A Frustrated Parent's Guide to Entertaining Kids on Long Car Trips

"Are we there yet?"

"Well, how much longer?"

"I'm bored!"

Sound familiar? It's that time of year again, where parents are driving the family on those horridly long car trips. For those with short attention spans (a.k.a.: kids), long car trips can be maddening. The following are ten tips to keeping your kids entertained on the road. 

1. Puzzles

Crosswords, word searches, sudoku...most puzzles can be mildly amusing for kids of all ages. If they refuse to work on the puzzles, then offer a reward. For example, if you have a one-hundred-page crossword book, offer a reward, such as five dollars for completing it correctly.

2. Reaping Rewards

If your kids love money, then offer incentives for being quiet and getting along. When I was a kid, my dad would give my brother and me a dollar for every hour we were quiet and getting along. However, if we argued, we lost all of our money and had to start at zero again. If you don't want to pay your kids just for shutting their mouths, then maybe you can offer them candy or a special game for their PSP.

3. Book Worms

Well, maybe they won't want to read books, but finding a magazine of your child's interest can help the time pass. If your son loves sports, then pick up a few issues of Sports Illustrated at your local books store. If your daughter loves teen magazines, then get her a few issues of Seventeen or Girl's Life. For younger children and those who cannot read yet, get a couple of children's books and spend some time reading to them on the road. If you have a child that actually enjoys reading, then great! Get a couple books of their interest and they'll be set for the whole trip. Try not to make your kids read something they don't want to read; that can cause some trouble. They'll be annoyed and even more bored than before.

4. Car Finders

If your kids are truly bored, then they may be willing to play some car finder games. Slug-bug, spot out the white cars, who's speeding, and finding convertibles are somewhat interesting games. Try not to let your kids get other cars to honk at them, although it is a popular game these days.

5. Sing-along