Help me make our 18 hour drive FUN!

[lovemy4sweeties]

I went to the library and found books (will be borrowing them to take along) about each state we will traveling through.

I printed a sheet for each state with the state flag that can be colored at the top of the page and then fill in the blanks at the bottom. such as state motto, state bird, a fun fact you never knew, etc etc.

they can read the book and then fill in the page.

I also mapquested step by step directions that I printed. I got state road maps from AAA. kids can follow along on the directions and make notes about time it actually took, traffic, etc. They can also highlight the route on the maps.

doing the license plate game to. I printed a check list of the 50 state, dc, and the canadian provinces along with a map that shows both US and Canada. Once the kids can check off the state on the list and note where they spotted it (city/state) they can then color in the state/province on the map and see exactly how far that car has travelled.

have 5 new movies I would not let the kids watch. Frozen, cloudy with a chance of meatballs 2, alpha and omega 2 and 3, and the fairy pirate. the suspense is killing them.

they also have their Tabs and 3DS systems to help occupy the time.

We also have our usual markers, colored pencils, pencils, pens, paper, and their journals.

We normally drive straight through on the way down and take 2 days to come home. This time we are leaving later in the day and stopping overnight on the way down. About 10 hours in the car 1st day and 4 1/2 the 2nd.

We stop every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. If it is just for a bathroom stop, I will park as far away as possible. so by the time you get there and back everyone's legs are stretched and we can hop back in and keep moving.

Love all of these ideas, right down to parking far away from the bathroom.

 

[RachaelA]

We drive from Cleveland too!

 

[lovemy4sweeties]

We have about 2200km to drive to WDW. Last time we went I bought a small gift for each kid every 100kms (stickers, books, colouring pages, treats, toys, games etc). I wrapped them (took me forever---5 kids at the time). But it was fun for them. We also like playing the scavenger hunt game. We play individually or make 2 teams. I make my own game sheets. Our rule is someone else in the car has to see it in order for it to count. We will find all the letters in the alphabet in order on signs or license plates. Sometimes we'll do #'s. start at 0 and see how high we can go (in order). The # can be part of a bigger #. If you see the # 410. It can count for 41, 10, 4, 1 or 0.....or 410, but I don't think we've made it that high lol.

 

[worm761]

We drive for vacations too so I have been collecting ideas on Pinterest. Here is what I have gathered:

http://spoonful.com/family-fun/shut-box

http://kvbarn.blogspot.cz/2013/02/lego-travel-box.html

http://postris.com/pin.aspx?pid=747...iy-crafts+(Repinly+DIY+&+Crafts+Popular+Pins)

And a thread from here with a ton of ideas too! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2191711

I also make sure that we have something fun for the rest stops. We tend to pack lunches and eat picnics on trips. So I make sure we have something to run off energy. Some bubbles, a jump rope, hula hoop if you have the room. I have done a small ball too but you have to be careful where you use it.