Driving.. ideas for the car

[mommyof2princesses]

I printed some coloring sheets, some activity sheets and some personalized story books, but they will only last so long. A 9 hour drive...any other ideas for the car. I was thinking of a map to check off licsence plates..but need more ideas!

TIA!

 

[angiedora]

Gameboys are a wonderfull thing in the car. We only allow our children to play with them if they arein the car so they remain fun. Madlibs are a favorite. Personal MP3 players, leave early in the morning so they sleep a while. Leappads were a good choice when mine were younger.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Just discovered Wikisticks for our last long car ride. - They're terrific!

Also, books on CD or tape - whichever your car has, or if the kids have personal ones. We listened to "Big Ryan's Tall Tales" 3 times on the way back from NY.

And little wrapped surprises (every x number of miles, or amount of time, or whenever you cross a state line, or something.) They don't have to big - dollar store toys, a pack of gum, etc. They just like to open stuff.


Good luck!

 

[Mouse House Mama]

9 hours in a car?!!!! Whiskey- lots of it!

Ooooohhhh...you meant for the kids......I thought you meant for the adults!

Oh well, I still reccommend whiskey for you.

 

[mommyof2princesses]

mmm..whiskey...no, I am driving, maybe dh will need it!

I have a leap pad but the pen won't work. Need to get a one. The pad is the original..bought it 99! No gameboys...

I like the idea of madlibs. We have a whole bunch of those somewhere.

I was going to stop at dollar store to buy some surprises.

Thanks for the ideas!

 

[mjantz]

There use to be places on-line where you could rent a portable DVD player. We *love* our DVD player & take it on just about every trip.
Keep in mind they'll probably sleep a bit as well.
When we drove to Florida a few years back, I got some of those sticky foam craft kids that don't need glue. Great for the kids & no mess! You can find them for $1-$5 at Michaels, Hobby Lobby, any craft store.

 

[pixiewings71]

We drive to DL often, it's about 6-8 hours for us. We play the Alphabet game, start with A and find the alphabet on signs or cars going by. We also play the game where you find as many different state plates as possible. We have a DVD player in our mini van too so we watch a movie or two. This last time we played 20 questions......we had a GREAT time playing that!! I think it was the most fun we have ever had sitting in a car for a long period of time. We also do coloring books, both kids have a Nintendo DS and we sing. Oh and books, we normally take books to read also....sometimes I even take a cross stitch project that I might be working on. But I don't do the driving when we go to DL so that doesn't help you. LOL

 

[Huntava]

Don't know ages of your kids, mine are 4-1/2 twins. We just did an 8 hour drive to South Florida one way, then back. I did a lot of Dollar Store toys, and wrapped them, and they each got one each hour. We do have a DVD player in the car, so also bought a few new DVD's they wanted but hadn't seen. This was by far the best long car drive we have had. We had very few problems, and the kids did sleep on and off, and actually not many fights (the kids, not me and hubby, ha ha).

 

[goofygoobers]

hey girl!!

1 more day to pack pack pack!!!!!

A game we play ALOT is the license plate word game. You need a plate with 3 letters in a row like (KSG 4586). You have to make up a work with those three letters in the same order like (kissing). You have until the next car goes by with three more letters before your turn is over. If you get a word (tha makes sense) then you get a point. First person to 10 wins and we start over. This has made me a pro at wheel of fortune. I can guess the words all day long. I hope you have a wonderful time at disney and I can't wait to hear all about it.

 

[all4fun]

This site has lots of ideas for road trips. Thought you might be interested.

www.momsminivan.com

hth

 

[scrapquitler]

Leave while they are asleep (or at a time when they will fall asleep).

Bring snacks, stop along the way to run around and tire them out....then they can burn off some energy and not bug you as much the rest of the time.

Have a few small, inexpensive toys to amuse them, but wrap them individually and hand them out at intervals during the trip (every hour, or every two hours)

Books for them to read.

GameBoy.

Or the easiest way out (and my favorite for long trips)...get a portable DVD player. Ask around and borrow one from someone, lots of people have them now, so it should be easy to find someone to borrow one from. Bring a favorite movie or two, and a new one. If you can't find a DVD player, remember that most laptops will also play dvds, but might be a bit of a pain to hold on the lap.

 

[Planning fanatic mom]

I don't know how old your kids are but mine were 14 and 11 on the last trip. We came home in one day, it took 15 hours.

Portable DVD player for each child: NO fighting

I bought a Disney Trivia book which was fun because mom and dad knew more than the kids for once.

I also bought a mystery book. There are little mysteries that you read, it is about a paragraph long and then the others ask questions to try to solve the mystery. It is so quiet while they are trying to think of the solution. Your kids would have to be older for this one.

When they were younger, I would read aloud to them. There are tons of great chapter books for young readers. I used to find an appopriate one that was just a little too hard for them to read by themselves. Librarians are great resources for book titles. Of course this is assuming you can read in the car without getting sick. I think I am one of a few people I know that can.

I hope this helps.

 

[dyna]

Ball an jump ropes for rest stop breaks it's amazing how much energy a child can burn when jumping for 5 mins

Lap desk or tv dinner tray with the metal legs makes coloring in car easier an can be a table for eating.

Stop at Mickey D's with a playground let the kids play while you eat then let them eat in car while you ride. My DD gave up ketchup on her fries to get to eat in car it was a big deal to her something she didn't normally get to do.

 

[kerry34]

We drive for every trip. Here is what we bring:

snacks/drinks
color wonder markers/books
gameboys
leapsters
books
mp3/cd players
audio books
dvds

also we keep handy:

childrens tylenol
band aids
dramamine
wipes
tissues
handy sacks for trash

Have a safe drive and great trip!!!