ideas for long car rides

[msmileyface]

Hello! I am looking for some ideas of things to do in the car on the way to WDW. We have a 20 hour drive. I'll be travelling with a friend and her sister and daughter. I'm going to be sitting next to a kiddo in a car seat, so I will be talking to her a lot, but I'm looking for some other ideas to pass the time. I'm not sure how well I'll be able to read or do anything on an electronic device- it might make me queasy. Any other ideas? I'm really drawing a blank, as silly as that seems!

Thanks!

 

[wannabatwdw]

How old is the child? Check pinterest, there are a lot of printable Disney trip games and travel sheets. I also go to the Dollar Tree and pack grab bags that have either a small toy or snack to be opened either every hour or so many miles. A DVD player and movies are great too. Red box can be rented and returned as you go down the road.

 

[Clare]

This is what we do for our 3 kids and they absolutely LOVE it! For every 30 minutes that they are well behaved - respectful, no fighting, no complaining etc. they earn a ticket (bought a big roll at a party store for just a few dollars). They each have a bag with "prizes" that are "priced", most between 3 - 8 tickets that they can buy with the tickets they earn.

Prizes include snack items, new books, sunglasses, book for pressed pennies, lip balm, fun pen, coloring packs (from Target $1 section), puzzle books - the options are endless. On our last trip I also had a new DVD - for this one they EACH had to put in 2 tickets to earn it - little teamwork exercise

They have SO much fun with this & it's easy to put together. While it would be easy to get carried away, I'm usually able to put it together for a reasonable cost.

 

[wendybeth75]

On our last road trip to the beach I found an App for my phone that was the License plate game. The goal was to get a plate from every state. It was a free App and a lot of fun

 

[Disneyhabs]

Hello! I am looking for some ideas of things to do in the car on the way to WDW. We have a 20 hour drive. I'll be travelling with a friend and her sister and daughter. I'm going to be sitting next to a kiddo in a car seat, so I will be talking to her a lot, but I'm looking for some other ideas to pass the time. I'm not sure how well I'll be able to read or do anything on an electronic device- it might make me queasy. Any other ideas? I'm really drawing a blank, as silly as that seems!

Thanks!

We have been driving down for years the kids have been making the drive since they were about 5 months old. We always bring a few books and some colouring books. If you have a tablet load some simple games or books on it for them. even some music for them to listen to.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

if using crayons, be very careful. had one get misplaced in a carseat. 3 outfits later we found where it had melted into padding of carseat. had to replace seat on the trip nonplanned expense. we now use colored pencils and special marker that only mark on special paper. depending on her age, what does she enjoy?

 

[dachsie]

Create a scavenger hunt of things to look for when driving such as a house with purple paint, a billboard with the color blue, things like that. Another idea is to find every letter of the alphabet on billboards as you drive down the road. I still do that myself on boring drives. Lol

 

[msmileyface]

All great ideas. She is a well behaved five year old. I'm also wondering what I can do in the car for myself while she is resting, since I get queasy reading. I am not a good car sleeper.

 

[Disneyhabs]

All great ideas. She is a well behaved five year old. I'm also wondering what I can do in the car for myself while she is resting, since I get queasy reading. I am not a good car sleeper.

load some music on your phone and listen to that or an audio book if you like books.

 

[minmate]

Print out maps of the parks and memorize them (if you haven't already!)

Bring along just the box of Trivia from your favorite Trivial Pursuit game. See how many you can get correct on a whole card. Test the driver too.

Bring stuff to buff and file (and if you're brave, paint) your nails. May be a little too smelly to paint in a closed car (imho).

Good conversation is always a simple way to pass the time and keep the driver from getting bored too!

Do a quick google or pinterest search for in-chair exercises.

Clean out your purse (if you haven't recently).

Do you do anything like knit that you can bring along?

 

[shelemm]

I download episodes of This American Life. You can listen to them on CD or any other electronic device. They are one hour long. Cost is $1 to download an episode. You can listen to them for free on the internet without downloading.

thisamericanlife.org

My single favorite episode is The Invention of Money from 2011.

 

[cajmom]

We really overpacked last year. We had books, electronics, DVD players with disney movies, a camera that they could take pics with along the way, their disney bag filled with their trading pins - autograph book - etc. We also stopped often to stretch our legs so they wouldn't get too restless. We drove from Northern Ohio.

 

[jm106]

-Audio bo0oks for both- My 5 year old is so into it. This week is WIzard of Oz, he sat in the kitchen next to my phone yesterday loving it. Something we both can enjoy together. We will choose something we can all enjoy for our drive to WDW.
-For you- download a series of a TV show if you have a devise you can.
-My kids have DSi and they love to "text" each other, so thats an idea if the child gets bored and can borrow a phone. Send messages and emoticons.
-color wonder markers are good in car and sticker books

 

[ajwolfe]

all good ideas posted!! I usually make my kids a travel binder with lots of print outs, coloring sheets and printed copies of scavenger hunts and the license plate games. I'll also make them a goody bag with some new things; like a new dvd to watch, some snacks, a couple small new toys to play with. As they have aged, those items have changed with their likes. Now with them both having kindles, I'll put a new movie on those and a couple new apps ahead of time. Also bring a few books, most kids can look at them in the car without getting sick.

I can't read in the car either, so I feel you with the boredom. Audio books are nice or if you have XM in your car, we really love the comedy channels; especially the Blue Collar channel, not as inapporiate as some channels.

 

[Jennasis]

Don't forget the adults!

We are kid-free and still need to amuse ourselves on the 9 hour drive from NC to FL.

We load the iPod with Disney podcasts (our favorites are WDWRadio and the DISunplugged). We also play car games like "who can spot the license plate from the state furthest from FL." Or i-spy, or 20 questions.

 

[bjscheel]

We have the game Rubberneckers, which is basically items to find while on the road (a car with more than 3 bumper stickers, a US President's name-not Ford, a toll free phone number, a windmill). You could make up your own list of things and assign points if you wish. Or find a travel bingo- maybe there is a free printable one online.

We have also looked for a semi in every color of the rainbow (purple and yellow can take a while). Once my DD tallied semi colors all summer. It was interesting to see which colors are the most common.

Most license plates around here have a set of 3 letters. We try to come up with phrases that start with each of those letters. For example, MOZ can be My Own Zebra. The 5 year old may not be able to come up with her own, but if the adults can make them silly, she might still enjoy the game.

We've done guessing games, like thinking of a Disney princess or character and either give a hint to start or just let the others ask yes/no questions.

Finally, a good travel toy is Crayola Model Magic. It's similar to playdoh but completely clean and doesn't fall apart or crumble. You can mold it into bunches of things, then let it harden, or put it away for later. Blending two colors into one new color completely takes a good amount of time, or you can blend them into pretty swirls of color.

 

[Tomh]

It is about an 19 hour drive for us, traffic dependent of course. My DS was 4 the first time we drove, DD was 13. This year will be our 7th trip, and the first time without DD (who has to be in college). I have to say the kids have never really been a problem on the trip.

For starters, I find that they sleep a LOT when we are in the car and moving. I have an inexpensive DVD player in the back seat and they will entertain themselves for hours watching movies. DD always had her smart phone to play with, and DS usually had an MP3 player. This year he will also have a tablet computer along for the trip. We got it for him as a Christmas present. Picked it up for $100 at Sams Club. It has already paid for it's self many times over by keeping him entertained, and I am sure it will be appreciated both by DS10 and DW and I this summer on our way to Disney!