10-12 Hour Car Trip with 6 Yo and 2 1/2 Yo

I just returned home from a trip to Florida, which was over 14 hours in the car. We took a portable dvd player for my 2-year old son and the only movie he wanted to watch was Nemo. He never finished the entire movie. He did sleep a lot in the car. One other thing he did like to do is color in the color wonder books with the color wonder markers. The only color on certain paper which is great for both the car and home. These are only like $8.00 in the store. You can try them.

Hi J.,

One of the best things we ever bought our daughter around that age was an Aquadoodle. I don't know a single 2 year old who doesn't like to color! Since it's all water you don't have to worry about it being a mess. We had a birthday party to go to last month and when I was shopping for gifts I discovered that they now make Aquadoodles in a travel form (it was between $10-15)! It's not overly large and I think would be very entertaining for a 2 year old boy. Good luck!

Tin foil- playdough for the car.
A cookie sheet and magnets from the dollar store. Or use the cookie sheet as a lapdesk and give them real playdough.
Free on-line print out of car trip BINGO games
Books on CD from the library with paper for them to illustrate while they listen.
Window clings from the dollar store (and action figures and snacks...I love the dollar store for trips).
Play games likes "First one to see a cow..." get a chocolate chip.
Pack all this and snacks in a surprise bag and only get something out once an hour.
Print out a map of your route for the 6 year old and every time you stop you can mark how far you have gone. It stops the "Are we there yet" since they don't have such a firm grasp on the passage of time at that age.
Give your 6 year old books to read or "read" to the 2 year old.
A soft ball you can toss to them and won't distract the driver if he/you get hit.
Bring outside toys for the rest stop to play with.
Bring various kitchen stuff (wooden spoon, mixing bowl, etc.) that the toddler probably loves to play with at home.

J., Let me just say good luck to start! But it can be a fun time for all! Here is something I made for my son a couple years ago, he still uses it in the car. Take a $ store baught cookie sheet...use colored perm. markers, draw a tic-tac-toe board (big enough for them to use, but not huge) and a bingo board (of pictures of things you will see on the road - they can use magnets to cover over the pictures as they go, once they fill up their card they get a small treat) on the back ot the cookie sheet, you can print out a map to where you are going and attatch to the back of the cookie sheet, cover with clear contact paper. They can mark your route with washable crayons. You can also add their names etc. Things that they love. But this also makes a tray for the to eat snacks on and lean on while they color. Get creative! Have fun!

Honestly I couldn't find any activities to keep my kids busy last year when we went on vacation. They only wanted to watch dvds. What we did was stop at almost every mc donalds play area we saw (well about every 2-3 hours and let them run around for an hour or so. It's short term and kept my hubby and I sane.
-B.

You are going to get a lot of great ideas from this group, so I just want to give you an idea of how to present them to your children. I did this with my son on a few of our first trips. I wrapped them up & made them surprises. And it didn't matter if it was a ball or something to do outside - he enjoyed just getting a wrapped surprise, and when we got to a rest-stop we would play with it for a while. He learned quickly that if he was good, (no whining or fighting) he would get another surprise. Remember to keep some for the trip home too, because they will be expecting them! Keep them a surprise - don't let them know beforehand that you are doing this. And they don't have to be expensive - I spent a lot of time in the dollar stores. But I also threw a few nicer things in there as well. I marked the packages in some way, so I knew what I was giving him, so I wouldn't give him 2 "great" gifts in a row. Since you have a boy & a girl, maybe wrap one in pink and the other in blue. And coordinate it with wherever you are going. ie if you are going to the beach, give some things they can play with while there; just crayons & paper for quite times in restaurants; a 3-color ink pen is a great surprise for a 6 year old. They don't have to be big gifts. Just little things to keep them occupied. I even wrapped up candy as treats. It's always better when it's wrapped!

Have fun - N.

J.,

I recently took my kids (age 25 months and almost 4) on a 7-hour car trip by myself. I took favorite books that they could "read" to themselves. For the younger one, choose board books like Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpiller and make sure you read it to him many times before you go so he'll know the story for himself. The larger books got my son frustrated because he couldn't turn the pages and they were too large to fit on his lap. We also have a book with a toy piano on it--purchased at Marshalls. Car trips are where I whip out all the electronic toys that I keep put away while at home. Leap frog leap pad is ok, but again, make sure your little one knows basically how to use it. I also packed a bag with all kinds of snacks in it that they could eat whenever they wanted. It included a couple of treats like a lollipop and a few MM's as well as small portions of nutritious finger food food. When we stopped for a potty break (for my 3yo) I let them choose a small bagged snack to take back to the car (cheese puffs were chosen-ugh--but it was their choice). That lasted another 30 minutes. We sing songs--lots and lots of songs. You can make up new words to old songs. For us, "She'll Be Comin' Around the Mountain" is a favorite because we take turns adding verses--she'll be wearing pink pajamas..., Mommy will wear..., Daddy will wear..., we will all eat peanut butter an jelly or chocolate pancakes...we will all drink..., we will all play..., we will all go to sleep... the possibilities are endless. Also "Happy and You Know It" is good because you can tap, flap, wiggle or shake countless parts of your body, plus it gets them moving in their seats. CD's are good too especially if the songs are familiar to them. Oh, and don't forget the pitstops...see if you can find restaurants with a play area. If not, just let them explore inside if it's not too crowded or outside away from the parking lot. Be careful of doggie droppings outside since this is what pet-owners do too.
We also try to time our departure time carefully. For our annual Outer Banks trip which is 11 hours, we leave around 4:00 am. That way the kids can continue to sleep and we can get down the road a ways before stopping for breakfast. Be sure to pack the car the night before and write down exactly what you have to do in the "morning" before you leave since you will probably be groggy and likely to forget something. (I sound really organized, don't I--LOL--I should try to follow my own advice this year!)

Anyway, I've gone on long enough now. Happy Travelling,
Laura