are we nearly there yet...hip tips for the little hips.

Okay, so picture this...you are in the car, or at the airport, or, well anywhere really, and sure enough, without fail, you’ll get the ‘are we nearly there yet’ or ‘I’m bored’. Well, we, at ‘the little hip traveller’ have compiled a few fun and hip ways to prevent the inevitable happening...ranging from some super high tech fancy things, to the old school faves...

So, those lucky people out there with the iphone or ipad - why not hand them over to the hips (go on, you know you can) and for a few gold coins or perhaps even nothing at all, you can get the following entertainment happening...and all of a sudden, hey presto, you have some very happy little ‘hips’! Hoorah!

So, what do we have? Well, there’s the very cool Peekaboo app, which is a fun barn adventure for your little hips and you too. The little animals pop out and baa and moo appropriately, and whilst the hips peak behind the barn doors, they also, without realising, learn the names, sounds and habitats of these little farm yard creatures - how clever!

Or there’s the old favourites, Old Macdonald, Itsy Bitsy Spider or The Wheels on the Bus. Itsy Bitsy Spider has a little fly that teaches your little hips about nature and the environment, or you can create your own version of the songs with your child! How cool.

There is also the very amusing Balloonimals - You simply blow into the microphone and the Balloon animals blow up into different shaped animals. Remember how much the kids like those balloon magic people at parties and fairs. Now they can build dinosaurs, fish, ducks and control it all themselves! Clever...

And then there is the mother of them all - Talking Carl. Now Carl is so much fun and guaranteed to reduce boredom to even the youngest little ‘hip’ - if you tickle carl, he rolls around laughing, poke him he says ‘ouch’ and he will copy all you say in a very silly high pitched voice. Believe me, Talking Carl is a hit!

And finally, available only overseas at present is an app called Bubble Wrap - basically a very annoying and frighteningly addictive sheet of bubble wrap which you just pop and pop and pop....mmmmm!

And then of course, for those of us who don’t have those modern luxuries, there’s the following list of things to try;

I - Spy: The old fave but you can guarantee it will pop up on some journey somewhere.

Simon Says: Perhaps a little bit restrictive in the car or plane, but still fun anyway, and you can look very silly infront of all those others who are busy trying to ignore you! Respect for Simon I say.

Count the cows/sheep/kangaroos: Perhaps best not really played in the plane, but if you are out in the country or the bush. Give yourself a time limit and count the number of cows/sheep/kangaroos etc on your side of the road, and the highest score is the winner.

Colours: Pick a colour, and see how many things in that colour you can see in a time limit ie red car, red wine, red suitcase etc. Mmmm, the highest score wins.

Memory: Someone starts ‘In my suitcase, I packed...a banana’. The next person then says, ‘in my suitcase, I packed, a toothbrush, and a banana’, and then the next person has to add something else, and you just keep on going...good for the old brain cells.

Neighbours: Everyone looks out of the car window and chooses a person. They need to then decide what kind of a person they are - job, personality, life etc.. Become a spy by making sure that person doesn’t see you talking about them! What fun!

And then, if that all gets too much (or develops into an argument or two), get the portable DVD player out!

Any other tips...why don’t you just let us know so we can add them to the list. There surely are plenty more out there...