Road Trip Ideas for 2-Year Old

We took a road trip this spring with our 2 year old boy and 5 year old girl. The 5 year old was a lot easier to entertain, but our son did pretty well. Just have lots of snacks and little toys. Our kids really like to look at books so we got a lot of use out of the look at books we had taken along. We got the whole series of "My first books" They are by BK books and have subjects like Trucks (we actually lost that one along the way and it was his favorite), colors, Christmas, words, animals that kind of stuff. They just have pictures with the words describing them. The motion of the car kinda rocked him to sleep and he slept more than he usually does. We did a combination of train, planes and cars so we weren't able to pack too much, but if you are driving the whole way, you might be able to pack more of a variety of stuff.
Plan on it taking longer than it would if you were alone. Stops last a lot longer because they don't want to get back in the car right away. Good luck and have fun.

Hi, A.,

My response is probably going to be the least popular on the block, but I have a two-year-old, and if my husband and I were looking at an 18-hour roadtrip, I think I'd break down and buy a portable DVD player (I hear they're like 50 bucks). I do NOT believe in these for every day trips to the grocery store, sitting around the house, etc. We limit our little one's TV intake, though she does watch some. I don't know what your belief system is on all of this, and I know it this a controversial suggestion, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.

We go up to see my sister in CT, which is a three hour car trip, and our little one does well with snacks, crayons, toys, singing, a long break at a rest stop, etc. until about the last half hour of the trip, at which point she pretty much screams till we get there. We've opted for the plane trip on anything longer than three hours since she was about 9 months old or so. I think 18 hours in a car is an eternity for a 2 year old. If you're open to the DVD idea, I think it could make those 18 hours a whole lot more bearable your child, and by extension, for you and your husband.

Well that's all. Happy anniversary this Sunday, best wishes to all of you, and drive safely!

I know it will be hard, but maybe you should just work on dealing with your flying fears? No time like now. Think of all the trips you (and by proxy your family) will miss out on if you can't fly anywhere. I don't know if statistics help you, but you're much more likely, sadly, to get into a car accident while driving 18 hours than for anything bad to happen while flying. Maybe get some Valium or something, put your husband on baby-duty, and just sleep the whole flight.

For the car trip, I agree about the dvd player. That should suck up some big blocks of time.

Good luck!

My kids love model magic. It is like playdoh but not messy, so as long as your little one won't eat it I think it would be good entertainment. I take it out of the original package and put it in a baggie so you can close it back up and play again later. It would be great for car or plane.