freedom... to take your family on the road

Think hard about the ages and personalities of your children the constraints of car travel, before packing toys and games for the trip.

Here are some do's and don'ts for child car travel:

For peace of mind, take your own child or booster seat as requests for these items cannot be guaranteed in all cases due to limited availability in some locations.
Bring some suitable reading material.
Allow each child to bring one toy or game to play with alone.
Play 'I Spy'. This can drive parents to insanity in 10 minutes, but small children love it and generally lose concentration before everyone loses patience.
Play '20 Questions', the old 'animal, vegetable or mineral' thinking game in its simplest form. Good for children of 8 and over.
Play 'Collecting', a simple race to 'collect' objects you might see from the car window. Each person chooses their object - red cars, for example, or a certain petrol sign - and keeps their own score.
Make frequent stops for refreshments, leg-stretching and restroom breaks.
Have an emergency stash of food in the car in case you can't stop when you want to. Dried fruit and glucose provide much-needed energy.
Try and get them to look out of the window - that's why you're travelling!

Have games or food that can be fought over or spilled easily.
Allow children to spend too long with Playstations or books - constant use of the eyes in a moving car can induce nausea.
Let games get so raucous that they distract the driver.