play, paper dolls, pretend play: All forms of storytelling practice! We've been known to use forks, coasters and sugar packets as characters at restaurants.

(Skip Hop Bee Backpack)

Favorite anytime activities:

Reading! :) We keep bags of books in the car for portable reading fun. It's good to rotate these occasionally. I always forget to do that.
Writing and drawing: We also keep clipboards, notebooks and sketch pads in the car, along with crayon rolls or pencil pouches.
Book making: At home we have a supply of bookmaking materials. I make simple books with blank paper, and we love blank Bare Books.

(And hey, you guys! I've been an enthusiastic Electric Company fan, since like 1974, so no offense intended in the first paragraph.)

Have a great Monday!