A few items to stuff in the kids road trip bag ideas please?

[mrseace711]

We leave Saturday morning!! a 2 day trip each way in the van our very 1st ever road trip. The kids each have their own electronics (DSi,DS,Leapsters, and Mp3 Players) I purchased a small tote for each kid to surprise them in the car. I have purchased a few knick knacks at the dollar store and a notebook for each. Some tips on anything else I can stop by the store and get? The bags seem empty (we are suppose to borrow a DVD player from a friend)

 

[gatrbait]

They had some small white boards at Target for $1 with a pen, my son loved that we played tic tac toe etc...also Target has some activity books that are small and about $2.50 they are disney themed...healthy snacks are always a cool surprise and maybe a special small toy (car/boy, doll/girl)...

 

[tzeitel]

A new DVD, coloring books, crayons, snacks, extra batteries. Hope you have a great time....and good luck

 

[pannm]

There is a site called MomsMinivan.com that is WONDERFUL. It has these printable road-bingo cards- I printed a bunch off and my girls used crayons to mark off the squares. You could also use some little buttons to cover their squares, so the sheets could be re-usable...but I don't know how well they'd stay on while in the moving car?? http://www.momsminivan.com/printables.html

Back a few years ago, we bought the wooden road-bingo cards and they are re-usable.
Ours actually got used so much they wore out!

Another printable game that our girls do is keepig track of how many vehicles that pass by and the different colors and models...Example would be to have many columns for a van- in those columns you'd write colors and the kids check one off every time they see that van color...we do van, suv, 4-door car, 2-door car, truck, semi-truck...then under EACH of those, we do the colors: red, blue, white, black, tan, silver...and so on.

Each of those games keeps them busy and they are actually getting to look at the scenery pass by!

 

[2disneyboys]

on road trips, each of my kids have thier own "bag" ... they have thier dsi's, IPod's, Small travel blanket & pillow in case they need it, a journal for writing and some of their favorite car friendly snacks. When they were younger, we had some of those color wonder marker kits and some toys. We also have a dvd system in the van so they can each pick some vidoe's, but honestly we spend most of our car trips playing different type of triva games, they rarely breakout the travel bag or electronics.
the other thing they each get (and this would depend on age, as it could be a choking hazard for small kids) is a baggie of quarters. They each start the trip with $10.00 worth of quarters and anytime they whine/argue etc or don't stop after being told (general misbehavior) they have to give mom & dad a quarter. @ the end of the trip, the quarters they have left is what they get to spend @ the arcade (or add to thier souvineer money). we don't give them any other $ for the arcade.
99% of the time they both have about $9.00-9.50 in quarters to spend which is not bad for a 12 hour trip and $20.00 for a peaceful trip is money well spent to DH & I, LOL!

 

[v.t.]

My kids loved pipe cleaners, twist ties, beads, yarn, stuff from the craft store. The beads may get messy, but it kept them busy for hours.

 

[PaulaSue]

I got my girls new DS games (1 each for down and 1 for home). I also have a whole bunch of DVDs planned to help take up the time.


Looking for more ideas since it will be our first time driving down.

 

[billwendy]

Coloring stuff, travel sized games, new music, new DVD, snacks, travel blanket and pillow, a lap tray (to color, write, eat on), window clings for their car window, sunglasses, new set of earphones, maps of the park or of the drive, kids magazines, books, coins for the vending machines at the rest stop, book about Disney or hidden mickeys.....what a FUN time you are going to have!!!!

 

[billwendy]

Coloring stuff, travel sized games, new music, new DVD, snacks, travel blanket and pillow, a lap tray (to color, write, eat on), window clings for their car window, sunglasses, new set of earphones, maps of the park or of the drive, kids magazines, books, coins for the vending machines at the rest stop, book about Disney or hidden mickeys.....what a FUN time you are going to have!!!!

 

[FeelnFroggy]

on road trips, each of my kids have thier own "bag" ... they have thier dsi's, IPod's, Small travel blanket & pillow in case they need it, a journal for writing and some of their favorite car friendly snacks. When they were younger, we had some of those color wonder marker kits and some toys. We also have a dvd system in the van so they can each pick some vidoe's, but honestly we spend most of our car trips playing different type of triva games, they rarely breakout the travel bag or electronics.
the other thing they each get (and this would depend on age, as it could be a choking hazard for small kids) is a baggie of quarters. They each start the trip with $10.00 worth of quarters and anytime they whine/argue etc or don't stop after being told (general misbehavior) they have to give mom & dad a quarter. @ the end of the trip, the quarters they have left is what they get to spend @ the arcade (or add to thier souvineer money). we don't give them any other $ for the arcade.
99% of the time they both have about $9.00-9.50 in quarters to spend which is not bad for a 12 hour trip and $20.00 for a peaceful trip is money well spent to DH & I, LOL!

