BlB—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 23,1984
for
BY SUZANNE KEENE
LANCASTER When packing
for vacation this summer, don’t
forget that your little ones find car
rides boring when they last longer
than a quick trip to the local
grocery store.
To help avoid woeful cries of
“Aren’t we there yet?” and
“Mommy, I’m hungry. When do
we eat?” take a few minutes to
plan and pack some games and
snacks for your children. A little
preparation should make the ride
more enjoyable for eveyone. Mom
and dad will be able to spend more
tune enjoying the sights and less
time breaking up the arguments
that result when kids get bored.
Donna Markley, a housewife and
mother from Elizabethtown, said
she has taught her three children,
aged two, five and 10, to play pinch
bug during trips. The game in
volves spotting Volkswagen bugs.
The first one to see a bug calls out
“pinch bug” followed by the color
of the car. For example if a child
spots a green Volkswagon beetle,
he says “pinch bug green” and
Memories
Summertime “back home”
meant baling hay, swimming in
the creek, camping, ice tea with
lots of lemon and visiting grand
parents.
I grew up with my paternal
grandparents and great grand
mother. They lived at the “upper
place” as the house and bam on
the northern end of the farm were
called. Visiting them was almost a
daily occurance. However, my
maternal grandparents live in the
southern end of the county and we
did not see them as often. As a
child, traveling the forty-five
minutes to Quarryville seemed like
driving to another state.
I have fond memories of visiting
with Grammy and Grandpap on
their steer farm. Two of us
grandchildren were allowed to
visit at one time for about a week.
Highlights of the visits included
watching Grammy oil paint,
getting a free soda from Grandpa’s
soda machine, sitting on the
combine, and attending their big
church on Sunday. And best of all
was the tune spent cleaning out the
four foot long fish pond, choosing
and buying new goldfish for the
pond.
Grandparents do enrich
childrens’ lives. (My grandparents
are still a vital, enriching source of
my life.) Grandparents elicit
feelings of security and love. They
provide opportunities to bridge the
gap between past and present and
tie the family together. They serve
as role models of both values and
philosphies of life gained through
years of living.
Sending your children to visit
their grandparents may be a part
of your summer plans. This visit
can be a positive and memorable
experience. To ensure that it is a
Prepare games and
long ear trips this summer
receives a point. The person who
gets the most points wins the
game, but most likely no one will
remember how many points they
have. The fun lies in spotting the
cars.
Donna said that although her
two-year-old, Jesse, is really too
young to play the game, he has fun
trying.
Mt. Joy homemaker Helen
Miller said she entertains her two
children by playing alphabet and
number games. The children look
for letters in the alphabet, starting
with A and working toward Z, on
road signs and license plates. The
same type of game can be played
with numbers.
Helen said she has found that
“Traffic Safety Bingo” by Regal
Games is another good travel
entertainer. The game involves
searching for road signs, such as
hospital signs, railroad signs, yield
sings and slippery when wet signs.
“I know Matthew (her five-year
old son) has learned an awful lot
through this,” Helen said. “I think
it’s very helpful.”
By Michelle S. Rodgers -
Lancaster Extension
Home Economist
happy time for everyone involved
it is best to discuss and agree on
some plans in advance.
The rules of the grandparent’s
home need to be openly discussed.
Every home is unique, and parents
and grandparents may run their
households differently. (I always
enjoyed the later bedtime hour at
Grammy’s.)
Sometimes grandparents like to
plan special activities to do during
the visit. Spacing out the activities
will do both parties a favor.
Balance out special activities with
normal, at-home activities.
Neither grandparent or child enjoy
the pace of big, special events
everyday. Regardless of the ac
tivities, try to maintain some of the
child’s daily routine such as
mealtime and bedtime.
Some ideas of things to do at
home might include playing board
games, reading books together, or
looking at family photo albums. I
always enjoyed listening to stories
about my mother’s childhood...
especially the story about her
dropping all the eggs she had
gathered.
It is not a bad idea to list the
things your child likes to do or
places he or she hkes to go to help
grandparents become familiar
with your child’s normal activities.
And don’t forget to discuss the
length of the visit ahead of time!
Whether you set a definite date of
return or a flexible schedule,
ending the visit while everyone is
still having a good time is a good
rule of thumb.
Grandparents do make a dif
ference in our lives... no matter
what age we are as a grandchild!
For more information about
family life education programs,
contact the Penn State Extension
office, an equal opportunity
educational organization.
snacks
Sandy Little of Lancaster has
also found that alphabet games are
good travel entertainment. She
said she also packs a tablet and
crayons, a bag of books and some
favorite toys for her three-year-old
when she travels. Between the toys
and the games, she said, her
daughter, Alexis, stayed en
tertained during a recent four-hour
car trip.
