How do you keep kids from fighting in the car on long voyages?

Question

We have all the toys too. Gameboys, MP3s, DVD players, and the fights start about 30 minutes into a 8 hour car trip. We take breaks, we play games, everyone is well fed. But the trip to the destination becomes brutal and we are all stressed by the time we get there. We switch spots too, but I don't like the idea of the adult having to be in the backseat as the answer to keep the peace on an 8 hour drive. Any ideas?

Trips are long, we do the licence plate game too. However, I agree with a poster who said, too many things to do. My 8 year old misses a lot of America (we are Canadian) as he sits quietly gaming. He's not my problem though..It is my 10 year old boy. He will get bored then poke and tick off the happily playing boy.

Answer 1

My english instructor at the Community college said she raised 4 by herself and her answer was to make the offenders hold hands. Kids fighting would rather eat dirt than hold hands.
tried it on mine and it worked with great

Answer 2

Hello!
You got me stumped on this question. I was originally going to tell you that my boys ( who are 3 and 2 ) love the PSP. The fights with us start asap, because we only have one PSP. Maybe you have the problem with not having enough of the same item or if you do have the same item, just not enough of the same games for the item.
If that doesn't work, which becomes our next thing, we take the game away. I think my boys really shouldn't have a game like the PSP or any game in electronics because it is too high tech, but my boyfriend (their father) begs the difference. I think kids are getting too spoiled now days and easier for parents to entertain their children. Not saying it is bad what you have, because I have a PSP and a Gameboy and a laptop that plays DVDs for long car trips. But I have noticed my quiet oldest son, who loves looking out the windows is a sight seeker when we take the games away and the 2 year old is a sleeper when the games are taken away.

You got me stumped, maybe someone else has a good idea, best of luck.

Answer 3

Let them earn their spending money on the trip by being good. Specify what good is. Every 1/2 hour is worth $1. So after an 8 hour car ride they have $16 as spending money.

Also travel at night. 8 hours is a work day - kids need to be active during the day - that is how they are wired! Travel at night and make sure you both stay awake. You might be a little burnt out after it, but it is so worth the happiness!

Answer 4

How about this? Put away all the electronic toys for one. Depending on your kids' ages, you could try: the license plate game. For instance, ask them to look for license plates from states starting with A, then B, and on. Put small toys, snacks, in a bag. Whoever spots the most license plates w/whatever you've asked them to look for, gets to choose one thing from the goodie bag.

There are good books out there to help find other activities for car trips. All those electronic things should be last resorts, not first ones. How can they enjoy the scenery and learn about the country they're going through if their eyes are glued to toys???Go on the internet and look for websites. Here are 2:

arc.publicdebt.treas.gov

homeschooling.about.com

Find those which apply to your kids' ages.

Answer 5

wow you have lots for them to do. Play our favourite game. The first to talk is out. On an 8 hour trip I would even use lollies as the reward for being the quietest. This would probably give me 1 hour of peace LOL. Usually the threat of "do you want me to pull this car over" is enough for mine but our trips at longest have only been 4 hours. Good luck

Answer 6

Two children of my own. Positive reinforcement works very well. I came up with a daily chart of chores, behavior, homework etc. If everything is done well, they get a star for the day. If at the end of the week they have all their stars, they get to pick from a grab bag containing a reward. Believe me, they would get very upset if they lost a star, and if they did, they had to earn it back. In the grab bag, I put things like $5, movie rental, favorite dinners, computer time, etc. Perhaps you could try something of the sort for your trips. Once they see that they can be rewarded for their good behavior, they will look forward to the next grab bag.

Answer 7

What works best for me:

Drive at night. I am an early riser, so we leave about 3:00 am. The kids sleep until 9-10:00, stop for breakfast, stick a DVD in and that will last until you get there.

When I was a kid, both my parents would drive. It was 12 hours to grandma's house so we would leave at 7pm, we kids would be asleep before we knew it (we didn't have dvd's back then), and when we woke up we were at Granny's!

Answer 8

Wow, I have never encountered this problem. My kids are roadies, always have been and they love to go for drives. No, fighting. They sleep part way, look out the window part way, and watch the dvd part way. I hardly ever hear a peep except when my oldest has to pee. Good luck, I would just turn up the radio and let them duke it out. I would imagine that after a minute they'll give up because they can't be heard over the radio and they aren't getting any attention. ^.^

Answer 9

ask him the night if he wants to sleep on the trip, ler him stay the night before and he can sleep in the car for the trip. He too just may need more attention.. brainquest games are good if has games on a ring and there are over 400 questions and answers to make him think ..

Answer 10

I have four children and usually making frequent stops help the arguing in our car. I have to say, I'm very lucky and my children don't fight a lot but I think being so cooped up for so long would get anyone ready to do something different. I'd try stopping more (and I know it drags out the trip but try making the stops fun for you too!).