Road Trip Tips for 2Yo and 3Yo

Hi M.,

I just found this site. A friend sent it to me and I can't wait to use some of the fun games and ideas that are here. www.momsminivan.com I hope this helps. There is also www.lilaguide.com which is a guide of things to do in different cities that are "mom tested" and "mom rated" as kid friendly places to go.

Have fun!

C. Eisenman
Mommy to Amber 6,Aubrey 5, Aidan 2, Aren 11mths

www.sendoutcards.com/C.

What I always do for road trips is think of some games you can play on the way.I spy is great or anything else that is age appropriate for your kids. I would also bring a DVD player for their favorite movies, of course I would limit the time they watch it. I always buy a new toy for my girls, something they can play with in the car. And of course don't forget the kids music and sing along the way. Rest areas are always a great stopping point, bring a ball or something they can run around and play with. have a great trip

The little gameboy type educational/learning games are the best. My 3 year old loves them. It is educational so you feel better about them using them. Good luck on your trip. :)

Hi M.,

My 8-yr-old daughter and I make an annual road trip from Wesley Chapel to Johnstown, PA - we have done this for the last 4 years. We do it in 2 days, so we stay over night in a hotel half-way there. Days Inn's are great because they are inexpensive and most have a mini-fridge in the room. If you have triple A you can often get a room for as low as $50 a night. We pack a cooler and bring things like PB & J so that we can stop at the rest areas along the way for lunch. My daughter can run around and burn off energy and we actually get to be outside for a little while rather than cooped up in a restaraunt where she has to "behave". I also take a portable DVD player and headphones and she watches movies and kids shows along the way - which keeps her attention for 1.5 to 2 hours at a time. In between she loves to draw - so I have bought I nice pack of colored PENCILS (no ink or marker to get on the upholstery!) and pads of plain paper. Color Wonder are also great if they like to color rather than draw because they also will not get all over anything and you can even take them into restaraunts, etc. I also make the hotel stay an adventure - and she looks forward to that. We bring popcorn (again, most Days Inn's have little microwaves in the room - and they also have free breakfast.) Your kids are a little young, but I also bring games - card games and smaller things for in the car (your Mom can play with them - or if you are switching off driving you can take turns) and even a board game like CandyLand or Chutes and Ladders for in the hotel room. These are just some of the things we have done for the past 3-4 years as we make our annual trek up and back. Hope this helps!

What do you "working from home"? I would love to hear more about it!

K. Farabaugh
WAHM
http://securely.stayinhomeandlovinit.com

A small DVD player and some DVDs that they haven't seen before works well for us. We strap it to the top of a cooler that sits between the seats. Also, they love their Doodle Pro drawing tablets. They used the big regular sized ones at first, then I found the little Travel Doodle Pros that I keep in the car all the time.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=237335...

We just drove from El Paso TX to here and that was an 18 hour road trip that we cut into two days. We bought some car dvd players, two screens that hang on the back of the seats and they worked perfect! My boys are 3yrs and the other is 21 months, we also stopped at every states welcome center to let them run around and work their legs a little bit...and also lunch stopped at like mcds which had a playarea.
It wont be as bad as you think! :D

On road trips I like to make a goody bag filled with little dollar store toys that I have individually wrapped. Splitting them up over so many miles each time I dole them out to the kids if they're behaving. Do you have a DVD player?