Traveling by train brings joy to children, because, unlike an airplane, it does not block their ears, there is more freedom of action, you can get to know other children, look out the window at the trees flying by, and, if you're lucky, spend the night on the top shelf. For approximately the same reasons, parents do not like to travel by train with children - just try to keep track of the fidget whirlwind rushing around the carriage. If the road is still ahead, you should make sure that the child is not bored, and you feel calm.
For traveling with children under 3-4 years old, it is important to take on the road something that will calm the child and help to maintain a normal daily routine. These can be books, small toys, paper and pencils for drawing and coloring, a large construction set or a pyramid. Remember the nursery rhymes and favorite verses of the baby. Your favorite pajamas will help you go to bed on time.
Children over 4 years old are already involved in everything that happens around them, and they choose only the activity that seems most interesting. It is important to think over some of them so that you do not have to explain to the child on the go what is allowed, what is not, and why.
- Inspection of the train. If the child is on the train for the first time, then acquaintance with a new space will be his first desire. Show how the cars are fastened together, what a dining car is, how to turn on the water in the toilet, how to climb onto the second shelf correctly. Take your time to lead the excursion and let the child master everything under your supervision. Children love to repeat the action until they get bored. If you immediately "work out" all the situations, then the child will get tired and happily agree to another activity.
- Other coupes and passengers. Interest in other passengers is an unexpected opportunity to see how other people live: who and how things are laid out, who is doing what. Treat this with understanding and come up with several options in advance of how to explain to your child that you cannot interfere with others. If there are neighbors in your compartment who do not mind talking to children, then turn the child's attention to them.
- Communication with other children. If the child met other children on the train, organize their joint lesson in your or another compartment - new toys and communication will interest the child.
- Toys, entertainment and games to take with you. If the child loves to draw, then pencils will do, and special water colors turn the pictures into color if you brush them with a wet brush. If your child enjoys developmental activities, take a few copybooks, cell drawings, labyrinths, logical connections, and similar writing activities. A magnetic board is also suitable for drawing, the notes on which are erased if you lift the lid.
Many card games based on the principle of logical complement are interesting for children. Take games on topics familiar to the child: animals, professions, fruits and vegetables, phenomena. Memori - a game in which you need to remember the location of cards and look for pairs, develops memory. If the child plays on his own, take cars, dolls and everything that is needed for an interesting game alone. With school-age children, you can play role-playing games, play a show or play in the city, in word games such as "I'll take with me on a hike" or similar.
Each age has its own difficulties that will have to be faced on the train, in addition, each child is individual and it is impossible to foresee some of the difficulties - take it with cunning and leave a couple of distracting maneuvers in the form of goodies, a new toy or a recorded cartoon in reserve.
Traveling with a child can be turned into a real adventure that will be remembered by the child. If you have a long train journey, make sure your child does not get bored. It is advisable to take the little that does not take up much space, not bulky, but rather functional.
Entertainment depending on the age of the child
It will be much easier for the kid to survive the long journey if you carefully plan all his leisure time on the train. At the same time, it is important to take into account age characteristics and game preferences.
1-2 years
- Small xylophone. Such a toy will not take up much space, but it will allow you to entertain the baby and interest him.
- Coloring pages, album and markers will allow the baby to usefully spend time and give parents a few tens of minutes of silence.
- Favorite toy. A bunny, a bear or a robot, with which the baby most often plays at home, must accompany the child on the journey. With her, it will be easier for the little one to fall asleep.
- Educational games. You should not take a bunch of boxes with "development" with you, you can get by with several elements with holes that need to be strung on a string. A good option is colored plastic clips that are convenient to connect together. It is important not to trust the child with small details, let him deal with them with the obligatory participation of adults.
- Plasticine. Perfectly develops fine motor skills. In addition, joint modeling improves psychological contact with the child, for which in everyday life parents, as a rule, do not have enough time. Be sure to take a sculpting board and wet wipes to the plasticine to clean the child's hands.
- Amazing figurines. Do not be lazy and in advance, at home, cut different geometric figures from colored paper or colored cardboard. A glue stick and a few album sheets will help you create all kinds of appliqués out of them.
- Children's puzzles. You can take large puzzles for children from 1 year old, or you can make them yourself by simply cutting the picture into several large pieces. Small puzzles for children of this age are not suitable, collecting them will tire the baby, it is still too difficult for him.
