Ideas for the car ride

[DisneyMama63]

Hello! We will be in Disney April 5- 15th. We will be driving from Blacksburg VA(12 hour 30 minute trip) with a 7 year old, 5 year old, and 3 year old DD in tow. I was wondering if yall have any ideas of things to keep them busy while riding. It is their first long trip. We will leave around 4 am and drive the whole way.

I already have:
DVD player with DVDS
Color wonder fingerpaint/markers
pipe cleaners
books on CD

Any other ideas?


Caitlyn

 

[keypooh90]

Those are some good ideas. How about coloring books, and magna doodles as well?

 

[Mom to Jordan]

DS always liked me reading out loud better than books on tape. Choose a story book with out a lot of picture since you can not show the pictures very well. Alos lots of fun snacks that you might not always allows such as fruit snacks, cookies etc.. Play car games such as guess who or I spy. Time your stops well. Choose a fast food place with a great play area and let the kids play while the adults eat. Get thier food to go and they can eat in the car. Choose a place with a good toy in the meal and that might last a little bit. We also tried watching for a upcomming rest area and then stopping for fast food drive thru a stop or two before that and have a quick outdoor picnic that allows the kids to run off a little bit of energy.
Also have "rest" time. Put aways everything, turn on easy music and pray they all fall asleep. Bring pillows and snugglies too!!!!!!
Older two might like some type of hand held electronic game too!!!!

Jordans mom

 

[mjmcca]

Gameboy Leapster Vsmile pocket and pixter are your freind!

 

[YesI'mObsessed]

Ditto that....LOVE the Leapster!
Our last long trip I bought each of the kids one of those tv trays with legs, like the ones you use in bed. They loved having a little table to use for snacks etc...

We are going to try and drive our next trip, we are in Fairfax, about 2 more hours drive for us! I'd love to know how the ride goes, and where you stopped along the way. Come back and post!

 

[ruttie]

disney look and find books I get them at Books a million they are big easy to use and the kids love finding all the disney characters plus you do not need to read to them like i spy books these books have the pictures on the left side that you are too find they kep my kids busy for hours in the car we have alot of theme micky and friends teh incredibles, chicken little little mermaid, finding nemeo spongebob, scooby doo, etc...

 

[disneyfansx5]

My kids have gotten spoiled to DVD's. This seems to keep them entertained no matter how long the trip is. They also like to take their Color Wonder Markers, books, and doodle pads. These are great because they don't melt in the car like crayons and they do not mark on the car or themselves. They also enjoy their leapsters.

 

[Experiment113]

We drive to FL from Pittsburgh. My kids are ages 8 & 3. At each rest stop we let them pick a handful of brochures on local attractions (they usually prefer the animal ones). For the trip they each get construction paper, new glue sticks, scissors (especially some that cut with the fancy scalloped edges), tape, colored pencils (with sharpener), and a big envelope/folder to keep it all in. They cut up the brochures and glue and tape their favorite pictures on the construction paper. We are always amazed by how long they work on this activity. The big rule is that at each stop, we take a few minutes and pick up and throw away all the extra bits of brochures that are left after they have been cut. For the return trip they get to cut up all of our park maps.

I've also found window clings and jelly-like clings in animal shapes at the dollar store. They decorate the car window they are sitting beside with these.

 

[3littleHalls]

I have a few tips on this(we travel several times a year with our 3 young ones) and the DVD player works really well, we take turns picking movies. At the end of the movie we play games for a bit(magnadoodles, Leapster Max, magnet boards, and a small baggie of kids choice-zip lock bag I let the kids put together) by then it has been 2 to 2 1/2 hours since we stopped. We usually stop at a gas station or fast food place make the kids get out for jumping jacks and go potty. The only reason we don't stop at least every 3 hrs is if a kid is napping, then after the nap we stop. Doing a routine of stopping it cuts down on length of breaks, no whining, and all of a sudden need to go potty comments. Good luck!

