Long journeys with children have to be one of THE most painful parts of parenting.

If our kids aren’t beating seven shades out of each other in the backseat, they’re whinging about being bored, and asking ‘Are we nearly there yet?’ every 15 seconds.

It’s enough to drive us to the very edge of reason.

Smartphones and tablets are invaluable for giving us some peace and quiet, but we can never have too many tricks up our sleeve when it comes to entertaining the kids while we’re on the move.

How about trying one of these nine brilliant ideas?

1 Eat the alphabet

This is a great memory game, in the style of that old classic, ‘I went to the supermarket …’

This time, however, the first person says, ‘I’m so hungry I could eat a …’ and names an item of food beginning with A: e.g. ‘I’m so hungry I could eat an apple.’

The next person then chooses a food starting with B, but has to remember the one that came before, too: ‘I’m so hungry I could eat a biscuit and an apple’ – and so on.

Perfect for passing the time until your picnic stop.

2 Would you rather … ?

Guaranteed to get lots of giggles from older kids, a game of ‘Would you rather… ?’ involves asking your children questions with two equally ridiculous possible answers, such as, ‘Would you rather sleep with a grizzly bear or a crocodile in your bed?’

Take it in turns to ask each other questions – and remember, you’ll have to justify your choices!

3 Car model bingo

This game involves a bit of preparation, as you’ll need to print out a bingo card for each player, featuring the badges of well-known car manufacturers rather than numbers.

Each child has to tick off the relevant square when they spot the corresponding make of car (be sure to include some obscure ones so the game isn’t over too quickly).

Who’ll be the first to get a complete line?

4 The never-ending story

Get your kids’ creative juices flowing by giving them the starting line of a made-up story: something like, ‘Once upon a time there was a very handsome sheep.’

Go around the car, taking it in turns to add the next sentence, and see what sort of crazy tales you can come up with.

5 Car colour hunt

Lots of travel games need kids to have at least a basic grasp of spelling.

As an alternative for young children who haven’t yet mastered their ABCs, play an I Spy game where they need to spot objects by colour.

There are plenty of possibilities to keep your child occupied, from green fields and red traffic lights to brown and white cows.

6 DIY colouring case

If your child loves drawing, make them a mini drawing set for long car journeys.

Use a plastic sandwich box with a hinged lid. Fill the box with wax crayons or colouring pencils, then attach a pad of sticky notes to the inside of the lid using double-sided tape.

Your child can sketch their picture on the top sticky note, then peel it off and start all over again.

7 Staring contest

Sometimes, the simplest games are the best – and who can resist a staring contest?

First one to blink or laugh is a loser!

8 Name that tune

This classic game is a great way to keep your kids occupied on a long journey: one person has to hum the intro to a well-known song, and the other players have to guess what it is.

Play it with nursery rhymes or pop songs, and try mixing it up by whistling the tune instead of singing.

Introduce a twist by playing snippets of music on the car stereo and guessing the song.

9 Mystery counting

This game for older children will put their powers of deduction to the test.

One player chooses an object outside the car to count, such as horses, street lights or buses – but they don’t tell the other players what they’re counting.

Each time they pass their object, they count out loud, and the others have to try to guess what it is that they’re counting.

Their score is the number they get up to before someone guesses their object. The successful guesser then takes over with their own object.

Top tip: don’t choose anything too obscure, or you won’t be able to rack up a winning score.