Although Fancy Nancy is a children’s book, specifically a little girl’s story, I absolutely love it. Maybe, partly because I can relate. My little girl is so much like Nancy.

Nancy is super frilly and fancy. She loves big jewelry, feather boas, ribbons, bows and fancy clothes. Even her ice cream sundae, which she calls a parfait, has to have sprinkles on top because that makes it more fancy.

Nancy decides that her plain family needs to learn to be more fancy, so she decides to give lessons to teach them to be fancy too. In the end, however, it is Nancy who learns a thing or two about being fancy.

As I said earlier, this story was written for children, but it is so adorable that I find myself drawn to read it. The illustrations are colorful and so fun to look at also. I may just have to stick this one in my own library.

Tiny Tidbits: A total of 13 Fancy Nancy books are currently available for purchase, and an additional four others are suppose to go on sale later this year. For a complete listing, visit the HarperCollins website.

Related posts:

1. The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle What an adorable book! My kids both absolutely love The Very Hungry Caterpillar. It is all about the life-cycle of...
2. David Gets in Trouble by David Shannon Admittedly, we are a little partial to this story because my son's name is David. Still it is a treat...
3. A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno If we admit it, from time to time we are all tempted to tell a little white lie if we...

I’m off today, but you are welcome to browse my site and check out these links I’ve found for you to enjoy.

• Children and Chores: Setting the Table - Amy Loves It!
• Let Your Children Watch More Television - Steady Mom
• Top 5 Cheap Kids’ Snacks for Summer Vacation - Homemaker Barbi

By the way, if you’re planning your family vacation, don’t forget to re-visit my posts on family vacation planning. I’ve included some printable downloads to make the process easier.

• Tips for Family Vacation Planning: Deciding Where to Go
• Tips for Family Vacation Planning: Budgeting
• Tips for Family Vacation Planning: Don’t forget to take…
• Tips for Family Vacation Planning: Playing it Safe

Thanks for stopping by. I’m off to play!

Related posts:

1. Playday Thursday: Summer’s On the Way I’m off today, but you are welcome to browse my site and check out these links I've found for you...
2. Tips for Family Vacation Planning: Introduction Are you ready for that super fun great vacation with your family? I mean, are your really ready? Well, I’m...
3. Vegas Bound Yes, I'm going to Sin City. No gambling for me though. I work too hard to save money, not blow...

It’s that time of year again when we start taking family trips. One major challenge though when it comes to driving long distances is keeping the kids entertained in the back seat.

We live several hours away from our family, so we end up spending quite a bit of time on the road when we go for a visit. Therefore, we’re always looking for new games and ideas to keep the kids from getting bored out of their minds.

I thought I’d share a few of the fun activities and games we’ve learned along the way.

1. Sing-A-longs - Take a few fun CD’s to listen to and sing along with. People probably think we’re crazy sometimes, because we really get into singing and even a little dancing in the car.
2. Scavenger Hunt/Car Bingo - Give each child a list of items to watch for while driving. You can also use car bingo cards to make it a little more exciting and challenging.
3. “I’m Goin’ On a Trip” - Start this game out by saying, “I’m going on a trip and I’m bringing…” . The first person should name an item that starts with the letter “A”. After “A” , the next player will say the same thing but with the letter “B”, and so on. Since our kids are so young, we usually don’t do the letters. We just tell whatever we’re going to take.
4. License Plate Game - In this game, you see how many different state license plates you can find.
5. Books - This is still a favorite pass-time. I always take along a book for myself and a few books the kids like also. Another idea is to get a few read along CD and book sets for the kids.
6. Electronic Games - My son loves to take his Leapster. You’ll probably want to get a headset or the repetition of the sounds may drive you up the wall. I like the games that come with the Leapster because they are educational and my son has learned a lot from playing them. Be sure to take extra batteries too.
7. Counting Games - The object of this game is to count how many of any particular thing you see. For example, how many red cars, buses or billboards do you see?
8. Alphabet Game - Find words beginning with “A”, on signs around you. Have the players take turns, after “A”, go to “B”, and so on. See if you an get to the end of the alphabet. This one gets really interesting when you get to the letter X.
9. Videos - If you are fortunate enough to have a DVD player in the car (I’m not), choose a few movies or kid friendly shows to watch. A two hour movie will pass a whole lot of time away.
10. Drawing boards - Magna doodle, Etcha Sketch, or a dry erase/chalk board are all great for writing, drawing and exploring their creative side.
11. Tell Jokes - My husband is good at this one. I’m not so good. We’ve had tons of laughs over his jokes. So, if you’re good at it, give it a whirl. If not, stick to some of the above ideas.

If you’re going on a trip soon, try out a few of these ideas and see what you think. The purpose of this article was to provide ways to keep kids entertained while on a long trip. Well, I have a little secret. A lot of these ideas will be fun for you too, or at least they are for me.

Do you have to take long road trips often? How do you keep the little ones, and yourself, entertained for the journey?

This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday.

Related posts:

1. How I’m Entertaining AND Educating My Kids This Summer I love the kids being out of school during the summer, but I also want to give them something to...
2. Provoke Your Kids - To Laughter "Laughter is an instant vacation." -- Milton Berle Can you imagine a world without laughter? Boy, what a boring...
3. Playday Thursday: Goin’ On a Trip I'm off today and tomorrow and the next day.... Well, okay, I'm going out of town and will not have...

Posted on June 2nd, 2009 in Kids and Family | 12 Comments

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...