- Cardboard box. If you have a small box, you can add large buttons and other non-hazardous items to it, which the baby can fold and the box. Usually this simple activity is very addicting to the crumbs.
- Pyramid on a stick. Famous toy familiar to many generations of people does not lose its relevance.
The following video shows you the best games for the long journey by train, plane or car.
2-3 years
If a child at this age is given several toys, then he probably will not be bored, but here it is important to participate in his game so that he can quickly figure out elementary issues: big-small, hard-soft, flexible and not very.
- Children's books. On the road, you can take books with stickers, which must be combined with the corresponding pattern. Having bought a book with drawings that are almost the same in general, but differing in details, you can train the baby's attention and memory, and if there is no such book, then simply collecting several objects, first show them all, and then remove something and allow the baby to determine what there is not enough.
- Constructor. It will allow the child to be engaged in an important child's business for a long time - the creation of everything that fantasy suggests. But avoid constructors with a lot of parts, so that later you do not look for them all over the car.
- Sketchbook. In it, you can try to draw a whole group of little people, consisting of only one round, from triangles or squares.
- Board games. If the kid already knows how to play checkers, take them with you. Board walker quests are perfect, in which you need to roll a dice and make a designated number of moves forward with a chip.
- What do clouds look like? Ask your child to describe what the clouds are like outside the carriage window. Take the most active part in this, the one who comes up with the most comparisons will win this game.
- Cartoons. Of course, you can show your child your favorite cartoons on the tablet or smartphone of parents on the train, but not for long, no more than 15 minutes a day. The little screens get tired of the baby's eyes very quickly, even if he himself does not realize it. Prolonged viewing of a cartoon on a smartphone monitor can even cause a headache and disrupt the child's sleep.
4-5 years old
At this age, children continue to develop very quickly and ask many questions, among which the most popular is “Why?”. It is very important here to be patient and answer all the questions why the most fully and vividly, while keeping an eye on the child so that he is not distracted.
- Poems and fairy tales. Take on the road a book with your child's favorite poems and fairy tales. You can also learn a rhyme or tongue twister and compete who will tell it faster.
- Hide and seek. To play hide and seek on the train, you don't have to run and hide all over the car and hide in the toilet. It is enough to stipulate more modest conditions of the game: you can hide either toys or some objects and not leave the compartment. One hides, the second searches.
- Board games. Checkers, "corners", tags perfectly train memory, logical thinking, perseverance.
- The Find Ten Differences picture book will help train attention.
- Sea battle you can take it as ready-made in a box, or play with the child, as they did before - using paper and two pencils.
- Creator's Kit. The child will really like not only albums and pencils, but also ready-made sets for creating paintings from sand, sequins, prefabricated models of aircraft-ships-cars for boys, sets of bright fabric appliques for girls.
6-7 years old
Modern children experience an incredible lack of full-fledged communication, and electronic gadgets have played a significant role in this. And children, like a century ago, and before, need to learn to correctly and logically express their thoughts and feelings. Make sure that your preschooler and junior high-school train ride games are designed to do just that.
- "The Wizard of Oz"... This game may interest not only your child, but also fellow travelers, if they are traveling with you in the same compartment. Players need to join forces to achieve victory.
- Board game "Imaginarium Childhood" is aimed at active communication between players. In the game you need to guess the pictures. According to the rules, several cards are dealt to each player. The presenter comes up with a confusing description for any of his pictures and puts it face down on the table, while the rest, despite the presenter's confusing explanations, must choose from their arsenal a card on which the picture best fits this description. The players' task is to confuse others and win as many picture cards as possible. This game has many options - adult, road with spare parts, and others. The topics are just as varied.
Older child
What to do with a child over 7 years old on the road largely depends on the interests of the child himself. Some children at this age love to read, others - to draw, others are not averse to playing with their parents in the "cities", "edible-inedible" and so on. Most likely, the child will take care of all the entertainment that will be of interest to him on the way.
Prefabricated models of equipment and transport are perfect, which the student can patiently assemble in parts, embroidery kits with ready-made patterns if you have a girl.
Think of travel as a great chance to improve your relationship with your child. Even if you think you have a great relationship, there is no limit to perfection.
For quite a long time, you will be in the same space, without being distracted by work, washing dishes and other household chores. Let these hours and days be remembered by the child as some of the best and most interesting.
