Help the time pass swiftly on holiday travels

If you’re worried about that upcoming holiday trip with the kids, you need some strategies for making that typically awful time on the road, in the sky and away from home more tolerable, possibly more fun, even during the busiest travel weeks of the year.

Comfort is everything, especially in the car. Along with pillows, water bottles and snacks, monogrammed fleece blankets for kids will keep them warm and eliminate fights over whose blanket is whose. Lands’ End has Polartec Aircore throws in a dozen colors for $29 each, plus $5 for the monogram.

Order by Friday if you want them in time for Christmas. Call (800) 345-3696 or visit www.landsend.com/cd/frontdoor.

New toys and books are always a hit, particularly if they have something to do with the place you’re visiting. For example, Matchbox has a vehicle for each of the 50 states, complete with a mini-license plate. You might want to get the kids one for each state you’ll travel through, perhaps a vintage convertible with a surf-shop logo for California or a tow truck for New York. Take a look at the collection at www.matchbox.com/ 50thbirthday.

Fans of the historic American Girl dolls and books will stay busy in the car with the interactive book “Molly’s Route 66 Adventure,” as Molly and her family make their way from Chicago to Los Angeles after her dad returns from World War II.

Those heading off on a holiday cruise might want to compare today’s megaships to the ship on which wealthy Samantha Parkington sailed to England in 1904 with her family in “Samantha’s Ocean Liner Adventure.” The eight pullout souvenirs in each book (including Samantha’s mask from the captain’s ball and Molly’s mini map of Route 66) are bound to be a hit. The books are available at most bookstores and can also be purchased at www.americangirl.com.

The National Geographic book “Dive!” is a great introduction to scuba diving for kids heading to the beach. Younger kids will enjoy National Geographic’s “My First Pocket Guide: Seashore Life,” which is full of big pictures of critters like fiddler and hermit crabs, sea urchins and coral, with “field notes” on where to find them and what to look for.

To nurture your young explorer’s interest in faraway places, pick up a copy of the newly designed magazine National Geographic for Kids, which is available on newsstands and by subscription -- 10 issues for $17.94. And you can download puzzles, games and stories from www.nationalgeographic.com to take along on your trip.

The kids will stop complaining about that traffic jam when you toss them the hand-held electronic game Rush Hour, which retails for $14.99. The 1,200 puzzles and five skill levels should keep them busy for a while. Rush Hour is made by Radica USA and is available at most toy stores and on Web sites like www.amazon.com.

Kids who want to keep reading or playing games in the car after dark will love the Princeton Tec Aurora Headlamp from L.L. Bean. It provides 160 hours of light with just one set of batteries. The decrease in whining will make the $29 seem like a bargain. Call (800) 221-4221 or visit www.llbean.com.

Because the holidays are supposed to be about family time, see if you can get the kids to turn off their CD players and Game Boys for a while in the car -- at least long enough to listen to a book on tape. It’s the traveling family’s version of gathering by the fire for a story.

In a collection that should please kids, Broadway veteran Jim Dale reads the Harry Potter tales. With anywhere from seven CDs (“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”) to 17 (“Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire”), they should keep the kids and you entertained even if you have to cross three states to get to Grandma’s house.

Younger grade-schoolers are guaranteed to like Judy Blume’s “Double Fudge,” the latest in the series about a little boy nicknamed Fudge and his family. Kids from divorced or blended families might enjoy the audio version of Rachel Cohn’s “The Steps,” about a girl’s holiday visit to her father’s new family. These titles are all available from the Listening Library, www.listeninglibrary.com. Check your local library and video store for other favorite stories on CD or tape.

If that book-on-tape idea is greeted with a groan, try talking. Time stuck in a car or plane might be the best gift you can give the kids -- a few hours with nothing else to do but focus on them and what’s happening in their lives. Best of all, they can’t tune you out by leaving the room.

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Eileen Ogintz’s column appears twice a month. E-mail her at eileen@takingthekids.com.