The Traveling Notebook | Family Economics

By Cathe Holden 

In preparation of family road trips, over the years I have purchased various travel games, videos and gadgets in an attempt to keep my kids occupied, happy and getting along. But I have found that the most successful toy, tool or gadget has been one simple and inexpensive spiral notebook per child for drawing, writing and playing games. And although many children now have their own personal electronics or DVDs to fight the boredom, unplugging for the sake of creating and interacting has the great benefits of not only saving money, but also for making some pretty silly memories. 

Here are two of the fun games my kids enjoy playing with their travel notebooks.

The Dot Game (two or more players)

Being a competitive group, this is by far the most often-played paper game our family enjoys.

One player creates a grid of dots spaced evenly, 10 rows across and 10 rows deep.

Each player takes turns connecting one dot to another by drawing a line, with only one connection per turn. As lines begin to fill the page, squares will eventually become formed. A player who draws the final line to create a square puts their first initial inside the square and is allowed another immediate turn. In many cases, one square formed may lead to several being formed consecutively by the same player. Each player must draw a line on his or her turn. When all dots have been connected, the player with the most completed squares wins.

Copy Me (two players)

This game will have you giggling for sure!

Draw a line dividing a page into two half sections, one for each player.

Player no. 1 draws a shape within their section. Player no. 2 copies player no. 1’s shape into the same area of their page section and adds a shape. Player no. 1 copies the added shape in their half and adds another shape, and so on until you both decide that your masterpieces are complete. This is a game that gets sillier by the minute as we have drawn some pretty funny twin characters over the years!

A basic internet web search will bring up many easy and fun word games that you can teach your children while on the road.