In the next video, an experienced mother will tell you how to keep the child busy on a long journey and how to while away his leisure time.
What does an adult do on a long journey? The train is good, comfortable and warm, there are shelves for sleeping, hot water and a table. There are other people - fellow travelers. So adults solve the problem simply: sleep off, then read books or communicate with each other. And what to do with a child on the train at 4 years old? You won't give him a book, for example, children don't know how to play with cards, for the most part. Okay, there will be children among the fellow travelers, the two of them are not bored. But what to do in other situations?
Games for a child on a train 4 years old
A far-sighted parent, collecting things for the trip, will take a children's backpack with toys, books, coloring books, sheets of paper and pencils for the little passenger. Various musical singing toys, CDs with children's songs. Recently, they have been releasing PSP with different games or just a tablet. Of course, electronics are harmful and you shouldn't entice a child with a often bright screen. But on the road, all is fair!
Favorite toy
Does the baby have a favorite - the most favorite toy? Take with you, as you are tired of entertaining the child, let him play like that. Shows her landscapes outside the window, talks, and sleeps in an embrace at night.
All day bullshit
The child is passionate about your gadgets, buy him a toy phone and let him talk to someone on different topics. Prompt sometimes. "Call your grandmother, find out how you are ..." or "Call your aunt Anya, tell me where we are going, what to see her soon." It will take a sociable kid for a while.
Kaleidoscope
Take a kaleidoscope with you and take turns looking out the window or just around. Come up with names for colors and patterns. This develops the imagination of the child, and it will help to look from the other side.
Suitcase
How and what to do with a child on the train (4 years old)? A game with memory training!
How to play. You start: "I'll put an orange in my briefcase." The next child - he must repeat after you and add his own: "I will put an orange and a peach in my suitcase." Your turn: "Then I'll put an orange, a peach and a tangerine in the suitcase." The main thing is to remember all the things and not get lost in order until ideas about fruit run out or you make a mistake.
Reinforcement: when the first round is over, change the subject: “In the yard I found a rake, a bucket, a watering can,” etc. For a child familiar with the alphabet, you can choose the names of objects for the alphabetical order.
Smile often
Play develops auditory memory. For her, you will need to record songs from children's cartoons on a tape recorder or phone. Turn them on in turn and ask the child to guess who sang, from which cartoon it was. Sing along with the hero.
Drawer and washer
Such boards are sold everywhere - very convenient. If you don't like it or want to draw something else - the drawing is easy to erase. At your request, the child will draw a favorite animal or toy, then write around the words according to your dictation, numbers or figures. Then he can make riddles using the painted things, you guess. You can even put together a story by looking at the drawing. For such a game, however, a sheet of plain paper or an album with pencils is also suitable.
Stickers
What to do with a child on a train (4 years old) - a game of attentiveness and the development of classification skills.
Take on the road an album of stickers, more, of a variety. Let, at your request, the child glues them, breaking them into groups - cars in one direction, fruits in the other. Can alternate in color or size. You can diversify: he sticks something on, and you name this item. Gradually replenish the album, name it at the request of the child.
It is better to come up with some interesting activity that can captivate the child. At 4 years old, kids are inquisitive and mobile, it is excruciatingly boring for them to sit still. Even the most calm and obedient. They can be understood, even an adult gets bored of being locked up. What does the ubiquitous Forum think?
“Our journey took 32 hours by train. Son 3.5. We ate in a restaurant, it was so hot in the carriage that no food could be saved, everything would have deteriorated instantly. We read fairy tales aloud, took a magazine, did all sorts of handicrafts. I also took the phone with the recorded cartoons. I slept well. " Anna
“Mine, however, is 1.5 years old. They took a pot - at the stations, after all, the toilets are closed, and it is impossible for the little ones to endure it. You can't wear diapers at 4. Mine loves to draw, so she stocked up to the eyeballs with an album, coloring, took wax pencils, colored pens. We ate boiled chicken, juice in bags. "
Masha
“Take different games, my contact, makes friends easily. Can run through the carriage and find all children of his age or a little younger. Then they rush together. Do not forget the pot, the toilets are terrible on the train, and while driving how to keep the napkins or the child himself? "
Yuliya
“Mine was only 4 when we went to reserved seats. They took a pot with a lid and when he wanted to, they covered the shelf with sheets, then they took it out. I took different games, played with the phone while there was enough charge. Anyway, take the tablet separately, because there is nowhere to charge on the train. Read books with pictures. It's also good if you're lucky with fellow travelers - who will be with the child or will take what. We had a grandfather, played with mine. "
Tanya
About what to do with a child on the train (4 years old), the forum can give a couple of everyday tips.
