DVD player for both kids and DS for son... daughter will listen to the radio. Unfortunately for her she can't read/DS or anyting without feeling ill.
Both kids though have been doing long journeys since they were little - they know its a long time and as long as we have stops every 2 or 3 hours they tend to be ok. Apart from day 1 we try and limit travelling to 5hrs, with lunch in the middle and an icecream stop mid afternoon.
Mine think nothing of 2hrs in the car - son does it each way to footie matches every 2nd Sunday, don't think he even looks up from the DS which stays permanently in the car.
DVD player is excellent as a starter. We too play the Lorry game with a sliding points scale - my son has a sense of pecking order as Morrisons is only 1 pt whereas Waitrose is worth 20! As previously suggested you can improvise once you get into different countries.
We bought some i spy books (remember them when I was little) for a recent trip to Scotland. Have to say that they are superb and good old fashioned entertainment.
We are having a go at Stephen Fry reading HP this year. Think it will keep us all amused.
The very best entertainment last year was listening to England tear apart Australia in the final Ashes test at the Oval. We just reached a LW signal as Stuart Broad started working his magic. Many French people looked bemused at mad English getting over excited at the queue for the peage! Didn't work for my daughter who just watched a DVD... slightly flawed as it relies on there being excting sport, having an interest and being within range of a signal - few too many variables methinks!
My children are older and are great travellers - many years of driving to south of france! But here are a few things I found useful over the years.
Etch a sketch or similar - less mess than pencils - kept them occupied for hours - who can draw best lorry - noughts and crosses - battleships - hangman etc.
Who can keep quiet the longest competion - financial reward a great incentive. They actually excelled at this one, doesn't work now though sob sob
Audio books - War of the Worlds being a favourite.
Stopping at Aires every 2 - 3 hours, preferably one with a play area - and having half hour run around.
Have fun x
------------- Kyla
Don't forget to leave a review of the French and other European campsites you have visited!
I once read about a lady who bought both her kids a pack of smarties at the start of the journey which they could eat at a certain time, say two hours in.
However, every time a child argued, complained or generally annoyed her, she would throw one of their smarties out of the car window. The kids quickly learned that to get a whole packet they had to stay quiet and well behaved. This made me laugh a lot, although I haven't been bold enough to try it!!!
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Topic: Long journey kids` entertainment
