Entertainment for the road

Pre-teach

Talk to your children about where you will be traveling.  Look up the location on the internet or map or both.  Research facts about your destination that will help your child remember and look forward to your trip.  Show your child on a calendar when you will be going and when you will be back.  The more your child knows the better and less anxious they will be.

Technology provides many sources of entertainment from portable DVD players to Nintendo’s DS Lites and even iPhones or iPods. Some technology things that has worked for us… downloading PBS shows from iTunes. If you have a portable DVD player with only one headphone jack, get a headphone splitter so multiple people can listen. And listen to audio books.

If you want your kids to be entertained beyond what technology can provide, you might try free print out travel games from Familyfun.com or check out the travel size board games such as Taboo, Bop It, Apples to Apples, Candyland, Trivial Pursuit and Sorry in the game section at Wal-Mart or Target. Lap desks are great for kids to get creative with drawing or coloring in the back seat. Stickers, coloring books and magnetic books.

Conversation starters

Bring a list of random questions or some may call them conversation starters. Questions such as, If you could have a super power, what would it be? There are also games and books with these conversation starter questions. Games such as Would You Rather…, Loaded Questions and Smart Mouth all available in the game section at a very low cost.

Where are you staying?

Does it have children friendly facilities? A pack ‘n play works well for baby and toddler sleeping arrangements while traveling. Sleeping bags are also easy to pack for older children. If you are in a hotel or motel, ask for a cot for the older kids. Some hotels have cribs you can use. Don’t forget your own pillows. Maybe it’s just the germaphobe in me, but I have a hard time sleep on someone else’s pillow. If your child has a special blanket, pillow, doll or lovey remember to pack that. Life jackets make swimming at hotels less stressful for parents and kids.

Make a car kit

Keep a container of easily accessible children necessities in the car. It can be in a large Tupperware, a plastic bin or a special car/trunk organizer. Then put baby wipes, sanitary wipes, extra diapers, a small first aid kit, packaged tissue paper, paper towels, toilet paper and a couple of plastic grocery bags for trash or the unfortunate car sicknesses. The paper towels and toilet paper comes in small travel sizes. You never know when you’ll have to clean up a spill or a public bathroom doesn’t have toilet paper.

I also travel with a large insulated tote to keep drinks cool and fruits fresh. Pack sandwiches and snack if you don’t want to stop for fast food.  Each child having their own water bottle that they can decorate before they leave on the trip is a great way to avoid soda and stops for high sugar drinks.

Air travel pillows are great for kids while traveling in the car.  You can find the child version at most department stores.  Kids find comfort from the soft plush around their neck and hopefully will promote a relaxing ride.

Schedule it right

Plan driving around nap times or bed times. This works well for kids who sleep well in the car. Leave at a time when you know your kids will sleep. We have left for a road trip at 4 a.m. because Kaye goes back to sleep when she is in the car. Then when she awakes at 8 a.m., we had already traveled for four hours.

Kids eat free

Plan to stop at places where kids eat free. Or places with playgrounds. Let them get out and stretch a bit. Get all their wiggles out before getting back in the car. You can search for places where kids eat for free online. Continental breakfast is always nice with kids when staying in hotels, cost effective and tides kids over until lunch.

KOA camp grounds are the best.  Most of them have pools and showers.  Kids love to camp and swim!  There is a great one in Bandon Oregon with a pool and a mile from West Coast Animal Park.  This is a great weekend.  

Camera’s

Giving kids a camera, an old cell phone with a camera is a great way to go, throw away cameras, whatever you may have available to help your child create a memory of your time together.

Wishing you all safe a and Happy Travels~

Chris Sterling~

Hello FAAPA Family~

So here we are at the tail end of school and heading into summer break.  The kids will be at home all day!  I would like to give a few tip on sharing for the young ones.  One way to practice sharing is to train the brain to be less sensitive around giving something up to another child.  There are a few desensitization games that works great for this purpose.  For simple understanding purposes for the kids, I call it the “switch game”  When kids are coloring together you let them know when you say “switch” or maybe when the music stops or the timer goes off no matter where they are with their color they must switch the color with another child.  I call switch about every 2 minutes.  This creates a fun environment and a great color picture while teaching the children it’s not a big deal to give something up even when you’re in the middle of something.  You can also do this with individual toys, the kids like it and get into it quickly . I would recommend this game a few times a week, more often if you have a child with a sharing problem.

Play stations are a must if you have multiples in your home all day.  Kids need a break from each other and the security of some controlled play.  If you set up play stations throughout your house as a morning activity or evening activity and keep kids moving in a controlled play environment you will have less conflict, and a calmer body.  When it’s time for free play if will go much smoother.  You can have some stations inside and some outside.  A few ideas for play stations are; puzzle area, painting area, sand box, beans or rice box, an area for cutting out old magazines a gluing them on paper, outside chalk, bubbles,  and I love to throw in a help mom station for one on one time with each child throughout the day. This may include sorting socks, folding towels, sorting toys, washing or sanitizing toys in the tub or whatever else you can come up with.   I have some other ideas for stations if you want to shoot me an email on the FAPA Facebook page.  Good luck and ENJOY!

This class is in danger of being canceled due to lack of participants. If you need training hours this would be a good time and a very educational class.

Behavior Crisis Management Training

12 Total training hours 

Friday & Saturday

June 21 & 22, 2013

9:00 am  - 4:00 pm

Contact Marisol Palancares to sign up at marisol.palancares@state.or.us or

541-726-6644 ext. 2234

You can view our June, July, and August Newsletter by clicking the link below.

Summer Newsletter 2013

The general transportation reimbursement form has been updated. This form is used for reimbursement for transportation to parental and sibling visits and out of school district transportation.  The new rate is .565 cents per mile. Please use this form from now on when submitting for mileage reimbursement.

Updated General Transportation Form 5/13