Ekaterina Morozova
Reading time: 9 minutes
A A
Preparing for a long journey is always an exciting process, and requires taking into account all the subtleties. Especially if you are traveling with your little ones. Children, as you know, are not particularly calm, and it is possible to keep them near you of their own free will only in one case - if the children next to you are interested.
Therefore, it is important to stock up on the right games and toys in advance so that your child does not get bored on the train or plane.
The best games and toys for the trip - how to entertain children on the way?
We start collecting on the road from children's backpack, which the child must assemble exclusively on his own. Even if the child is only 2-3 years old, he is able to put 2-3 of his favorite toys in a backpack, without which not a single trip can do.
And mom, meanwhile, will collect toys and games that will not let her beloved little one get bored on the way.
Video: What to play with children on the road?
- Magic bag "guessing".
An excellent version of the game for a kid 2-3 years old. We take a small bag made of fabric, fill it with small toys, and the toddler will have to stick a pen in there and guess the object by touch. The game develops fine motor skills, imagination and attentiveness. And it will be doubly useful if the toys in the bag are covered with small grains (peas, rice).
We choose toys that the kid can guess - vegetables and fruits, animals and others already familiar to him from home games. If the baby has already studied all the toys from the bag, you can put them back and ask him to feel by touch to find any specific one - for example, a cucumber, a car, a ring or a bunny. - A game of mindfulness. Suitable for older kids, 4-5 years old is the ideal age. Develops memory, attentiveness, the ability to concentrate. For the game, you can use any items that you will have with you. We lay out in front of the child, for example, a pen, a red pencil, a toy, a napkin and an empty glass. The kid must remember not only the objects themselves, but also their specific location. When the child turns away, the objects need to be set aside and mixed with other things. The child's task is to return the same objects to their original position.
- We prepare in advance at home mini-toys for the finger puppet theater and several fairy tales that can be played out in this theater (although improvisation is certainly welcome). Toys can be sewn (there are many options for such dolls on the Web) or made of paper.
Many people use old gloves, on which they create muzzles, sew hair from threads, hare ears or button eyes. Let your child help you in creating characters. A child of 4-5 years old will take part in the play himself with pleasure, and a two-year-old baby's mother will give a lot of joy with such a performance. - Fishing. The easiest way is to purchase a ready-made fishing rod with a magnet instead of a hook on which the child can catch toy fish. This game will distract the little one for 2-3 years for a while, so that my mother could take a breath between the finger theater and another forced walk along the carriage. The game develops agility and attentiveness.
- We compose a fairy tale. This game can be played with a child who already enjoys fantasizing and loves to have fun and fool around. You can play with the whole family. The head of the family begins the tale, the mother continues, then the child, and then in turn. You can immediately illustrate a fairy tale in an album (of course, all together - the drawings should become a collective work), or compose it before going to bed, to the sound of the train wheels.
- Such toys can keep a 2-5 year old baby busy for an hour and a half, and if you participate in the game with him, then for a longer period. It is recommended that you choose solid books that will be really fun to play, and not a magnetic board.
However, a board with an alphabet or numbers will also allow the child to be entertained with benefit - after all, it is at this age that they learn to read and count. Also today on sale are volumetric magnetic puzzle games, from which you can collect whole castles, farms or car parks. - We weave baubles, beads and bracelets. An excellent activity for the development of fine motor skills and imagination. Painstaking work is not easy, but the more interesting it is. We take a set with laces, elastic bands, large beads and mini-pendants on the road in advance. Fortunately, such sets can be found ready-made today. For a girl 4-5 years old - a great lesson. For a younger kid, you can prepare a set of laces and small geometric objects with holes - let him string them on a string. And if you teach a child to weave pigtails while driving to point B, it will be absolutely wonderful (the development of fine motor skills contributes to the development of creativity, patience, perseverance and the brain in general).
- Children love to make toys out of paper. Of course, at 2 years old, a baby will not yet be able to fold even a simple boat out of paper, but for 4-5 years old this game will be interesting.
