Using Drive Time

~ cthorson

If you have children, you are in the car at some point. I often am driving my children to preschool, the library, the church, ballet, or other gatherings and activities. I use “drive time” as a time to teach and connect with my children. Here are some ideas to maximize your drive time:

  1. Listen to an Audio Book- our library has picture books accompanied with the audio version, these are only ~15-20 minutes long if you listen to the book read twice. I let each child pick out a picture book/audio set at the library, then we take turns listening to them in the car. When we listen to their book they get to hold the picture book. If your children are older consider a longer audio book that or show, like Adventures in Odyssey.
  2. Memorize Bible Verses- Everyone in our family loves Seeds Family Worship music. Seeds Family Worship takes bible verses and has put them into song form, this aids in memorization. Songs are much easier to memorize than just text. There are so many seeds of worship themes, you can pick one to accompany with a spiritual trait your family is working on. The great thing about the CDs is they come with 2 copies, 1 for you and 1 to share. We have 2 of their cds in our car that we rotate through.
  3. Use drive time as prayer time. This can be done in so many ways. If your children are too young to pray, use it as a time to pray out loud, they will hear you and learn to pray by example as they grow. If your children are older, ask them how you can pray for them today. If your children are old enough to pray, ask them if they would like to pray. If your children are telling you about something in their day, whether a praise or a concern say “lets pray about this” or “lets praise God for this”. Suggest you praise and acknowledge who God is through prayer. You could keep a list of attributes or names of God to pray through with your children.
  4. Play the High/Low game- This game is also great to play at meal time. Each person takes turns sharing a “high” (something they liked) from their day and a “low” (something they didn’t like). Use this time to build conversation. A great conversation builder: “tell me more”.