In the course of logging about 60,000 travel miles with my kids in the past eight years, I've found that most complaints can be tempered with simple solutions that can actually make it fun to travel as a family. A good game, for example, makes the miles fly by. In addition to games, I've developed many activities and strategies designed to amuse the most bored backseat passengers (click on the following links to see them all: audiotapes for the road, car-ride treats, classic road-trip games, getting-to-know-you games, inventing, finding and counting games, scavenger hunt for the car, scavenger hunt for the plane and the ultimate travel activity bag). I hope they'll help smooth your own family's journey.
GAMES DOWN THE ROW
Games that use a pen or pencil are perfect for playing on airplanes since you can lean on the tray top. The following ideas are especially enjoyed by players who are sitting in a row. Unlike backseat games, which can get fairly boisterous, tray-top games are a bit quieter, so you won't make enemies of your fellow airline passengers.CRAZY CREATURES: Create strange-looking people, beasts or any combination of both by folding a piece of paper into three equal sections. One person draws the face in the top section, then folds down the paper so the next person can't see it. That person then draws the midsection of the body, folds down the paper, and passes it to the third person, who sketches the legs in the bottom section. Finally, unfold the paper and name your creature.
TOUCHY TELEPHONE: This is a good game for people sitting in a row. Player 1, on one end, thinks of a word. Player 2, next to 1, closes his or her eyes and holds out an arm. Using a finger, Player 1 "writes" the word on Player 2's arm. The word gets passed down the row and maybe across the aisle until it reaches the last person in your party. That person says aloud the word he thinks was written on his arm, and Player 1 says the original word. Switch seats and start again.
ONE MINUTE OF WORDS: Everybody gets a pencil and paper. Someone has to be the timekeeper (a good job for a grown-up). The timekeeper picks a letter, tells it to everyone else and shouts "Go!" Players write as many words as possible that start with that letter. When a minute is up, the timekeeper says "Stop!" and all the players put down their pencils. Whoever has the most legitimate words wins. Decide in advance whether you can finish writing a word you've already started when the game ends. Now, give yourself one more minute to write a sentence with as many of the words as you can.
THUMB WRESTLING: When you crave a more active game, put up the tray top and thumb wrestle. Two players sitting next to each other hook the four fingers of their right hands together so both of their right thumbs are sticking straight up. The object is to pin down your opponent's right thumb using your right thumb.
When she's not involved in drawing beasts on paper, Susan Fox is a freelance writer in Palo Alto, California.
Updated July, 2005.
