Ideas for keeping kids busy in the car!!??

[wdwobsessed]

Hi ... need some more ideas to keep the kids busy in the car during our 14 hour trip.

First - a little background.

#1 - Not enough in the budget to spring for a little TV.

#2 - No tape deck in the car.

#3 - Already have sticker books and a "magic" pen book.

#4 - Kids are ages 2 and 5

Thanks!

wdwo

 

[luvmy2sams]

How about Colorforms in addition to the sticker books? My 2.5 year old DD loves playing with these during car trips.

Fisher Price makes a tape recorder/player with a built-in microphone (fun!) that's only around $25. Along with some Disney tapes, this might be money well spent, considering how long you'll be in the car. Otherwise, you can always do family sing-alongs!

Toys R Us carries lots of neat travel-size games that might work for your older child.

Don't forget their favorite books!

Have a great trip! We drove last October for 20 hours (over 2 days) with our 19 month old. She was a trooper, and it's still one of our favorite memories. Can't wait to do it again next year!

 

[wdwobsessed]

We actually decided to take dear hubby's car which has a tape deck.

I'll have to record my disney CD's to tape!

Thanks for the colorforms idea.

Ill have to pick up a hand held game or two. My 2 year old likes anything that makes noise as well...... just hope it does not drive me and DH crazy!

wdwo

 

[Barb D]

We usually drive (from MD) too, but this time we're flying.

When my kids were that little we would leave at 6PM and get into WDW at about noon the next day. DH drove all night. The last few trips my mom went instead of DH, and wasn't willing to drive or ride all night, so we left early in the morning, stopped late evening, and just had a couple of hours left the next day.

My kids loved having coloring books. Use colored pencils instead of crayons, though. They don't melt!

We also do books on tape. The library has tons of them, some even for little kids. We have a Pooh one out now, but will have returned it before you go. (It's from the East Columbia library on Cradlerock, off Broken Land. I'm thinking I read you're in Eldersburg, so just ignore this part if you live in South Dakota or something!) They also have lots of Boxcar Children, etc. on tape. You can also get lots of music CDs and tapes from the library. Portable CD players are CHEAP now, and you can get an adapter to plug into your cigarette lighter and your tape player so that it will use the car's battery and radio speakers.

Make sure you take a little pillow or blanket for each kid. My mom made each of my kids a "quillow," which is a blanket that folds up into its own little pocket to make a pillow. I made a smaller version for my almost-2yo DD so that she can even take it into the parks.

Spend time with your 5yo talking about all the rides, and preparing her for what she's going to see.

Pray that the 2yo sleeps a lot! Mine always do in the car.

When we drove with a 5mo last time she was highly amused by DD's squeeze breeze fan. Might work with your 2yo, too. It would help keep her cool in any case!

 

[Lorix2]

how about the travel size/mini magnadoodle that they can draw and erase on? that's always an inexpensive and creative toy to keep them busy for awhile.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

My DS loves to be read to in the car and did at this age also.Choose books they do not need to see the pictures to enjoy and read out loud to eveyone. A not to scary fairy tale book or perhaps one of Disney Stories ( they have one of just princess and one of pooh stories that I know of).Use lots of expression and enjoy yourself too. My DS is much older (9) now but I read aloud a whole Harry Potter book on a trip last Summer! Have a great trip.
Jordan's Mom

 

[Barb D]

Jordon's Mom, Harry Potter is available on tape, too. The narrator does an incredible job on the voices! We get them from the library, too. We're on book 3 now. 10yo DS and I have read them all on our own, but the narration does a lot for it.

WDWObsessed, I would not recommend these for your 5yo. My 8yo, I think, is just old enough to be able to handle them, and I'm going to hold off on book 4 for her for a while. (DS was ready for it at 9, but I don't think DD will be.)

 

[BounceyOne]

I know some of you will tell me I'm crazy, but Playdoh fills in hours of time. Another tip I like to share is, when you stop to eat at a Mcdonalds or place like it, just you and DH eat there, let the kids play and run around. When you finish eating get the kids meals for them to eat in the car. This way they can blow off some steam and then have something to do when back in the car.

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Thanks for the tip on the Harry Potter tapes.We have done all the books several times but thoses tapes would save my voice on the way to Disney. Just to repeat what Barb D said, I would not recomand these books for your kids either. My son is much older.Most yonger kids would be frightened.
Jordan's mom

 

[phins_jazy]

I second the magnadoodle. I've got a 2 1/2 yr old who LOVES hers!!! She has one just for the car and one that's for the house. She would draw for hours on that thing if I'd let her. I bought the full size ones $14 at Toys R Us. We tried out the little travel ones and it didn't hold her attention nearly as well as the large one did. And it's just the right size to fit on the arm rests of her car seat. Hope this works for you.

 

[Figment22]

I highly second the vote for Play Doh. Get the kids one of those lap top desks that fits over their knees and something to cut the Doh with--a butter knife is great. I had a Fisher Price
Swiss Army knife that coupled with the Play Doh kept the kids busy for much longer than any other toy I ever came up with. This is great on plane trips too--pull down the tray table and you're all set!

