Car activity ideas for the 17 hour trip

[Lyndawit]

The countdown is on!! We leave on April 29 from South Jersey with a 3 1/2 and a 5 year old. This is our first BIG trip....Besides the traditional DVD player (you only can watch SO many movies!!) , any ideas to keep them occupied???

 

[We4mickey]

When our kids were young, we always let them each pick things to take along that they would play with in the car. It had to fit inside of their backpacks. Coloring books, small handheld games, license plates, counting specific things like how many red cars you see in a certain amount of time. Just remember you may need to just stop at a wayside and let 'em go for a while. You don't say whether you are driving straight through or not. If you are stopping find some place with a pool so they can burn off all that extra energy.

 

[trulygoofy]

We drive about 16 hours to Disney with 5 children. I have a backseat organizer for each kid that hangs from the head rest. Each kid has age appropriate activities and toys in theirs, and I do not let them see whats inside until the trip begins. For younger kids I like stickers, especially sticker activity sheets where they can make funny faces or scenes. Etch-a-sketch or travel magnadoodles are good too. We took a Mr. Potato Head that came in it's own case before. I thought pieces would be everywhere, but it worked out really well. I keep the organizers stocked with small toys, twist up crayons, small construction paper tablets, and activity books. Just nothing that makes noise! I also put a couple snacks in each one so they can help themselves.

 

[rwenzel2]

The countdown is on!! We leave on April 29 from South Jersey with a 3 1/2 and a 5 year old. This is our first BIG trip....Besides the traditional DVD player (you only can watch SO many movies!!) , any ideas to keep them occupied???

Please don't flame me, but the first response that came to mind was....

"Yup.....dramamine. And if that fails, try benadryl."

This comes from a mom who has survived countless multi-day trips with 3 kiddos. And, no, I never did it, but believe me, I thought about it.......

 

[dogcarbon]

get some cheap aluminum foil, tear off a piece, and them let create whatever they want. This is the most entertaining and cheap travel past time for my kids.

And in a few hours, the creations can hit the next trash can when you fill up for gas.

Also, Leapsters are great. And with headphones they are even better!

Search the web and print out some coloring pages with disney themes, to help put them in the mood

Um, whatever the new toys are, do not let them see them until at least 3 hrs into the trip.

We also leave from near Philly, and the best time for us to travel is to leave at noon, travel until 5-6, stop at McD's w/ a play land, the kids run around, we adults eat, then get back in the car, and the kids can eat. This allows us to travel until 9-10pm without the kids having a major meltdown. We then either stop for the night, or continue travelling with one adult sleeping with the other driving (duh, lets hope so!) until around 4am when we pull into a rest stop and both snooze for a few hours.

Then the second day us a piece of cake.

 

[jonestavern]

get some cheap aluminum foil, tear off a piece, and them let create whatever they want. This is the most entertaining and cheap travel past time for my kids.
And in a few hours, the creations can hit the next trash can when you fill up for gas.
Also, Leapsters are great. And with headphones they are even better!
Search the web and print out some coloring pages with disney themes, to help put them in the mood

Um, whatever the new toys are, do not let them see them until at least 3 hrs into the trip.

dogcarbon, you & I are on the same wavelength here
Yipee for playgrounds! A real God-send!
I would also take the new toys out one at a time per child & hold off giving the next one until hair-tearing time I never used to let DS play with the car toys anywhere else but the car, that way they retain their 'newness'.
We would bring the Fisher-Price kiddie tape recorder & have DS record his travel journal, including 'interviews' with us, CMs, other children. Your children could record their very own songs about going to WDW or what they see along the roadside etc
Be sure to bring plenty of car shades to keep the sun off the kids.
we pretty much tried o plan long drives for DS to be asleep most of the way--of course that leaves 2 tired adults with a passle of refreshed kiddos!

Jean

 

[jonimce]

We did this from CT with 5 yo and a teenager But all went well. We left CT at 3 in the afternoon, stopped at grammy's in Phila. for dinner then hit the road at 7pm. Between movies and playstation, they were occupied and then slept while we took turns driving all night. We were fortunite to have three drivers. Arrived at the fort about 1 pm.

 

[terri01p]

There is this game it called " 20 questions ", they have travel size and that's what I own, the game is so much fun, I traveled 10 hours with a 20, 23, and 22 year old and they played this for most of the trip, go check it out, it really is so much fun, and we are not really " game " people, but this is interesting, we could not stump the computer. Try that.

 

[terri01p]

oh my " I'm sorry " I just reread the ages of your children, I don't think the game I suggested is right for their ages, please disregard, my other other response about the game 20 questions, sorry !

 

[movtarget]

similar current thread can be found at:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1054653

My 'unique' contribution was a big bag of pipe cleaners to make... well, just about anything you can imagine.

Hey, those that switch off driving, are you towing? My wife is not too hip on driving with the big box behind her (and I would tend to agree with her )

It's only a total driving time of about 9 hours for me, which I can do (with appropriate breaks), and I probably arrive more relaxed than if I were to play passenger.

