Activities for two 14 yr olds for a long drive?

[gaffney09]

I've been trying to figure out something I could put together, kind of like an activity book, but Disney style of course. It's going to be a really long drive for us- roughly 14 hrs. (coming from WV). I was looking at some of the other ideas on the boards, but I think they may be a bit too childish (ie- the coloring books, etc) So does anyone have any ideas for activities to get them in a Disney mood and keep them from arguing for a 14 hour drive?? Maybe some Disney trivia and I thought about rewarding them with Disney giftcards, etc when we get there. Just some thoughts...

 

[TealHearts70]

We drove from Wv (Eastern Panhandle) to Disney in 05 and are planning on doing it again in Nov. We will be traveling with our 17 yr old DS, 15 yr old DD,11 yr old DS,7 yr old DS and finally... our 15 month old DS. Yes all five! I know we are nuts but we lived to tell about it so we are doing it again!

Some of the things we have done and are doing again to keep them entertained is taking DVD's, Gameboy type games etc. We also take the type of board games that are more trivia related.. Outburst, Trivial Persuit etc The older kids love that kind of stuff. For the younger ones we take coloring books,bubbles and small toys. We also do the reward for good behavior....even with our teenagers.

 

[Perditamarie]

You can load up some MP3 players w/music and even download some audio books from the library. DH just loaded 3 books from the Chronicles of Narnia for me Also, maybe some word puzzles or sudoko, or maybe you can make a Disney Trivial Pursuit type game.

 

[Tammysue5]

When we went last year... Me, DH, DS16, DD8, DD5 we had the DVD player in the vehicle and brought the portable one as well. We had bought 2 new movies that they had never seen before. We also brought Nintendo DSs, and DS16 brought his X-Box 360... the kids loved the idea of playing on the small dvd player. We also brought handheld games like.... 20 questions... you can play that by yourself or with others. Games like trivia...

This year we are going back... driving 20 hours... w/6 of us! Me, DH, DS19, DS17, DD9 and DD6!!!! We are taking pretty much the same things. We have a large vehicle so it works out nice that they have plenty of room. They switch seats every once in while when we stop. These ideas worked pretty well for us... we all made it down and back... the kids still liked each other,,, and DH and I are still married!!!

 

[AKBAFB]

Even as an adult, I'd go for the Disney trivia, Nintendo DSs, portable DVDs, etc. Also, try to get them to sleep - not only will it get them rested up for the trip, but it make's the trip seem shorter (to the lucky sleepers that is)! Good luck and have a great trip!

 

[jacobsmom]

DVD player, MP3 player, books, magazines, electronic games, lots of snacks and space!!! Teens to much better if they have their own space (and pillows). Seriously though, we travel all over the country and those things make traveling with all ages (from 3-20+) run much smoother! It's a beautiful thing.

 

[of2dbeach]

magazines, crossword puzzles, spades, uno, snacks , checking out the cute boys (15 yr old DD said it ) lol gameboy , scene it on the tv, those small electronic games that plug into the tv like packman, rent movies from the library and music also. When we travel from fl to Nc we get the movies and music from the library then we call them and ask them to renew them so we dont get fees at our library they has a special area where you can buy books, magazines, comics, cookbooks etc. so about a week before we leave i grab some up from there and the local thrift stores. A camera is also nice for teens to have . My Dd who is 15 kept taking pics of the palm trees and of course boys butts in the park ( which we didnt know about ) I guess she was easy to entertain though . this site had some good ideas on road trips also. http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/12455/foolproof_your_family_road_trip.html
have a great trip. if they really act out i threaten mine by saying there will be 5 new kids on The Small World ride if they dont shush . I also bring lolipops .. who could argue with them in there mouths

 

[Disney Mommy 3]

My kids love books on cd in the car-and you can get 'em for free at the library. Make sure you get the looooong ones!!Like 10 hour stories!! Or maybe 2 6hour ones. That should get you through going down there at least. Then have a couple more for the trip back. That's what has saved me on shorter trips.

 

[Luvmyfam3]

It sounds like you've pretty much gotten about every idea out there! And they're all great! Last year, we drove from Houston with SIX (yes, 6) kids....all teenagers to WDW!! It was great! The girls actually still loved coloring! The iPod is SUCH a wonderful invention! We had a dvd player, snacks, etc. And whoever suggested having them sleep is a genius. Maybe I should give them Nyquil during our next trip in July... Here's a few pics of our car ride....

Here they are coloring....

My daughter heartily recommends this book if you have any daughters. (And she's not one of those kids that loves to read outside of school!)

Paradise!! (You can't see the kids in the very back, but they're sleeping as well....)

This year it will be my three teenagers and a 3 1/2 year old... a whole new set of challenges for the car ride! But we're excited!

 

[java]

Oh get a 20 questions ball. - they make a regular one, band one ect... They are about $10 and in 20 questions will get what you are thinking about. It kept my 2 oldest busy during the 16 hour ride we had. And the adults liked it too!! We liked the regular one so much we bought the band one.