 

[LKS]

My kids make the most enormous messes with Playdoh that we don't even use it in the house, much less the car. How do you manage it, especially once they have used it a while and it starts to dry out and crumble. Ick.

We love books on tape.

 

[Xhausted]

Hey,
I just had to post a reply too.. we leave in 2 weeks and We will have a 4, 2, and a 1 year old riding...
Here's what I have in the "I'm bored" bucket. by the way my first advice is
DRIVE AT NIGHT *hee hee* by the way we have 20 hours to get there.


Wal-Mart sells a walk man for 4.95 so I have one each for my 4 and 2
(we let the kids listen to a book on tape and we get to talk in the front seat)
1 pkg of pipecleaners (kids are facinated with the fuzzy ones...)
Silly putty and a Sunday comics (cleaner than playdoh in my car!)
Lacing Fun Boards (homemade fun) (buy bright colored cardboard and cut into odd shapes, then use a handheld hole punch and punch holes around the edge with each hole being about an inch apart--use shoestrings or yarn with a taped end to "lace" or "sew". then you take the string back out and swap shapes...(they sell lacing sets at stores like Zany Brainy but homemade are just as fun and inexpensive) Shapes we use are circle, square, triangle, cross, heart, and mickey ears for this trip.
Pen light flashlights are fun at dark (as long as they don't bother the driver or figuire out they can morse code other passing cars* ha ha! (we keep one per child in our diaper/bottle bag and only let the kids play with them while we are waiting for food in restaurants--works wonders!!
We have one oversized (12x12) Bingo board with pictures of things they might see out the window.
We use Mickey Stickers to cover up what they spot until the whole board is covered.
Might be a good reason to stop for a treat when we finish off the board.

I had bought alot of the Disney party stuff on clearance at TRU a couple of weeks ago so we will open treat bags filled with goodies at certian mile markers.

My mind is going blank...
I just got the kids to bed and I'll have to run go see what else is in there...

Just a few ideas though,
Enjoy your trip! I know we will!!

Xhausted

inkbounc

 

[Super Mom]

We moved from Colorado to New York when our boys were 3 & 1. 4 days of driving!! Before the trip we hooked up our VCR to the stereo and made several audio tapes of Barney, Sesame Street and Sing-a-Long videos. The boys loved listening to their favorite shows in the car.

 

[tinkerbell1967]

We travel from PA and it is very hard to keep my daughter busy. I don't know ifyou have a little girl, but paper dolls are another thing that my daughter liked. It kept her busy for quite sometime. Also, stencils. I bought some of dinosaurs it kept her occupied for awhile also. Watch the crayons though! We had a bad time, forgot to take them out of the car in the Florida heat, what a mess!!

 

[DreamingofDisney]

We have driven several times to WDW (1000 mi) with small children. We talk a lot. We also try to take advantage of some teaching time:
1) Use road & speed signs to teach numbers & alphabet "First letter of that town is.."
2) What do you see that is...(colors), we also play "I Spy..."
3) Maps. Give your kids maps (could be of anything) and let them tell you how to go,
it's quite entertaining. You'll glean a lot about their understanding of the world.
4) We read to them. They retell the story to us.
5) We retell or make-up a "Bear in the Big Blue House" episode," or "Scooby Doo." etc.
6) Explain how much longer until we stop in terms of, "It would be like watching PB&J
Otter 3 times in a row."
7) We sing lots and lots of songs. We make up silly words to sing to familiar tunes.
8) Lots of Disney music!
9) We play this silly game called: Milk, Water, Soda. It goes like this: The first person says one of the 3: milk, water or soda. Then the next person says one of the three, and you just keep going saying only milk, water, or soda. Then when someone wants to stop the game (kind of like throwing down a trump card), you yell "Lemonade." It's so silly, but we have fun! You could change it by using animals, or colors, or etc.

We have found driving time to be special family time. I hope some of these ideas help!

 

[wdwobsessed]

You guys have given me so many great ideas!

Thanks!

wdwo

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Just saw some things at wal-wart that gave me some ideas to share with you.Crayola makes a verson of playdough that is much less messy.I think it is called model magic or something like that.It is in the craft section.It does not get crumbly.You would need to take a plastic bag for after it is opened because it does not come with a resealable container.I have used it at school for speciall projects and it works well.Cost more than playdough though but not too bad.Also saw a new modeling compound that dries to a foam finish.It was in bright colors and looked read cool.I do not however know anything about this product.
Hope this helps.
Jordan' Mom

 

[Disney Family]

On our last trip, I get each our DDs a jelly roll pan and attached a white board to the top with velcro. Between the writing with the white board markers and attaching various magnets on the sheet pan, I know they used these things for hours. When they weren't playing with the pieces, they easily stored in the pan without rolling everywhere.

 

[Yeabower]

I would have them bring coloring books and crayons.