If you watch films it seems road trips can be lots of fun or a nightmare of disasters which end with you going over a cliff. In real life long journeys are just dull and the children get bored. If you have young kids it can be very difficult to keep them entertained and a good idea is to play car games to keep them occupied.

Babies and toddlers might sleep through a long trip or be content with nursery songs and a toy. Modern teens will entertain themselves with their phone or tablet by listening to music or taking selfies to share with friends. Between the ages of around five and thirteen it is trickier to keep their mind off when they might arrive at your destination.

There are a lot of things that can be done while driving to keep little minds busy. If you are travelling a scenic route or through towns you can give the children lists of things they might see to tick off as they go past. Whoever sees something first gets to check it off and the winner is the one with most checked off. Pick sites of interest or things that are likely to be seen on your chosen route. It is unfair to ask them to look for cows in the middle of downtown New York.

You can help your children learn their multiplication tables with a number game. Take turns saying the next number in a sequence or count from one to a hundred but replace the numbers that divide by four with a funny word. Decide which tables are appropriate for the age of the children. Maybe the youngest says a word on all the fives and the eldest has to say another word for prime numbers. There can be many ways to keep score or simply see how far from the start you can get.

If the family is musical try a version of name that tune. Someone hums a song and everyone has to guess what it is. The person who guesses correctly hums next. This can actually be funnier if the person humming is not musical! A variation would be TV theme tunes and the guessers have to name the show.

If your journey involves a lot of freeway driving there might not be much to look at except other vehicles. Try spotting unusual vehicles like a VW bug or something bright yellow. The person that spots the vehicle first can pick the next thing to look out for. Make a rule that it has to be something plausible.

Bad weather and holiday times are normally when traffic builds up and queues form on freeways and major roads. This gives the opportunity for spotting people as well as other vehicles. The options are endless, a man with a hat or a dog in the back. Either choose one thing per player and see who gets most or the first one to see something wins points.

A Long journey does not have to be boring or end up with the family arguing. A little planning and a pen and paper for the children and they can easily be entertained. It can also be a fun way for them to learn their times tables.