Denise Koser, a nurse and
mother from Elizabethtown, has a
few other ideas to keep children
entertained in the car. She said she
plays “I’m going on a trip” with
her two-year-old daughter
Carolyn. A version of an alphabet
game, this game involves naming
things you would take on a trip that
begin with each letter of the
alphabet. Two or more people can
play the game, with the first
person naming something he
would take on a trip that starts
with the letter A. The second
person then repeats that item and
says something that begins with
the letter B. For example, person
number one would say, “I’m going
on a trip and I’m taking an alarm
clock.” The next player would say
“I’m going on a trip and I’m taking
an alarm clock and a ball.” The
game continues until the players
reach the end of the alphabet.
Another fun car game for little
ones is “Duck your head for the
bridge.” In this simple, but fun
game, the children duck their
heads every time the car travels
under a bridge “to avoid hitting
their head on the bridge.” Denise
said her daughter enjoys the game
and rarely misses a bridge.
“It gives them something to look
for,’’she said. “It keeps them
occupied.”
During a long trip to the shore
last summer, Denise said she kept
Carolyn busy with a small bag of
inexpensive plastic animals which
she had purchased specifically for
the trip. Each time Carolyn
showed signs of boredom, Denise
pulled a new animal out of the bag.
Toy stores offer a variety of
travel games for children. Elaine
Barr, from the Toy Barr in Lan
caster’s Park City Shopping
Center, said the Toy Barr stocks a
line of “Little Thinker Tapes” for
use in the car’s tape deck. The
What to do
LAFAYETTE, In
started the trouble? ’ ’
“He hit me first!”
“No! He hit me first!”
“Well, he knocked me in the
back!”
“No I didn’t! It was an ac
cident!”
The more a parent tries to play
the role of judge in a fight, the
more confusing the situation
becomes, reminds Growing Up,
the child development newsletter
about school-age children. There
are more worthwhile and im
portant things parents can do when
a child is engaged in a vigorous
wrestling match with a playmate
or sibling.
First, realize that vigorous
physical activity is normal, par
ticularly in boys. As bodies grow
and develop, muscles become
stronger. Children love to ex
perience strength and to ex
periment to find out what their
bodies can do.
What appears to an adult to be
fighting may be a form of social
interaction to the child a way of
making friends.
But be observant. If a child
appears to initiate real fighting
behavior often, he may need help
to learn other appropriate ways to
handle situations.
Limits sometimes need to be set
Extended car trips can be boring for children. To help keep
your children happy during vacation time this summer, plan
ahead by preparing some games and snacks for them
tapes include songs and stories
about a variety of topics, including
safety, dinosaurs, music and
famous places. The tapes come
with drawing utensils, and the
tapes urge the children to draw
pictures to illustrate the stones.
“They’re fabulous,” Mrs. Barr
said
Magnetic puzzles are a good
travel toy, Mrs. Barr continued.
“If you have a younger child, they
can play with these in the car and
not worry about losing the pieces.”
The Toy Barr also has a selection
of Golden Books, coloring books,
sticker albums, magnetic board
games and trivia books to keep
kids entertained.
When it comes to selecting travel
toys, she said, “It’s an individual
choice.”
Snacks are also important when
making long car trips, because
eating schedules during trips often
differ from those at at home. To
silent tiny, growling tummies,
Donna Markley said she Backs
when horseplay turns to violence
on physical rough-housing since
children may not be aware of their
own strength and the damage they
may cause either to themselves or
to others. There are several ef
fective ways a parent can deal with
fighting behavior when it needs to
be controlled.
“Who
w
M^.-J
A* " cv-r/
lk'CV’->\
¥?tik4’vV
ly*. iKi Jv^L
M\h
/$/ liy/
I f /^Y
f\^ls!> # -I ,
iZSu^s
tangannes or oranges, peeled and
sectioned in Tupperware con
tainers. Other fruits that work well
in the car include raisins and
apples that are pared and cored.
Sandy Little agreed that fruits
make good car snacks, but said
that she also packs a box of animal
crackers and some sip-ups. Helen
Miller added crackers and dry
cereal to’ the growing list of
nutritious hunger stoppers.
Lancaster Extension Home
Economist Michelle Rodgerrs said
fruit leather is another good car
treat, because it keeps well is isn’t
messy. Michelle’s recipe for fruit
leather is this week’s featured
recipe.
By adopting a some of these
ideas and adding a few of your
own, you should be well-prepared
for your next trip. When the
children start arguing and fussing,
you’ll be prepared with a game to
ease their boredom or a snack to
satisfy their hunger.
• Early intervention. Before a
situation gets out of hand, a mild
correction is usually enough.
• Group punishment. When a
group of children is involved in
fighting, it is usually best to have
all of them suffer the same con-
%
/r^h
m
J'V V.J
dom toPageßl9)