Ideas for 4yr. old on the trip down?

[sweetpea29488]

We will be taking our 4yr. old (almost 5) niece to Disneyworld for her first visit (our birthday present to her) and we are driving. It's about 5 1/2 hours in the car. Any ideas on how to keep her busy? We'll stop for lunch and bathroom breaks. We have a portable DVD player that we can use for her but not sure what else? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

 

[mommyceratops]

We will be taking our 4yr. old (almost 5) niece to Disneyworld for her first visit (our birthday present to her) and we are driving. It's about 5 1/2 hours in the car. Any ideas on how to keep her busy? We'll stop for lunch and bathroom breaks. We have a portable DVD player that we can use for her but not sure what else? Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

With the DVD she should be fine.

I made a book for coloring in the car with printoffs from online. (use color pencils not crayons that melt in the car) I got it spiral bounded at Office Depot.

A lap tray to play on.

Find some pictures of attractions and with crowds to get her used to them.

 

[poohfriend77]

My girls (4 and 6) love to color/draw in the car. I agree with PP that crayons are not a good idea in a hot car. We love the Color Wonder stuff, and they have lots of Disney character books. Dollar Tree always have Disney coloring books, as well. Pipe cleaners and/or a roll of scotch tape have entertained my girls for quite a while as well.

We also play "I Spy" and guessing games. If she is starting to learn letters/sounds, you could ask her to name 5 words that start with M. Or do a "20 questions" type game, although at her age you may want to give clues instead of having her ask questions. For example: I like to swim. My best friend is a fish. I like to sing. I have red hair. (Ariel)

 

[santa's surpriz]

I just bought "Scene-It To Go" at kohls for $6.39! (The Disney version) We have a 16 hour drive in the Fall. It is really neat, I am saving it for the trip... I have a stash that I have started with things to keep dd6 occupied. Every thing is done from your DVD remote control and it has a game board with magnetic peices.

 

[rolokime]

We drove from NY to Fla and before our trip we went to the dollar store and packed up some paper bags and let the kids take a bag each as we crossed the state lines. We bought mini decks of cards also some stickers....... just an idea

 

[NHdisneylover]

Stop for lunch somewhere with a playland. Eat your lunch while she plays and then get her food to go as you leave. She can eat in the car and get more time to burn off energy on the stop.

Pack a frisbee or ball for rest stops and play for five minutes before getting back in the car.

 

[Darcy03231]

I took my niece for her birthday last fall. She was a week shy of her 5th birthday. We flew and had about the same amount of time as we had to be at the airport 2 hours before our flight. I found she really liked the travel magna doodle, the preschool workbooks, coloring book & crayons, and the princess colorforms book (got it at Borders). We didn't have a DVD player and she was fine with those things. While we were there I bought her some princess polly pocket type dolls and she played with those most of the way home.

 

[minnie1012]

Definetely don't forget that DVD player! My daughter liked when I would wrap things. I got some cheap, small toys, books etc and wrapped them and would periodically give them to her. She loved the surprise aspect of it.

 

[kimberleeJohnston]

The pipecleaner idea is great!! Any little toys from the dollar store that are "new" to her will buy you time!!

 

[mgcgoose]

These are great ideas. We have a long as well and have the DVD player, an activity book of pages that I printed online and then bound together to make a book, a magna doodle and several books. My kids love to read in the car. They must have gotten that from their dad because I get sick when I even look at their books. I will probably make a run to the dollar store to see if I see any little toys that might interest them.

Melanie

 

[sweetpea29488]

Thanks everyone for the great ideas. We will diff. bring the DVD player, I've gotten her some coloring books and coloring pencils so far.

 

[StitchFanZ]

Sticker Books - Costco used to have these huge ones where they had to put the stickers on certain pages. They sometimes have disney themed ones.
Band-aids with characters - My kids would spend a good hour or two decorating themselves with cool bandaids.
Music CDs - Some kids have certain CDs that they will listen to over and over. It might drive you nuts but they will like it.
Favorite books - my kids like to hear/look at the same book over and over at that age.
Silly Putty