Help? Car Trip Hints...

[anorviel]

Hi Everyone,

I've been lurking here for quite a while, but just registered and am diving in. I'm hoping you all can help me! I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, so if I should try it somewhere else on the boards, please let me know!

I'm going to Disneyland with my mom, niece (age 5) and nephew (age 10) the first week of August. The kids don't know we're going yet, and won't know until they at least get into the car and maybe not until they pull on to Harbor Blvd. They may just know they are going to visit Auntie Ann. I will be flying from Northern CA, but mom and the kids will be driving from Tucson. We'll meet up either at the hotel or they'll pick me up at the airport. The car ride for mom and the kids is about seven hours long.

I would like to make a box for each kid with seven items (one to open each hour of the car ride), with the hope it will make the ride a bit shorter and more interesting. I've come up with a few things:

1. Mini albums with photos of them from our last trip together two years ago (I know, I can't believe I haven't done this for them yet either).
2. Autograph books.

That's about it. If my mom decides to keep them in the dark until they get there, then the two books have to be the last things they open. I was thinking it might be fun to do photos of places in the park that wouldn't be obviously Disneyland, but would keep them guessing. I just don't know where I could find those photos (I could probably pull some things from my own photos...).

I need more ideas - at least four more, lol - and I'm hoping all of you can help. Both kids are crazy smart, and they are excellent at the double-team problem solving, so the ideas have to be both age appropriate and clever.

Anyone up for the challenge? I would appreciate all the help I can get!

TIA,
Ann

***ETA*** I'm looking for ways to drop hints to the kids about where they are going without telling them where they are going. You know, to really amp up the excitement and make the road trip a memory in itself.

 

[Lisa]

do the children have any of the hand held electronic games or a dvd for the car ride? If so I would recommend either new games or new dvds.

 

[PrincessNancy96]

Definitely a good game or movie if they have access to a player....

Also, we have always made the kids game packets...
Here is a good link for a variety of things you can print out for the trip..
http://www.themouseforless.com/downloads.shtml

We have printed out word searches, trivia questions, etc..
Need to print these out for our next trip too!

 

[MazdaUK]

My only note of caution would be that car activities can make kids (OK, me too! I found even audio books a problem) 7 hours is a long time to fill, how about singalong CDs, or quizes someone can ask them rather than them look at? I bought DS(11) a "spotting" book once and he was after 20 mins

Of course your kids may be excellent travellers in which case ignore me!

 

[PrincessNancy96]

WE also do the ABC game as we drive...
You have to find words that begin with that letter... of course it gets a little harder with X and Q but you can adjust so that they letter just needs to be in that word..

We also do the license plate game.. I make a list of all 50 states and the one that marks the most off on the way to WDW gets to choose a special treat... the one on the return trip home gets to pick dinner for the night (because I don't have any intention on cooking that night!).

 

[WendyBirdGirl]

A CD with a lot of Disney music mixed in would be so much fun! Especially if you included lyric sheets so that they could sing along.

 

[WendyBirdGirl]

Also, Mad Libs would be age appropriate for both a 10 year old and 5 year old - also mildly educational and a fun group game in the car! Only one person has to read the requested word categories and everyone else can chime in with suggestions - and then everyone will have fun listening to the funny stories at the end!

 

[anorviel]

Thank you everyone! I know my mom, who has primary care and custody of my niece and nephew, will take care of car activities. I will ask about dvds, cds, DS games, etc. I think what I'm looking for is more of a game that would give the kids hints about where they are going. Without driving my mom too crazy, lol. I'm wondering if I can figure out how to make a cd with just clips of disney music, so that they would have to guess...hmmm.

Thank you, thank you, thank you - please keep the ideas coming.

BTW - that's the two of them in my ticker.

 

[ckmom97]

You could give them one cryptogram to tell them where you are going or you could give them several with hints regarding Disneyland at the start of the trip. Then every 15 minutes or so give them the key to one letter.

Our drive to DW is about 20 hours, so we play a lot of different games on the way. We do the ABC game and the license plate game also, expect for the license plate game, I print out a US map before we leave and whoever finds each state's plate first get to color that state on the map. I also take simple card games like old maid and go fish along with video games, movies, and books. Luckily none of us get car sick.