5 Tools to Turn Your Carpool into a Car School
Tweet
Image: Randy Faris/Corbis
Whether you call yourself a chauffeur, taxi-cab operator, or shuttle bus driver, your mission is the same: cart your kids to and from sports games, piano lessons, chess meets, playdates, and more. It's easy to let kids watch a DVD, zone out in front of their handheld gamer, or get lost in their music while you're on the road, but you can turn those precious moments in the car into something far more fun, engaging, and educational with these tools.
1. A Lap Desk. Car activities like drawing, writing, and reading will be that much easier (and stylish) with a lap desk. The color and pattern options are nearly endless (some of my favorites are found at All For Color).
2. A Car Organizer. To keep your car from looking like a cluttered mess, you'll need to install a system of organization. You can choose a bin, a special "car-only" backpack, or a clever over the seat organizer. Don't underestimate the importance of keeping your carschool neat and clean.
3. Audiobooks. The idea of carschooling is to keep it fun and entertaining, so you'll want to search out supplies that will pique your children's interests. Borrow audiobooks and music CDs from your local library or download them to your MP3 player so you can expose your children to great works of literature and an assortment of music (or stock up on language learning programs for a family lesson in Spanish, Italian, or other foreign languages).
4. Travel Games. The portable Tag Reading Pen by LeapFrog helps beginning readers and teaches older kids about everything from animals to astronomy, making it ideal for carschooling. As an added bonus, it can be plugged into headphones, so that other children in the car won't be distracted. For group games, pick up travel-sized versions of classics like Hangman or Simon.
5. Flash Cards. Most of us are familiar with flash cards that help kids master basic math facts or practice sight words, but the options go much further than that: eeBoo, a boutique toy manufacturer, sells flash cards that teach children how to be good citizens, have proper manners, and to respect the earth. Flash card sets from Uncommon Goods offer lessons about great works of art and inspire kids to unleash their inner foodie. (One tip: Punch holes in the cards and put them all on a ring, unless you want to be constantly crawling under the seats to find the complete set.)
For more ideas, check out books like Carschooling, which offers more than 350 games and activities to turn travel time into learning time, Miles of Smiles, and Best Travel Activity Book Ever.
Top Articles On Games and Education
36 Fun, Free Printable Travel Games to Entertain the Kids on Your Next Road Trip
Three Simple Origami Projects to Do With Your Kids
Teach Your Child to Recognize Tricky Words with These Simple Games and Songs
