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

[Fantasmic23]

I'm going to admit that I haven't read through the entire thread (I know, I know).

My kids love to do Mad Libs whenever we go on a long car trip, especially to WDW. There is even a Mad Libs entitled Mad Libs on the Road.

We also have a travel "Uno" card game. You can find a bunch of travel-size games at Walmart in the board game aisle.

I have also downloaded several free stories onto their iPods for them. Librivox is great for this and they have some of the "classics" like Anne of Green Gables and Tom Sawyer.

If your car has a CD player, you can also buy audiobooks (CDs) or rent them from your local library. I have my eyes on some of the Harry Potter books-on-CD for our next trip in November.

 

[Magic2000]

I always do this with my girls - and they still loving getting their bags! I bought a party bag for each of the girls with their favorite character, so they knew who's was who. In the bag, I put a disposable camera, candy, gum, coloring book, crayons, the color pads with the marker that only worked when coloring on the sheets, little things I may have picked up from the dollar stars, like the glow sticks!

I tried to get snacks that they didn't get very often at home, so it made it more of a treat. Also, be careful with the crayons if its hot in the car when you take your trip.

 

[tripletots]

If they can read comics books are always fun and they can share. There are some fun Disney comics available.

Also, we stopped traveling with crayons in the car. We only use colored pencils. Crayons Melt, especially locked in a car in the Florida heat! I discovered this 17 years ago.

 

[QuickRewardsBecky]

My kids love Mad Libs, too! In fact, my daughter will make up her own in a notebook and have us fill in the nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.

So many great ideas in this thread (I'm bookmarking it to refer back to my family's next road trip! That idea with the bag of quarters is genius!) -- I have a DD10 and would have to add one of those fuzzy eye masks to block out the sun if they want to take a nap in the car, and that plastic craft string that kids braid to make bracelets or key chains or whatever. That keeps my daughter amused endlessly! She also loves to read brochures for wherever we're going so I pack those for her. And if we stop at a rest stop, I let her pick out more for other places that look interesting.

 

[dizzydrop]

We are going to be in the car for a 24 hour trip also, but we decided to do it 2 days too. We are leaving at night so they will sleep most of the beginning of the trip and then renting a hotel at 3pm the next day so they have a chance to get out and run around for a while before starting again the next day. It should be challenging but we're ready. I've packed lots of DVD's, magna doodle, crayons and coloring books, trucks, gum, snacks, and stuff. I really like some of the ideas on here too, I'm gonna steal some of them. The fairy thing will be great cuz my kids never want to get back in the car after they get out. My boys will end up with no money left at the end of this trip if we gave them each 40 quarters, lol...nice incentive though. We are leaving next Friday so good luck to you and I hope your trip is enjoyable!!!

 

[gatrbait]

These ideas are great! My son is 23 but is handicapped so any car trip can be a journey...I love to road trip and I thought I had some good ideas but leave it to my dis friends to be ingenius! Although I cannot do this with my son, I can remember on many a road trip with my parents my daddy would ask what kind of tree is that what kind of plant is that (in a field), ya had to hurry before it passed! I still know a ton of trees and can identify just about every veggie/plant in a field b/c of this...he was also a big trivia buff so as we got older he would ask tough questions to keep us on the ball...this would be good for a teenager I suppose...Our road trips were back in the day before portable electronics and we had to entertain ourselves manually

 

[bjscheel]

My kids have spent hours with Crayola Model Magic. It is like play-doh, but clean and not crumbly! If they take a chunk from two colors, they can work it and knead it for a long time and it will become a new color. They can form all kinds of items and let them dry or put it back in the pot. You can come up with challenges for them to make certain items.

We also look at license plates- a lot of them have three letters, so we make a 3 word phrase starting with those letters- AED = Allison Eats Donuts

We also play guessing games..."I'm thinking of a Disney character who...." and the others can ask questions till they figure it out.

 

[bellamama]

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! As a mom of two boys myself, I can understand how the arguing can run rampant and seems amplified in a small space like a car. I will certainly try this on our next trip!

 

[mrseace711]

Anyone ever made a Ispy Bottle? I want to give it a shot and thought they would be cool as a surprise game in their bag =)

 

[2TxAgs]

"Anyone ever made a Ispy Bottle? I want to give it a shot and thought they would be cool as a surprise game in their bag =) "

My mom made the kids an ISpy bottle when they were younger. 2 liter bottle filled with birdseed or sand, with lots of little trinkets inside, right? She put in a penny, safety pin, beads, dime, twist-tie from a loaf of bread, all kinds of little things. My only advice would be to make sure it is well sealed.

Other ideas...at those stores with unique kid gifts, I've gotten the themed magnet sets. I've seen princess, construction, farm, etc. The board and characters are magnetized so nothing gets lost. Along those same lines, if kids are little - the magnetic shapes and letters and a magnet board or sheet pan to put them on.

Target used to carry a pocket version of etch-a-sketch, that would be fun.

 

[amylevan]

There are some great suggestions of games and things that you can make yourself on this thread: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2191711

Beware though, I found it very addicting and I spent hours making travel games, activity books, etc.

 

[mrseace711]

really great link!

 

[disneybirds]

I am going to second the idea on Red Box or Blockbuster Express. The last time we headed to Disney, I rented a few movies the day before we left and then dropped them off once we got to Disney. It is much cheaper than buying a new movie. Also, my kids loved to play the car bingo game where you cross off when you see tractors, yield signs, etc. We also play lots of games with license plates (i.e. finding the alphabet in order, writing down the different states, etc.)

Good Luck

 

[dyna]

Don't forget to pack each child a laptray for coloring drawing etc. I also used to try to stop at a fast food resturant with a playground for lunch DD got to play while we ate. Then when we got back on the road she would eat using her laptray. DD even gave up catsup for her fries to get to do this.

Also I packed a jump rope an a ball for DD to use at rest stops. It was amazing what 5 mins of jump rope could do for excess energy. Of course the ball an jump rope had to be used out of the main walkways.

Etcha sketch an megna doodles also travel well.

Also playing who can be quiet the longest comes in handy sometimes.

 

[brekin67]

Disposable camera and a map.

 

[MamaJessie]

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! :rotfl:

I LOLed at that. She sounds like my 9yo.

I'm making state border bags (got the idea here) and they will get different trinkets/activity books at each border.

 

[mrseace711]

We are BACK!! Our drive did not go as planned due to car problems (Our brakelines went OUT the morning we were suppose to leave!!) We ended up borrowing my Moms Rendevous w/3rd row very limited space and due to timing VERY last minute we ended up not being able to leave until 630pm! Bought some No-Doz and coffee and drove straight thru the kids slept until 630am and we stopped at RedBox. Our kids spent their awake hours watching movies colored a little bit and argued lol. My little trip bags ended up mashed on the floor between the duffle bags that were below their feet Their handy dandy electronics were pretty much undisturbed. We only stopped for breakfast on the way down and made P&Js for lunch and gas/bathroom stops.

Best tip EVER = Redbox & Driving Evening hours which I have NEVER done NOT EVER nor had my husband but it was the only way for us to make it to Disney on time we made it at 6 at night. The kids were peaceful and we took turns. Cant wait to drive AGAIN NEXT year! We will plan the drive straight thru AGAIN with LOTS of movies