On-The-Go Fun for Kids! {Activity Book Review}

by Tiffany · August 4, 2015

Summer doesn’t actually feel like summer to us until we’ve taken our semi-annual trip to the grandparents’ houses. We’re lucky that both Jake and I’s parents live only a couple hours away from one another, so we get to visit both of them in one vacation loop!

The car trip down here was remarkably better than last year, but certainly not perfect. We tried something new this year- we bought each kid their own pair of headphones, checked out some playaways from the library, and let them listen on their own! The older kids loved it (especially the one who can’t read in the car because he gets really carsick). Jake and I had mixed feelings. The car was quieter and more peaceful, but we felt a little sad that we weren’t experiencing the story together as a family.

In addition to the personal story-listening, we also had the opportunity to try out some of the cool activities in Amanda Morin’s new book, On-the-Go Fun for Kids!: More Than 250 Activities to Keep Little Ones Busy and Happy–Anytime, Anywhere! That’s a big promise to fulfill, but her book came pretty close to achieving it!

The book is divided into 6 sections:

Car Trip Games
Planes and Trains
Hotels and Vacations
Things to Do When You’re Waiting Around
Shopping Trip Games
Bonus Activities for Work-from-Home Days

The activities are a combination of games to play aloud with the family, puzzles to do on paper, app suggestions, and brain teasers. They aren’t just your normal go-to games (although those are included too, but with twists), but many of the games require some higher-order thinking as well (the math games in here are SO UP OUR ALLEY). While some of the games could include younger kids, I would say that the ideal age range for this book is 5-10 years old.

Here’s a little sample of what is included in the book:

License Plate Game remix

We all know the license plate game, right? Keep track of every license plate you see while in the car; the goal is to find all 50 states (plus bonus for Mexico and Canadian provinces!). Not only can you do this version, but Amanda suggests a few ways to change it up!

License Plate Silliness

Choose a license plate you see and make up a funny phrase with the letters. For example, if you see NTR 123, you could make the phrase “Newts Tickle Raccoons” or something like that. Everyone tries to think up a silly phrase and then go on to the next one.

License Plate Delight

Challenge your kids to find as many different state license plates as they can during a specific amount of time. How does this number change when you’re in the middle of the state? Next to a border? In a different region of the country? In a city? In a rural area?

Tech It Up a Notch

State Plate Bingo– use this app to keep track of the license plates you’ve seen, as well as learn a little about each state you find. No more keeping track with a notebook and pencil! 🙂

We are so enjoying this book and look forward to doing more on the way home!

To learn more about Amanda or other books she has published, you can check out her website or amazon page as well as follow her on Twitter!