During the summer holidays most people take a family holiday. Either in the UK going by car or train, or by airplane to somewhere sunny!
Taking the kids with you is essential for a family holiday but how do you keep them occupied for the whole journey?

It will take a little planning to get the perfect travel bag for your children! So start at least a week in advance, hopefully more!

Of course the exact items to pack will depend on budget, your child's age and their likes and dislikes.

Each child should have their own pack and for avoidance of arguments it is best to make them as identical as possible. If you're creative you can print out your own puzzles and quizzes for them to do - but there are plenty of resources available online or you can buy ready made books of puzzles.

Essentials - a clipboard! A pen or two and some crayons or colouring pencils and pack plenty of paper to draw and write on, perhaps colouring in sheets to do of their favourite tv characters, or doodles books. Comics are a good addition to the pack of things to do too. A sheet of stickers can also keep them quiet!

Most children like word searches - so include some of these. Cheap books of puzzles are available so you could include one of these. If children are the same sort of age then get similar books, if one child is younger then look for a puzzle book suited to their age. It is possible to have word searches made specifically for your child - please get in touch on our about page if you'd like a personalised word search. All we need is the list of words you'd like included!

You may remember I Spy books from when you were a child. These are still available and this one I-Spy On a Car Journey (Michelin I-Spy Guides) is perfect for car journeys! The children get to tick off various items when you see them! It keeps them looking out of the window and generally quiet although when they spot something they may shout out that they've seen it!

An alternative version would be to use your planned route to make a list of towns and villages that you'll be going through and print this out on a sheet with tick boxes! Of course this is great fun and gives children and idea of where they are on the journey! It'll also start them looking out for street signs and directions! too which is certainly a useful skill as they get older! Older children might like to spot road numbers too to add an extra level of hardness to the quiz!

An alphabet game needs a sheet with the letters of the alphabet written down on and children have to create a list of things they've seen out of the window! The objects have to be spotted in order to make it more tricky.

Word games can be fun too! You can play a variety of games using car registration number plates for ideas! Decide which letter you'll be using and then each round consists of finding a first name for a boy, a girl, a type of animal and a country that start with that letter. You can also try and make up phrases using number plate letter combinations too. This often gets silly as combinations can be quite tricky, so will keep children's spirits up if you join in and help make up silly phrases.

Remember to stop for plenty of breaks on a long journey. Take bottles of water and drinks for everyone and snacks that you can eat without mess on the move in case you get stuck in slow moving holiday traffic.

Singing songs can keep them amused especially if you use songs like Old McDonald but use the names of cars instead of the animals! Ten green bottles is classic car song too! You can also take music cds along with you for the journey but don't play lullabys! You could play audio versions of books - something like Harry Potter that everyone will like - and is quite long! If you have DVD players in the back for the kids then they can keep occupied for hours watching their favourite DVDs!

For younger children pack some toys instead - things that they can play with safely in the car seat! Tie toys to the car seat though so they don't get thrown on the floor!

As well as snacks and drinks pack baby wipes to clean them up quickly. As well as sick bags consider taking old plastic tubs (like ice cream comes in) as this will seal any mess up shut until you get to a safe place to dispose of it. You can also use them for putting wrappers, fruit peel and dirty wipes in to help keep the car tidier!