Nearly There

You've heard it said so many times...."Are we there yet?" We'll it is bit like that now.... "Is it time yet?" We want to push the button and start the celebrations, but we can't, not yet at least!

Thinking about the long trip, children so easily get bored stuck in the back seat of the car. Evidently it is not as interesting as sitting in the front seat. After all how many front seat passengers do you see leaning to the back and asking, "Are we there yet?" Not many, I guess!!!!

So what is it about the back seat that is so boring? Firstly, the view is limited by what is in front and not everyone wants to sit with their head turned sideways, looking out the window, which is a shame because there are some very beautiful things to see as you drive by in New Zealand. Then there is the atmosphere in the back... often it tends to get stuffy as children tend not to control their environment well, so it gets too hot and the air gets stale. Lastly, it may be the company and it is evident why there are so many fights in the back seat of the car, no-one told car manufacturers that "two is company and three's a crowd." Three seats in the back of the car is going to cause some contention. Often the middle seat is the most uncomfortable and with that stems irritability and the all out war! Is there any way to control this?

Carnage in the car and that droning question, "Are we there yet?" can be addressed by providing the back seat passengers with activities that engage their intellect, keeping them thinking, so that time appears to pass quickly and they become engrossed in their activity. Often people choose travel games. These can be great until Freddy cheats and all of a sudden there are great eruptions occurring. Other travel games can become tedious and children tire of them quickly. The best way to engage the child is to provide some non-reading activity (some children get violently ill when reading or focussing on details while travelling). Have the children make something in the back of the car, or give them a non-noisy toy to play with. Alternatively, introduce them to Ozobot. Ozobot is a cool new miniature robot that children can learn to programme, without the need for a computer. All the need is a flat surface, paper, and a red, blue, black and green marker. With these tools they can make Ozobot change colour and programme him to do many different things. All the time that they are doing this, they are learning about programming and you can travel the road in peace. And look at that, we're now there!