Road Trip! I Need Ideas!

Have you thought about Travel Bingo? You should be able to find it at a Wal-Mart or Target. The older child can help the younger child with filling in the card. Maybe prizes for each game, prizes being little trinkets from a dollar store.

Hi K.,

I'm guessing you will get lots of responses to this,but there are a few ideas on my website at: http://www.winmarkcom.com/summeractivities.htm

If you need any more, this is what I do. I write books about things to keep kids busy and develop self-esteem etc. One of my books has over 5,000 activities! Tou can call me at the number at the bottom of the web page. There are many things to do while traveling and they are all fun!

Make the most of your trip,
K.

Start sneaking away some of their toys. They will seem "new" if they haven't played with them in a while (especially your younger one).

Go to Big Lots or Savers and see if they have some cheap movies your kids haven't seen. Even the cheapy, old ones are great for the first viewing.

Do you have a digital camera that the 8-year-old can take pictures with? Have him take a picture of something with an A in it, then a B in it, a C, and so on. Or have him take a picture of something and the rest of you have to guess what it is.

Have fun!

We just got back last night from a six hour drive and in April we went on a six hour drive as well. We found that interacting with the children was the best activity!!!!

Last night we played, "I'm thinking of an animal..." You give clues about an animal and the children have to guess what animal you are talking about. We literally and I am not lying, played it for three hours!!!! They loved it and did not want to stop. We had a wonderful time laughing and spending time together.

We also brought along Color Wonder blank sketch books and markers(can't get on the seats), wooden and magnetic dress-up dolls, leapsters, stickers, a regular pen and notebook. Simple, but they lasted the entire trip. Good luck and have fun!

We moved here in February and a family friend gave my 3-year old a road trip kit. He had so much fun. There were three brown paper sacks labled 200 miles, 400 miles, etc. the first one had bubble gum I think, the second had pencils and sharpeners w/ a Hulk activity book, one of them had a magnetic "wild willy" game. He liked the gum the best (and I will do that again with SUGARLESS gum on our next trip--the gal who gave the gift did not have kids...) He also has requested connect the dots and mazes.

I recently took a 16 hour road trip with my two little ones 2 and 5. The Movies and snacks definitly help but try stuff with not to much sugar in them. I found this super helpful. I went and bought lap desk at michales. I brough coloring books, blank paper, playdo, arts and crafts stuff from the dollar section in Michales and trust me this helped so much. It made the trip fun and the girls where not bored at all.

As stated... Color Wonder is awesome...

Another 2 words for you... Dollar Store! LOL

Hi K.,

We just got back from a very long road trip with our recent 5 yr. old and 9 1/2 yr. old. We went from AZ to CO with a overnight stay in New Mexico. Stayed a few days in CO to visit the Grandparents then on the way home went via the Rockies (absolutely Beautiful!!) to Utah to visit Bryce & Zion National Parks. Then on our way home in AZ visited Grand Canyon and Sedona- Wuh! a lot of driving!

What I have always done is prepare a activity center to put between them. It will have some new books that they have not seen or read (that I have picked up while preparing for trip) also Coloring Books, Color Wonder (is always great!) Make sure your first stop for this shopping is the .99 Store, Dollar Tree, Big Lots, etc. I also will buy a couple New DVD's (this year I could only afford one for each) cheap ones from WalMart or the ones that might be on sale at Target for $5. This always excites them. This year I also bought my 9 year old this neat Kid's Encyclopedia book for $8.95 for my daughter. Very educational and my son liked the pictures plus she read to him. I also picked up one Highlights Magazine for each from Wal-Mart.

We also always play "fun car games" such as "I spy with my little eye"..... We also saw a lot of wildlife so we would play "the first person to spot a Deer, Jack Rabbit, Elk, etc.. this was always entertaining for at least an hour. Plus I am big on timing everything so that they see the scenery and enjoy God's Creation. So there DVD time is always limited (usually to dusk and night time) if I could. Unless the landscape was really boring!

Lastly this year I also bought some kid's music that we played for them and they loved it!! We all sang and enjoyed the scenery!

Hopes this helps and inspires you with ideas. Enjoy your trip!!

A.

Magnadoodles are great. We have this steering wheel toy that my little guy likes to play with. Books are good - your older one could read to the younger one, or bring a book you can read to them like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And the one thing we always bring is a tray with sides on it for their lap that can be used for just about anything from rolling cars around on to holding a snack. Have a fun trip!

YOu can always give a variety of art activities, My two year old likes to draw with the Plastic board which as a little stick that pick ups the magnets... Sorry I do not remember the name of it... I like it because it does not make a mess and they can draw something and then erase it and start over.... LOTS Of Stickers and coloring books. Play Kid music and everybody sing, With your older child you can play games on "I spy" and they have to figure out what you see outside of the car..... I always go to the Dollar Store and get little things that would interest them for a little bit.... I hope your trip goes well.. Good luck..

