A great story can take your family a lot of miles on a road trip.
Audiobooks, podcasts and audio guides give kids and parents a chance to experience stories and scenery at the same time. Not to mention, listening to stories, rather than reading them, is an excellent way for kids to hear fluency and richness of language, while at the same time increasing their vocabulary. Since book-length works often translate to eight or more hours of listening time, they may reduce the number of comments like “I’m bored!” or “When will we get there?” you need to deflect along the way.
Audiobooks
Seattle Public, Pierce County, and King County libraries have thousands of audiobooks available on CD to check out or download. Consider bringing required school reading along for the ride – and then have conversations with your kids about them. Audiobooks can also be purchased at local booksellers, Amazon, and Scholastic’s website. Phone apps like Audible expand the list of available choices exponentially.
Travel guide apps
The last few years has also seen the rise of road-tripping audio guide apps. Such apps will let you know what’s ahead of you so you can pull over or at least look. Just Ahead:Audio Travel Guides is one of the best out there, bringing scenery to life with notes on wildlife, geology, flora, and history as you move along the road.
Podcasts
Don’t forget podcasts on your next road trip. “Stories Podcast: A bedtime show for kids of all ages” is a popular choice. For young kids, especially boys, the “Growing Boy Stories”podcast is a fun ride. It was created by Steven Dunham, an English instructor at Bellevue College.
Click here e to hear the latest Growing Boy Stories episode.
More at Seattle’s Child:
“How to plan (and survive) a road trip.”
