How to entertain yourself and spouse during a long drive

[Disney_bound2010]

ok i know that didn't come out good but i couldnt think of a different word off the top of my "thoughts" anyhow, we are driving from Indiana to Florida this Friday!

And with 3 kids to kind of occupy that will keep us somewhat busy but what about trying to have fun or communicate while they are sleeping?

Usually during our long drives *which are about 4 hours from here to Michigan* we talk about work or just random stuff. But I wanna kind of make this trip NOT ABOUT WORK! and FUN!

Is there anything that you and your spouse do to keep the boredom out of the car during LONG trips? I'm looking for any suggestions!

Thanks

 

[Deb & Bill]

We talk. We listen to music. We look at the scenery. We take turns driving. Plus we have a DVD player in the car, so we might put on Big Bang Theory and we all listen to it (whoever gets the middle row, gets to watch it).

 

[moparop]

Books on CD, ipods, paperbacks, singing

 

[jodifla]

ok i know that didn't come out good but i couldnt think of a different word off the top of my "thoughts" anyhow, we are driving from Indiana to Florida this Friday!

And with 3 kids to kind of occupy that will keep us somewhat busy but what about trying to have fun or communicate while they are sleeping?

Usually during our long drives *which are about 4 hours from here to Michigan* we talk about work or just random stuff. But I wanna kind of make this trip NOT ABOUT WORK! and FUN!

Is there anything that you and your spouse do to keep the boredom out of the car during LONG trips? I'm looking for any suggestions!

Thanks

I'd get some good family books on tape. We've done Charlotte's Web, and Jack London stories. The Call of the Wild and The Sea-Wolf are great! We get them from the library.

 

[iwrbnd]

We talk. We listen to music. We look at the scenery. We take turns driving. Plus we have a DVD player in the car, so we might put on Big Bang Theory and we all listen to it (whoever gets the middle row, gets to watch it).

I love the Big Bang Theory idea!

 

[traviesojmt]

Our family has driven cross-country trips many times now. We have several games that we play. I have printed off a scavenger hunt list. We divide into teams and try to be the first to find the items on the list. If you google it, you can find several different types of scavenger hunt lists for travel. Our whole family enjoys doing this. There is always the license plate/how many states can you find game. We also enjoy Disney 20 questions. Unfortunately, we are getting so "Disneyfied", that it is getting hard to stump each other. I guess you can tell that we are a very game-oriented family. When even play the punch-bug VW game and keep a count of the entire trip for the winner.

Like others, we also listen to music. We also have comedy on tape. If you are from the south, Rick and Bubba are hilarious to listen to while traveling. We (my son mostly, but we all use them) also use the Uncle John's bathroom readers of interesting facts book and make a game out of those. The one not driving will read part of the fact and the other has to guess the rest. They have a lot of percent and number facts that are fun to guess.

 

[KristiMc]

We listened to a few of our favorite Disney Podcasts on our last trip.

 

[bellebud]

definitely comedy cd's. some are ok for the kids to hear too, and some we save for when the kids have the headphones on and are watching a movie (never anything too bad of course, in case they hear it).

 

[badblackpug]

We prefer to argue, that's why we fly!

 

[DaniB]

For long trips, listening to comedy is fun!

Of course, if the kids are sleeping, and your husband is like mine - he'll wake them up laughing so hard & loud...

 

[PiperPizzaz]

Comedy CDs is a good idea!

I was going to suggest books on CD too. I just finished reading the Barry/Pearson Peter & the Starcatchers book(the first in a series). All about Peter Pan. It is a 'childrens' book but, more older kids. Something good that is interesting enough for you but, if the kids wake up it won't freak them out too much. You can probably get them all on CD from your library. I know if you are in marion county you can do a digital download that is good for 3 weeks (only on PCs for these particular books).

Disney podcasts too, I agree. If you want some specific suggestions just PM me.

 

[momofrrr]

We read Trivial Pursuit cards. We have both Disney and regular. When they were really little we played the Disney most but now we can do the other as well. It is suprising how much time we can pass doing that.

 

[PollyannaMom]

We read Trivial Pursuit cards. We have both Disney and regular. When they were really little we played the Disney most but now we can do the other as well. It is suprising how much time we can pass doing that.

My mom used to do that when I was a kid!

I once brought "The Book of Questions" on a car trip with DH when DS was young enough to sleep. It spawns some really interesting discussions if you're up for it. (Just skip the ones you'll actually argue over.)

When DS got older, we started playing the game where you find each letter of the alphabet on signs, auto plates, etc. And lately, we've got one where you collect all 50 state plates.

We also just listen to music a lot. Neither of us are shy about singing along (much to DS's horror, I'm sure).

 

[hereyago]

We prefer to argue, that's why we fly!

Haha I was thinking duct tape for those times-lol. My last rode trip was with my now exdh drove from Va to MO, I was about 6 months pregnant. If I could have had duct tape, it would have been so much easier. It was so bad, that I haven't been on a road trip ever since and my DD is now 11.

 

[mamagass]

We play the ABC game. Each person has to fine words using the ABC. You start with the letter A, you move to the next letter after finding a word. First person to Z wins.

 

[auralia]

I read a book outloud i read him the whole twilight saga, and may other books i like, it introduces him to books i like that he would never read and gives us something to talk about.

 

[bumbershoot]

We do Trivial Pursuit as well! We have 3 or 4 various games of it, including Star Wars.

 

[Mom21]

My phone had an application I downloaded called "Truth or Dare".

 

[CuteAndFluffy]

We prefer to argue, that's why we fly!

This cracked me up!

I'll recommend the Prairie Home Companion "Pretty Good Joke" CDs--totally family appropriate and had us rolling in our seats and wiping tears from our eyes.

The Harry Potter books are GREAT on CD. Jim Dale is awesome.

One of our favorite things is to do questions from "The Book of Questions" or "The Book of Questions for Kids." We have actually learned a lot about one another from talking about those things on long car rides.

In the days before in car video, my DH recorded "National Lampoon's Vacation" audio onto a cassette tape and we listened to it over and over and over again on our roadtrip west. It is one of my favorite memories ever.

 

[teacups]

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