It is better to buy an origami book for beginners in advance in order to gradually move from simple shapes to complex ones. You can even make such crafts from napkins, so the book will be definitely useful. - Board games. If the road is long, then board games will not only make it easier for you, but also shorten the travel time, which always flies by while we play with our little ones. For kids 4-5 years old, you can choose travel games, checkers and loto, for kids 2-3 years old - children's loto, games with cards, the alphabet, etc. You can also buy books from which you can cut dolls and their clothes (or cars ).
- Well, where without him! We take this set first of all, because it will come in handy in any situation. Be sure to put a notebook and an album, felt-tip pens with pencils, in the same folder, in addition, scissors and a glue stick. What to draw? Options - a carriage and another carriage! For example, you can draw doodles with closed eyes, from which the mother will then draw the magic beast, and the child will paint it.
Or make a real fairy-tale book with illustrations. And you can also keep a travel diary, a kind of "logbook" in which the child will enter his observations from the pictures flying outside the window. Naturally, do not forget about short travel notes and a route sheet, as well as a treasure map.
Of course, there are many more options for games and toys that can come in handy along the way. But the main thing is to prepare for the road in advance. Your child (and even more so the neighbors on the carriage or plane) will be grateful to you.
Video: What to play with your child on the road?
What can be used for playing with a child on the road - toys and games from improvised means
If you didn’t have time to take or couldn’t take anything except a set of a young artist (as a rule, all parents take it with them) and your baby’s favorite toys, don’t despair.
The road can be made interesting without board games, a computer and other gadgets.
All you need is fantasy and desire.
A little bit of ingenuity - and even your fingers with the help of felt-tip pens will become heroes of the theater, and whole gardens with beautiful flowers will grow from napkins.
And, of course, do not forget to bring 2-3 new toys for the baby, which can captivate the little one a little longer than the old toys, so that you (and the neighbors on the train) have time to relax a little.
What games and toys do you keep your child busy with on the road? Share your stories in the comments below!
07.04.2019, 13:00
Train journeys are generally long and sometimes quite exhausting. This is especially true for those traveling with children.
In order for such a trip to be easy for all family members, you need to take care of what to do with the smallest members of the family. Often, children are capricious on the train, as they get bored and do not know what to do with themselves. 
So, what can you do with your child on the road? There are several options, it all depends on the age of the child and his preferences.
The first thing that can be advised is to look at the landscapes outside the window. You can not only consider, but also discuss everything interesting that comes along the way. But, as a rule, such a pastime bothers the child very quickly. What else can you do?
Compose fairy tales! Come up with colorful stories about how a fox ran out of that forest and missed your train. And the hedgehog from the neighboring forest came in advance and managed everywhere. But you don't need to look for him, he is small, he walked for a long time and was tired, and now he is sleeping. It all depends on your imagination. You can not limit yourself in anything. Such an occupation will take even the most restless kinder. 
Give your child coloring books or sketchbooks, as well as pencils, markers, or paints that you thoughtfully took with you. Drawing or coloring can captivate a baby for a long time.
You can offer your child his favorite toys, which it is also advisable to take on the road, or some kind of board game. To this you can add a magnetic constructor, plasticine or colored elastic bands for weaving. Usually children start to play with joy and forget about whims. The main thing is to choose toys that cannot get lost, crumble (like special children's sand) and stain someone (watercolors, gouache, etc.). 
The most successful option would be a new toy that the child has not yet seen. But in this case, you need to know for sure whether he will like such a toy.
Another good way to distract your child is to let him play on the tablet. With a gadget, the child will simply have no time to be capricious, since this device has many exciting games. You can also watch a cartoon or read a book on your tablet. The main thing is to download your favorite videos in advance and find headphones for it. It is unlikely that all the series of smeshariki in non-stop mode will please the neighbors.
In addition to a tablet, an e-book and an MP-3 player can perfectly relieve boredom. 
In the event that your child gets tired of all of the above, you can try to entertain him with oral games. Children, especially small children, are willingly involved in oral play. These include a word game or a city game, a guessing game, a Let's Count game, etc.
Finally, you can choose the option to research the train. It is very important for young children to be able to move. If you do not know what to do with your fidget, show him the carriage, your compartment, the train arrangement, take a mini-tour of the train. It's great if the child gets to know other children.