 

[DisneyMama63]

Thanks for the suggestions yall! Keep em coming!

 

[INDISMOM]

We are also driving -- 18+ hours with an 8 year old and 5 year old. We are stopping 14 hours into it to spend the night, but still a LONG drive. Here are somethings that I am going to do:

Stickers above each girl on the ceiling of the car. One for every hour (or 1/2 if you think it would be better) we will be in the car. They get to take a sticker off when I tell them and put it in a sticker book. This give them an idea of how much longer they have in the car. It also works great when they wake up grumpy from a nap and get to take off 2 or 3!!

Found a CD on Ebay called Road Games Sound Effects. It play different sounds (i.e. bowling alley, power tools,etc.) and you have to guess what it is. I am hoping this one keeps them happy!

Their own CD player - I can only listen to Hilary Duff and the Cheetah Girls so long!!

For the 8 year old (almost 9) I am going to get the book Along Interstate 75 for her to "follow along" on where we are. Each page has 25 miles of the interstate on it and lists things that might be of interest. It also lists restaurants along the interstate that have playlands -- which will be perfect for them to get out and stretch.

I am spending a lot of time getting ideas (friends, internet, books) As I find more, I will post.

 

[Atchley]

I agree with the DVD idea. DVD's, gameboys, mp3 players, books, paper and colored pencils, all things my kids (8&6) love. It will be even better this year because DD can read books to DS. Have a great trip!

 

[jj1403]

I hightly recommed a portable DVD player. It will be the best things you've ever invested in!! If you can't afford one try and borrow one from a friend it's well worth it!

 

[halld6479]

you can purchase portable screens for all these systems and pug into cig lighter and good for a trip to anywhere.

 

[mojophone]

Hello! We will be in Disney April 5- 15th. We will be driving from Blacksburg VA(12 hour 30 minute trip) with a 7 year old, 5 year old, and 3 year old DD in tow. I was wondering if yall have any ideas of things to keep them busy while riding. It is their first long trip. We will leave around 4 am and drive the whole way.

I already have:
DVD player with DVDS
Color wonder fingerpaint/markers
pipe cleaners
books on CD

Any other ideas?


Caitlyn

My brothers and I whenever we went anywhere played a counting game where we would count the liscense plates and see who could come up with the most from the different states. We also played slugbug alot but that tended to hurt after awhile lol

 

[Suejeffali]

Have you gone on themouseforless? They have some really good things on there. You can print out journals and other sheets for the car ride.

 

[Pocohantasfan]

I agree with all of those. ANYTHING that will keep them occupied. We take our portable DVD player and I always try to take movies that DD7 hasn't seen in a while or a couple of new ones. She loves to color, draw, write, read, listen to music (much to DH's dismay) and I try to bring lots of it. I also have the travel games of connect four, etc. that usually kills a couple of hours off and on. I also sit in the back seat with her as much as possible to keep her busy and not so lonesome. When she's bored or lonesome, out come the whining and that makes me kringe. Look at the top of Disney for Families and there's a sticky with printables for the road. There's some cool stuff there. I also agree with the snacks and stops. We stop at the rest stops and I get out the jump rope or a frisbie to work off some of the energy. I'd be perfectly content with just sitting, but not the little ones. Good luck.

 

[theprincess]

WOW
Alot of great ideas. I liked mouseforless, I briefly checked it out and will print some stuff for our trip. I'm hoping that since my 2 Dd are 13 and 10 it won't be like when they were younger although this is the 1st time we will be driving that far.

Thanks for the ideas and keep them coming

 

[speedyf]

I posted this find a few weeks ago....but, just wanted to add it to this thread.

I was looking for a solution for using my laptop as a portable DVD player. I found this for $30 instead of spending over $100 for a portable DVD player:

http://www.vuegear.com/

I tried it on an hour long trip and my DS5 played a game on the laptop and we never heard a word out of him.

Speed