Travel Games Help Kids Learn

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V-a-c-a-t-i-o-n! The kids are excited, everybody's packed, you're in the family-mobile and on your way! Uh, oh.

Too soon it begins, a refrain known to all who travel with kids; a memorable cadence that raps on nerves beginning to fray: Are we there yet?

And soon again: Mo-ah-m! Aren't we there yet?

And yet again, with a twist: How much l-o-n-g-er? I'm so-o-o-o bored, Daddy!

Help is here, and it's not only designed to keep the kids busy en route, but it builds math skills at the same time. The U.S. Department of Education publishes a series of Helping Your Child Learn booklets to help parents help their children in school. Math on the Go, from this series, has a variety of activities to fill the bill for summer travel and learning. So pack up plenty of paper, pencils, and a ruler. Try out these entertaining brain games--taken or adapted from Math on the Go—to pass the time. The goal is to entertain the kids; learning and practicing math skills is an intended side benefit from these activities:

Guess. Let your child think of a number between a stated range of numbers. You try to guess the number by asking questions. Here's a sample of how it might go: Your child: I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 100. You ask: Is it more than 50? Your child: No. You: Is it an even number? Child: No. You: Can you divide this number into three equal parts? And so forth. After you have guessed the number, let your child guess a number that you are thinking of by asking similar questions.

One benefit of this game is that, by asking questions about numbers, it helps the child to develop an understanding of some concepts, characteristics and meanings of numbers. If your child doesn't know the difference between odd and even numbers, this is an opportunity to explain and help them understand.

License Plate. You call out the number on a license plate and see who can add up the numbers correctly. Ask, How did you do that? Another license plate game is to copy down the number on the plate. Ignore any letters and read the number out loud, for example: M663218 would be six hundred sixty-three thousand, two hundred eighteen.

Another license plate activity is to record the different names of states seen on plates. Figure out what state name was noticed the most, which one had the fewest sightings, then draw a chart or graph to display the findings.

Are We There Yet? Try grappling with the Are we there yet? questions with a little diversionary questioning of your own. Ask your child questions about how far you're traveling. Yards? Miles? Kilometers maybe? How fast are we going? If it's 3:15 now, and it takes us two hours to get there, what time will we arrive? How far have we gone?

Some of the other activities you might try while in transit is to have the kids watch for numbers on streets and buildings, phone numbers on the sides of trucks and other vehicles, dates on buildings, or business signs with numbers in them.

These activities encourage reading, number recognition, writing, and counting. For information about materials from the U.S. Department of Education to help your child learn, call 1-800-USA-LEARN. For those with Internet access to the World Wide Web, electronic versions are available.

This column is provided as a public service by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, a nonprofit institution, 101 SW Main, Suite 500, Portland, Oregon 97204.