Looking for ways to quietly entertain the kids on long road-trips? Look no further than this great collection of 12 independent road-trip activities that you can make yourself at home.

This post is sponsored by GT Radial Tyres and Nuffnang.

We spend a lot of time in the car. Usually just driving short distances between locations like school, the shops, friend's houses and home. Now that we have a caravan though, our road trips are becoming more frequent and the time we are spending in the car is increasing as we venture further and further away from home.

Driving is just a way of life for us but there are a couple of things that concern me about having my kids in the car. First and most important to me is their safety, as we all know how dangerous driving can be. I'm also aware of trying to keep my kids' minds active over long trips when they are unable to be physically active.

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For me growing up, road-trips were our main type of holiday, as we made the yearly trip from Melbourne up to visit relatives in NSW and QLD. 

I have many fond memories of great playgrounds along the way, endless stretches of highway and beautiful scenery, eating Callipos (the least drippy frozen treat my parents could buy from service stations), singing in the car (anything from my obsession with Phantom of the Opera after seeing it live, to Peter Combe and his bubble-gum-teeth-bushing antics) and countless rounds of "I-spy." 

Back then (I'm talking the mid 80's to mid 90's), we certainly didn't have any movie playing capacities in our car, and whilst it was usually hard to pry a book from my hands, my travel-sickness when looking down for long periods meant them and the hand-held games my younger brothers sometimes played, weren't an option for me on our road-trips.

These days, there are portable dvd players and they can be good for road-trips. I don't mind a movie here or there, but personally, I don't want my children watching a screen the entire road-trip as there is just so much more fun to be had! 

There are so many great car games you can play. According to a recent RACV survey, 5% of Australian families say they play games like “I-spy” in the car, with more than 5 times that amount relying on the ipad to entertain the kids instead. What has happened to our Aussie tradition?

For us, singing to music will probably always be our number 1 favourite road-trip activity so I would definitely load up on great music before I go. 

In addition to that, I like to be prepared before I go with a few bits and bobs that are going to make the journey that little bit more fun, engaging and exciting. 

Here are some of our other favourite road trip games and any printables that you need to go along with them.

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