Hit me with your best car games for the 10 yo crowd.
I'm also buying a new chapter book for both, a new ds game, we will borrow a dvd player, and I picked up a sudok and word search book. Anything else that would give their eyes a break??
I'm hoping not to have them pulled in electronically the whole time.
forgot to say we will be driving for 2 days going and then coming back.
I'm sad because i used to enjoy finding little toys to wrap up for them and give every couple of hours, and now its harder to find things that they would like like that, maybe some snacks. and i forgot i want to look for a book on tape before we go too.
MAD LIBS !!! I knew i was forgetting something! lol hubs has said, "I will not listen to Harry Potter for 10 hrs, so don't even think about it." party pooper.
We're going on a 10 hr trip and all I plan on doing was print math sheets for them to solve. I'm thinking...fast facts and adding fractions with different denominators for my 9 yo and double digit addition with regrouping for my 7 yo. Those should keep them busy. LOL. Totally kidding. I have no suggestions but will steal the books on tape suggestion ;)
I don't have any game suggestions but I can offer some things to do:
Give them an atlas and have them mark each city/town as you drive through. Maybe even have them record population and take pictures of each town square or city hall.
Tangrams! Puzzles using a few shapes but you can create an endless amount of figures. Add velcro on the back of the pieces and let them create the figures on a piece of felt so it won't slip off.
Wooden mindgames puzzles.
Oriental Trading has a bunch of peg games like cribbage.
Mad Libs.
Mega Tic Tac Toe books - 16+ squares!
Book of mazes.
Doodle art books.
Buy a knot tying book and bring rope.
Playdoh! I know your child is 10 but you'd be surprised what they can create with playdoh when they're bored. I usually bring popsicle sticks of all sizes and colors to stick in the dough.
Wikisticks - wax sticks you can bend and shape into anything.
Brain quest cards.. Lots of times, Costco sells them.. We loved these..
Our daughter enjoyed the Garrison Kieller Books on CD.. Prairie Home companion. Lake Wobegon.. They are funny, with old timey music.. His stories are great.
They are going to need more than one book each won't they? Maybe little clip on book lights?
We used to have crazy hats.. or masks.. and every once in a while we would ll put them on and just pretend like everything was normal.. The other drivers and passengers in other vehicles would crack up..
Joke books.
Put together songs lists.
Teach them how to sing in the "Round"
Songs you used to sing at camp or in school.
On top of old Smokey..
She'll be comin round the mountain..
Found a peanut,
He's got the whole world in his hands
The Diarrhea Song.. (http://diarrheasong.blogspot.com/2007/09/when-you-think-y...)
Audio books are the best. Or one of you reads them a book. My husband read almost half a Harry Potter book on one of our weekend road trips. Our 9 year old son LOVED it. And while I was driving I listened too and I have to say I loved it also! :) Another trip we read the Hobbit. Now my son and husband are on the Lord of the Rings.
We used to play the license plate game on long trips. We tried to find a license plate from all 50 states. I still play it when I'm doing a long drive by myself. You can also find travel scavenger hunts where you try to find various things through the car windows--a white horse, a rabbit, a purple truck, a billboard with the word zoo on it, etc. I have seen them in game stores but you could probably find them online or make your own.
Audio books. We listened to Harry Potter and a few other books as a family on a ten hour drive several years ago and it was great (not all at once, we took breaks every four chapters or so.) We checked them out from the library so no cost there.
Are you sure reading is a good idea in the car? I get REALLY nauseous if I read in a moving vehicle and so does my youngest. My other kids do as well, though not as bad as the two of us.
Of course we played games to, like the ABC car game (a for audi, b for bmw, c for camry, whoever gets furthest first in the alphabet wins) and "slugbug" but without the slugging.
Good luck & have a safe trip!
Audiobook that you could all listen to--maybe Harry Potter or something else like that.
Relaxing music for napping
No Harry Potter? I agree, "Party Pooper!"
So, I looked up Jim Dale, who read the Harry Potter Books, to see what else he's read. I think he did an amazing job. He has a website:
http://www.jim-dale.com/latest_audiobooks.htm
And he's read some interesting books - "A Day With Wilbur Robinson" by William Joyce (I think "Meet the Robinsons is based on this book"),
"Peter Pan" by J. M. Barrie "Around the World In Eighty Days" by Jules Verne, "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll
But, of course, there are many other good readers. Hope you find something you like!
Mad Libs and lots of snacks!
I agree with the "Scavenger Hunt" suggestion. I actually bought a deck of cards called "Scavenger Hunt" that was specifically designed to be a car travel game. My kids had fun with it at about ages 9 and 12. I can't remember who made it, but you can probably Google it or make your own.
We made up a game of our own and you could probably come up with some variation of it. We were in the Black Hills and Badlands around the time of Sturgis, the huge motorcycle event. My kids counted helmeted riders vs. non-helmeted riders and then we calculated the percentages.
Of course, we had our fair share of electronics too. (-:
As a learning experience when we travel, we point out license plates of cars passing by and note the state from which they are traveling and we say the state capitol.. It's fun, and while not long lasted, it does get your mind thinking and remembering all the state capitols. Because we've done it since my son was very young, he's known all the state capitols for a long time. Another thing my son does when we travel is listen to music, draws, journals, reads , word jumbles.. Lastly, we usually look up info about the place we are traveling to and read it aloud.. this way, everyone actively participates and learns about the place we are visiting.. these things all make the time pass.. and don't forget, some good old fashion looking out the window can be interesting... From highways to architecture, we love seeing how other people in the country live and do things..
good luck
How about "trivia", make a game out of license plates, how many out of state, have them learn to read a map by following the road, how many miles to next exit. Exit numbers are on the road maps. Good way to learn directions, north, south, east, west. By looking at the "mile marker signs", how long does it take between signs. 60 miles per hour would be one mile in a minute. Great learning tools with a little fun. Name something historical about some of the towns / cities, what is the Capital, what is the town known for, major industry or sports team?
So many people with GPS really don't have a clue "where" they are or where they are going geographically.
Who can spot the first wild animal, deer, rabbit, squirrel, antelope, etc.
Look at farms, who can spot the first horse, cow, wind farms, water towers, cloud formations, jet streams, the first mountain top.
Check out roadside markets, fruit and vegetable stands are popular in summer, rural areas.
Get headphones for the DVD player and bring an iPod.