For our last road trip (my son is two) I stocked up on aqua doodle coloring scenes, color wonder stuff, some look and find books, and some little animals and other things I found in target's dollar section. With the DVD player, we were in great shape. I over prepared, which is great because I have things ready for our next road trip next week. I highly recommend having a "bag of tricks" available for these situations. Happy traveling!

We took our four kids on a road trip across country last year (ages 4-9) and we found some great info/stuff at:

www.momsminivan.com
www.travelingwithkids.com

Best,
C.

I see you have a lot of responses but here is something that helped me with my trip from AZ to UT that ended up taking 3 days instead of 12 hours (thanks to broken down moving van)

I did the new toy thing, but I also had meal time in the car. I know that can be messy so I was careful about what we ate but, as you know, eating can take up a considerable amount of time. I sat in the back of the car with my kids and fed them. That way during our stops and breaks they could run around the entire time instead of sitting in a restaurant. It really helped keep them calmer in the car.

Of course, driving when they are asleep helps too!

Good luck!

Our kids loved games we interacted together on. At your children's ages mine loved songs, and games like find a word with an a in it and on down through the alphabet. The 2 year old might be a bit young for that one, but keeping the 8 year old busy the 2 year old will probably listen and try to participate. If the two year old knows his colors you can do it by colors rather than the alphabet or find different objects to look for. Sing Old McDonald had a farm and other silly games, my kids always had fun with that one because of all the animal noises. You don't have to sing well either they don't care.
What about just a CD that has silly songs on them that you can take with you. That would be fun. We never had a DVD player and our kids entertained themselves well too.

Personally, I wouldn't start the gift thing then they will expect it every trip. You can do a little memento of the trip to say we are looking for something to remind us of our trip.

I think if you are enjoying the trip and relaxed that will set the tone for the kids. When we stress out I believe they can sense it. Kids are very smart.

Take care and enjoy your trip.
P.S. We did a 14-20 trip (20 including layovers, plane changes etc. when our three kids were very young - all under 8 - went to the Philippines). They did wonderful, kids are amazingly resilient.

Have fun!
K.

I don't know about gifts but may have some other ideas.

Cookie sheets are great. You can use magnets on them. Color on them (the crayons won't slip off because the raised edges).

Pipe cleaners are fun, cheap and easy to pick up. They can make all kind of things with them.

a new CD for kids that they haven't heard before.

For the eldest you can find a road trip book. I'm sure they sell them at any bookstore. They have activities desingned for they're age.

Have fun!!!

I have the same thing going on. I have a 2 year old and am heading to CO this weekend. My plan is to head out after lunch right around nap time so he can sleep the first half then to break it up i have planned in some extra time to stop and take a walk or play a bit out of the car. Then we can watch a movie the next half. I dont know how far you can get with just toys, as im sure it is uncomfy to be stuck in their seat that long. Have fun HOpe all goes well

One thing we did when we took a cross country trip when our daughter was 2 was to map out all the city parks along the way that weren't too far out of our way. It's an inexpensive 'break' which can be even quite short as you get back in the car so you can find the next 'park'. If you pack lunch/dinner you can use your break time as park time rather than restaurants which were hard for my two year old to manage after being in the car for so many hours! Or get 'take out' food and bring it to a park, another option we did to break up the trip.
Good luck,
N.

Rather than attempt a gift every hundred miles, you might try a new idea every hundred miles. A new game, a new movie and maybe mix in food and non-food gifts if you're traveling far. My girls and I like to play a game called, "I'm thinking of an animal..." Where we give clues about the animal and then everybody guesses what it is, whoever guesses gets to go next. We've been doing it for years and the animals have gotten more and more complicated. (The girls were 2 and 4 when we started, now they're 6 and 8). Movies are great sometimes but we do road trips a few times a year and we've found that sometimes they make the kids crankier for whatever reason. Talking with them seems to work really well and rarely gets old for them. You can use flash cards maybe that have some kind of animal or mode of transportation on them and have the two year old identify the animal, car, train, airplane and the 8 year old can spell the name. Go fish works in the car too. Markers or colored pencils and paper would be a great gift a few miles in. A new video game, if you do that, for the 8 year old might be good half way there, when you really need to concentrate or when you have had enough and need a break. Stopping at various attractions takes extra time but can be good for stretching legs and patience. We have seen the dinosaur tracks between AZ and CO twice and on our last trip we stopped at "Hole in the Wall" a house built into a mountain, also four corners - it's a boring stop but it's quick. On other trips we've made stops at Yosemite and the west rim of the Grand Canyon. Sit down restaurants also make good resting places to get out of the car, stretch the legs and talk face to face while eating a somewhat healthier, higher quality meal.

On our last trip we were driving through monument valley and we gave my 8 year old daughter our camera and our then 5 year old had a toy quality digital camera and they took pictures. They enjoyed taking pictures of "stick houses" on the reservation and my oldest daughter got an amazing picture of seemingly wild horses running along the road. They enjoyed looking at their pictures later and they actually had a good memory of the driving part of the trip. YAY!

Enjoy your trip!