 

[gaffney09]

It sounds like you've pretty much gotten about every idea out there! And they're all great! Last year, we drove from Houston with SIX (yes, 6) kids....all teenagers to WDW!! It was great! The girls actually still loved coloring! The iPod is SUCH a wonderful invention! We had a dvd player, snacks, etc. And whoever suggested having them sleep is a genius. Maybe I should give them Nyquil during our next trip in July... Here's a few pics of our car ride....

Hahah these suggestions were good, and some of them made me chuckle quite a bit... ok, so I need to remember to slip them some NyQuil... And the 20 Questions ball- we have one and may I just say how creepy that thing is! I don't like that it can always guess what I'm thinking of... But I really like the idea of doing some Disney trivia- might have to look in to getting Disney Trivial Pursuit (that does exist right?? what am I thinking... Disney makes everything). Thanks everyone for the ideas. Keep em coming if you have more! And if I come up with anything, I'll post em

 

[irene_dsc]

I guess it is sort of old-school, and not Disney-themed, but when my family did road trips, we would do word games. Our favorite was Ghost, with the variation of Superghost.

The basic version:

First person says a letter. Go around the group, adding a letter to the end. The idea is, it has to be able to make a word, without actually being a word. Like:

N
Ne
Nee
(could be "need")

You lose/get a letter when you can't think of a letter to add without making a word, spelling out ghost. When you get to letter t, you are out of the game.

Superghost is the same, but you can add letters to the front, too.

Other car games:
Look for letters on license plates in alphabetical order (we usually got stuck at Q)

I Spy

 

[hopesmommy]

You can look up online some Disney trivia and make up your own questions. Just google Disney trivia.

There are also quite a few websites that you can create your own word searches and crossword puzzles. You could use Disney related words. I am actually telling my DD using a word search I created that we are going this summer.

Pipe cleaners are fun. You can make all sort of things out of them. Also take beads to put on them. You can usually find them really cheap at
Target and craft stores.

 

[noodleknitter]

My kids love books on cd in the car-and you can get 'em for free at the library. Make sure you get the looooong ones!!Like 10 hour stories!! Or maybe 2 6hour ones. That should get you through going down there at least. Then have a couple more for the trip back. That's what has saved me on shorter trips.

Redwall got us to and from during one of our trips. Did the Lord of the Rings, another. Much better than DVD's imo. You don't have to worry about seeing the screen, etc.

 

[LuckyMamaInDE]

I've got two teenagers (and an 8yo). We've done lots of long driving trips.

What works best for them:

iPods
audio books
portable DVD player
magnetic games like checkers, hangman, battleship (we get them at the local educational/teacher supply store for about $5 ea---unfolded each is about 5x8 inches)
magnetic poetry sets
sketch pads and good pencils/markers
digital cameras
books for the ones who don't get carsick.....
lots of snacks, good mix of healthy and "fun"

 

[tjmw2727]

My dd's are 12 and 14 and we take way to many road trips between visiting family, skating competitions and of course the occasional Disney trip.

They really like TV on DVD in addition to regular movies. For some reason watching a few episodes of a fav TV show entertains them more than the movies when they are in the car.

They also like magazines - I indulge in some of the less trashy teen mags as well as save some of their American girl and Discovery girl issues and they both still like the Disney Adventures magazines. They also like cooking and of course figure skating magazines.

My older dd likes suduko and like a pp suggested they will also color!! I hit a store like Michaels and get some learn to draw books or the designs coloring books. Sometimes you can find the color by number type pictues appropriate for older kids with colored pencils. I got some with horses and both kids liked them. We have a few travel games like yatzee and boggle.

They also listen to ipods and play Nintendo DS.

Oh and don't underestimate the power of fun snacks even for teens

TJ

 

[eh24fan]

When I was their age, I just entertained myself. We used to take a trip to Tennessee every summer when I was younger. It was a 14 hour drive each way and a lot of my family went every year. There were usually 3 minivans of us, with about 8 or 9 kids. We didn't have DVD players, Nintendo DS's, etc. We had walkmans, books, snacks, paper and pens, pillows, blankets and each other. When we were tweens/early teens our goal was to sleep as much of that ride as possible. We would stay up together all night before we left, then sleep until we just couldn't sleep anymore! Then we would play games, listen to music, read and just entertain ourselves with making funny faces at passing cars, etc.

When we went to NH as a family in March, I took the DVD player, mp3 player, PSP, snacks, books, anything and everything I could think of to entertain my 7 1/2 year old and 14 month old.

 

[jack hannah bananah]

My family took many long trips when we were in high school. Five kids from Ohio to FLorida, Ohio to Texas

The electronics are always a good bet, and game books kept us busy, but here some other favorites:
*The alphabet game - Compete to find words on signs that begin with each letter the alphabet - in order.
*The license plate game - write down different license plates from each state you see. Try to find all 50 states (or at least 48). Compare your list down to
your list back.
*Even good old I Spy.

These three are especially good to keep from getting car sick. On those long trips you need to look out the window instead of down at a book or screen the whole way.

 

[Perditamarie]

Here is a blast from the past: Mad libs!! I used to love those...maybe you can invent some Disney-themed ones!

 

[jack hannah bananah]

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