I love this idea!! Wish I had seen this before we took our trip to Busch Gardens this past weekend.

 

[cheerforchelsea]

Some of the most fun times of my life have been family road-trips. Hope you have a great trip!! (A portable DVD player is the greatest road-trip invention ever!!)

 

[momof3ds]

Color wonder books and markers are great in the car.

 

[HillPete]

If you have a Five Below near you, they have some awesome puzzle/logic problem/word problem books that are great for in the car.

 

[happily single]

I found Crayola Window Markers at Walmart for about $5.00 for about 6 markers. Kept the kids amused for a long time. They can write right on the windows and wipe off with a dry towel. Eventually the windows will need some windex, but soo worth the money. Heck, the kids used them in the house during Hurrican Irene

 

[lastminutemom]

Do you have Redbox? If so, you can grab a movie at home, return it on the road, get another one, return again, etc. This works great for us.

If you have a smart phone, you can download the Redbox app, if not you can map it out before you leave home.

 

[MichelleinMaine]

Something we did for driving trips was a "travel fairy". Anytime there was a road stop (potty break, lunch, stretch break, overnight...), there would be a gift waiting for them on their car seat when they got back in. (Theory was there was a little incentive to get back in the car. )

We did dollar store things- puzzles or coloring books, little lego sets... sometimes it was even just a special little snack- a couple rolls of smarties or small candy bars, just a little treat.

Travel fairy's been tagging along for about 13 years now. My 11 year old DD still asks if the fairy's going to be going along for the ride.

 

[MSSANDRA]

Just returned from a road/train trip with our four year old. His favorites were our iphone with some new apps downloaded, color wonder game books, a small dry erase board, a few match box cars, and books for us to read to him.

I second a new DS game or a itunes card to down load a few new things before you leave.

LOTS of snacks; fruit snacks, rice krispy treats, gummy candy, raisins, gun, as well as some REAL food are good treats.

One thing our little one loves is to pick out a junk snack at a gas station. We only allow this once on the trip but he just loves to do it!

Another suggestion is to pick places to stop that they can run around a little bit. A fast food place with a play area is good. They play while you eat and then they can eat when you get back in the car. Also plan a picnic or stop for picnic food and stop at a nice rest stop and allow a little run around, toss a beach ball or Frisbee time!

 

[mrseace711]

I am taking 1 tip from everyone!! Theres so many great ideas!! I really like the quarter idea!! And allowing the kids to pick out 1 treat on the drive down at a gas station this will thrill them since we never have allowed it before Please keep the tips coming!! I just seen the window markers at Wal-Mart I am going to buy a pack I bet this would make the morning hours pass great.

I remember seeing this somewhere and now can not find it but I thought there was a website listing fastfood places with playlands mapped out?


Please keep tips coming!

 

[Snappy in OK]

We usually make the 12 - 14 hour trip (it takes longer with the kids ) to WI each year. We usually take the portable DVD player, the DS and our iphone. But the kids really enjoy the Color Wonder markers & coloring books, small toys like cars, little dolls (DD has some Littlest Pet Shop dolls), and some of the "trivia" type games we play with them (I Spy, how many cars of a certain color, etc).

We also stop every few hours - sometimes just a quick stop to stretch and use the restroom, or get gas if needed. We also try to stop 1 - 2 times where the kids can play on a playground, run around, etc. We have found several rest areas that have small playgrounds. Other times there may be an open grassy area where we can play a game of tag or something similar.

Oh, we usually try to pack snacks and some beverages, but we also stop for something fresh/cold, etc - or for something different!

Good luck & have fun!

 

[Graciesmom77]

We love to listen to books on cd. Our library has a great selection. Sometimes we will stop the cd in the middle of a chapter and take turns making up what happens next. Its fun to see how different everyone sees the story and to see how different their minds work at different ages. My 8 year olds story always ends with somone going to the Chinese Buffet! She's so weird!