What to pack when travelling with children

Steve Grace shares his top six props for tantrum-free road travel with toddlers on board

1. A CD player or Walkman and plenty of CDs or tapes.

2. Audio books Buy or rent something your child's teacher recommends for summer reading - there are thousands of audio book titles available online. This is a wonderful alternative for kids who get motion sickness from reading in the car.

3. A Gameboy Not my first recommendation, but it keeps kids happy and quiet.

4. A deck of cards Both my daughters drove back from vacation with me last year. They brought a TV table to hold the cards steady.

5. Movie videos You can buy a video player that plugs into your car's cigarette lighter. It's a small screen and the sound isn't great, but the kids seem to like it.

6. Pillows No kidding. You'd be amazed how much more easily kids can fall asleep when they have something soft to lay their heads on.