Lil' Techies

My kids will spend an entire car trip hooked up to DVD players, iPods or gaming devices if I let them. This seems to be typical of Generation Z, who are digital natives born in the age of on-demand entertainment. I actually took time during our latest trip to teach them how to look out the window.

To encourage them to window-watch, I used technology in advance of the trip. We sat down and searched Google Images for things they might see on their upcoming travels, like silos, lakes, windmills, and cityscapes. I printed out these pages for them to color when we saw one and make a little booklet for them.

For other ideas on using the Internet to encourage non-tech travel, try MomsMinivan.com:101 Car Game and Road Trip Activities.