3 Simple Ways to Bring Joy to Your Carpool

Carline, carpool, ride share, practice drop-offs and pick-ups. It seems most of life’s activities are connected together by a ride in our vehicles. To school, to work, to church, to practices, to friends, to vacations, to everywhere.

We look at the activities in our lives as the bits and pieces that make up our everyday lives. But what about the hundreds of other hours we spend in-between inside our vehicles?

Author Jessica Turner calls these minutes the “fringe hours” … the tiny slivers of time spent in between the bigger activities of our days. The waiting in lines, the stoplights, the time spent moving from one thing to the next.

I think we often overlook these “fringe hours” and the good they could be cultivating in our and our children’s lives. 

Bring Joy Back to the In-Between Moments

With so much heaviness in our world these days, I say we bring joy back into not just the big moments, but also the little in-between moments of our days too.

Want to make a real impact in your kids’ lives? Let’s start in the car and with our children. Use this opportunity of their captive audience to share Jesus with them. Instill a bit of fun, as well as joy, and Truth into their day by sharing Jesus, because HE is where the joy is. 

Today I have three simple suggestions to bring some fun and Christ-based joy into your car. The number one rule of bringing joy into your car — be present. 

Not only is this for safety issues but being present will make all the difference. Turn off the phone, turn down the music, and listen and chat with the children in the car.

Here are three practical things you can do with your kids in your carline or carpool today. 

Start by telling your kiddos what you’re doing. Let them be a part of it and helping remind you of the game plan of adding joy and Truth to your car rides.

Something to note: I encourage you to not to be afraid to take these steps even if you are also driving children that are not your own. 

1 - Pray a scripture verse a month.

You can do this by printing out scripture on index cards and having children read it aloud together, taking turns praying, or you simply praying it over them as they listen and you drive. Try each suggestion to see what works best for your car. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

For younger kids: 

• 1 Thessalonians 5:11 - “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

• Deuteronomy 31:6 - “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

• Psalm 139:14 – “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

For older kids: 

• Psalm 1:3 - “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”

• Philippians 4:6 - “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.””

• 1 Peter 5:8 - “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

2 - Visit virtue.

This is a fun, but quick opportunity to introduce and build a foundation of high moral standards in your kiddos by visiting the topic of different virtues. 

Pick out a new virtue each day or week you’re driving and discuss in the car for a couple minutes. Explain the definition of your chosen virtue, then make a statement on it that the kids can repeat. 

There are lots of pre-made virtue cards available online if you want to take the prep work out of it for yourself. (Just google “virtue cards” or “choose virtue cards”!)

But remember: Brevity is your friend here. Keeping it short and swift will help stick in the kids’ minds. And your own. 😊

Examples:

•  I am diligent.

• I am content.

• I am perseverant.

• I am honest.

• I am helpful.

• I am …

3 - Form the fun.

Finish your prayer and virtue discussion with something FUN! Maybe

• Have a dance party in the car and turn up the (appropriate!) music.

• Have each kid share their favorite joke, and then everyone laughs hysterically (because the rule is you have to laugh whether it’s actually funny or not! 😉).

• Play a game of “I Spy with My Little Eye.”

• Have a sing-a-long.

• The list goes on!

Bottom line: it doesn’t matter what you do, but be intentional about those in-between moments in the car with your captive audience. In a time when the world and our responsibilities feel heavy, let’s lighten the load on our kiddos and bring joy back into our car rides. 

Much love, Kristin  |   Tired? Read how there is more available FOR you, than is needed FROM you.