Miles of Smiles
 Carole Terwilliger Meyers
 (Reviewed by The Editor
 Rebecca Brown)
 1992 Carousel Press, Albany CA
  ISBN: 0917120116


101 Great Car Games & Activities for anyone trapped in a hot car with bored kids & miles still to go before you get there!

Back in my distant childhood, the only way we went on vacations (or holidays, as they were called among the English) was by family car. My mother was the driver, with my father navigating. To retain his sanity, he invented all sorts of brain teasing games. So, I was thrilled when I came upon Carole Terwilliger Meyers' handy little book Miles of Smiles. It's perfect for a glove compartment or a seat pocket. I have, however, played many of these games with my kids on busses, trains, even 'planes.

I'm glad to see all the I Spy games, as well as those that had us practicing our times tables, the ability to do math in our heads & learn our colors & shapes.

In her Introduction for Parents, Carole Terwilliger Meyers gives us some clues as to how to entice teenagers into the fray as well as recounting some benefits for parents!

Many games are based on counting, & can easily be adapted for all ages. There are some interesting twists on the old license plates game.

Language gets a good workout, with all sorts of ways to imagine & describe what is being seen & the words involved.

Guessing & challenges will keep everyone's brain a-jumping.

Making up stories & poems can while away a lot of minutes, possibly even lull the dull into a nap!

Math & geography -- both favorites in my family -- I was excellent at that latter & my brothers with the former.

Being confined to the inside of a family's travel pod can limit physical movement, however, Miles of Smiles has some hilarious & simple ways around that.

There is so much packed into this little book that it would take me hours & hours to describe. Better yet, pick up a copy of Miles of Smiles, perhaps a couple just in case the first gets lost & enjoy the ride!

Other subjects included are Nightime; Getting to Know You; Knowledge Challenges; Humor; Keeping Track.

On one long, winter drive we were trapped inside a Volvo station wagon with three youngsters, a cat & a great Great Dane. We were still a few hours from our destination & snow & night began falling. There was nowhere to stop & everyone was antsy about being cooped-up, & squabbles were erupting among the kids. I devised a game to keep our spirits up in the swirling darkness. Each child, in rotation, was the scout for the next mile marker. When one was spied, we all were to screech at the top of our lungs for three full minutes. At the next mile marker we were to go silent for the same length of time. One of the kids had the stop watch -- analog watches are a must! They were fascinated to see the second hand rotate. When we were all at full voice, both the cat & the dog would join in, which usually sent us into paroxyms of mirth. & so it went for another 100 miles of winding, highway through dense & dark forest lands.

More from Carole Terwilliger Meyers:
San Francisco Family Fun
Weekend Adventures for City-Weary People: Overnight Trips in Northern California
Eating Out with the Kids in San Francisco and the Bay Area
How to Organize a Babysitting Cooperative and Get Some Free Time Away from the Kids Getting in the Spirit: Annual Bay Area Christmas Events
Eating Out with the Kids in the East Bay

Carole Terwilliger Meyers is a freelance travel writer & has a fine website: www.carousel-press.com.
(04/28/02)

Rebecca