Moving Target in NC

 

[jonimce]

No, when we drive to Disney we tent camp. We have a full size Chevy Express van, with a very full carier on top. Insides were packed to the gills. We were four adults and two kids. It's a total of about 21 hrs, (Never took me that long) Was a little worried when DD 26 took over at two in the morning. She is barley 5 feet tall and it is a big heavy van. She did fine.

 

[Sinclare]

Try this thread on the DIS family board. I printed out the whole thing, made a real nice binder with cover sheet and my son loved it. Even though I told him not to do any of it, that it was for the road when we leave; he has been carrying it with him everywhere and sneaking it to school. I also used the link to the coloring pages and printed out a bunch then made a coloring page section in the back. He likes to draw/trace the pictures.

Printable Activities for the Road

COLORING PAGES

Kids Travel Journal

 

[michelle9343]

When we trsveled from NY we always had a TV and a lot of movies. We would play different games like how many red cars or who can find whatever first.

 

[donac]

If you bring crayons please remember to take them out of the car if the car is just going to sit. My husband poured melted wax down his leg when the box of crayons sat in the warm car too long. We must have had a lot of red because it looked like he was bleeding. We now only allow the boys marker or colored pencils. And yes it happened on a trip to DW.

 

[dreaming4disney]

Dogcarbon,

We also leave from near Philly, and the best time for us to travel is to leave at noon, travel until 5-6, stop at McD's w/ a play land, the kids run around, we adults eat, then get back in the car, and the kids can eat. This allows us to travel until 9-10pm without the kids having a major meltdown. We then either stop for the night, or continue travelling with one adult sleeping with the other driving (duh, lets hope so!) until around 4am when we pull into a rest stop and both snooze for a few hours.

Then the second day us a piece of cake.

Where about the Philly area are you from? Do you hit traffic leaving at 5-6pm? We usually wait till 8-9 pm to avoid it. We are North East of Philly and take the Blue route to 95S.

 

[SuzieQMomof3]

LindaWit,

Small World!
Where are you leaving from? We're leaving from South Jersey, too, on the 29th. We're staying for a long weekend at the Fort Wilderness Cabins since the kids have the 31st off of school. My kids' ages are 2 1/2, 5, 8, and 11. Maybe we'll see you on the road.

Susan

 

[loriandmatt]

just outside of philly travelers here. when we drive (towing our pop up to the fort) we do the following:

yes, the DVD player in the van helps, but we also bring along the PS1 and some old games. it can pug into the AV in jacks on the car DVD player.

stock up on cheapy toys and sticker/activity books at the dollar store. they get on for each state we pass into.

when entering each new state, we also play the state game. who famous comes from this state? what is the state capitol? flower? bird?

print out a map from an online kids site and have them color each state as we enter it.

car games:
camper - the first person to spot and say camper gets a point. first one to 20 points wins. if you call out camper and it ends up not being a camper, you loose a point.

i am going on a trip to WDW and i am taking: each person in the car names something they are taking on vacation with them (does not have to be something they are actually taking) that starts with a letter in the alphabet. 1st person starts with A, next person has to remember what A was, say it and then add B. not so tough until you get to like L. No winner or looser, just a fun car game.

we love a road trip - can ya tell?

the trip back is always a drag though.

 

[Lyndawit]

Thanks a million, keep them coming!! I actually was planning on stopping at McD's for the kids to run around and burn off the energy. The McD website lists all restaurants with a playland, VERY COOL!!
DH wants to leave about 8 am on a Saturday, so no traffic thru DC. I want to leave earlier... wake the kids and drop them in the car, jammies and all, but, the timetable will get us at the rest stop too early! blah, blah, lol!! Anyway, I am planning on picking up little toys and packing them away, and pull them out one at a time, try and break up the trip. We have the DVD, Leap Pad, and a few more "car stuff"! Your ideas will help me, thanks again!!

 

[dogcarbon]

similar current thread can be found at:

Hey, those that switch off driving, are you towing? My wife is not too hip on driving with the big box behind her (and I would tend to agree with her )

Moving Target in NC

Yes, sometimes we bring the Travel Trailer (30') with our full size van or just the van if we are staying in the cabins. And yes, I, a female, have no problems towing the camper. And my husband feels quite confidient in my driving ability, thank you very much.

 

[dogcarbon]

Where about the Philly area are you from? Do you hit traffic leaving at 5-6pm? We usually wait till 8-9 pm to avoid it. We are North East of Philly and take the Blue route to 95S.

We are in eastern lancaster county, so just outside the philly. For us it is about the same distance/time to travel to 95S (from the Gap area and Rt 41/10) as it does to go on Rt 30 to Rt 83S in York to Rt 95S.

Our goal is to always be beyond Richmond by 4pm. The last trip we did it! But we had everything to go, and the Van/camper was already in Lancaster by 11:45am, ready to pick up my DH.