Items needed for a 12 hr car ride

[pjtm]

I am starting my packing list to get ready for a long, long car ride! I have a DS4, DS2, and DD1. I can't believe we are attempting this!

What is your best all-time car trick? Best toy? Best snack?

And I can't seem to find any colorforms anywhere - any ideas?

thanks in advance for your input!

 

[Ellester]

Just make sure you have lots of wipes, diapers, plastic bags, and easy access to extra clothes if needed! Our portable DVD player is worth it's weight in gold. Make sure you have headphone splitters if you go that route.

I'd think about felt boards as an alternative to Colorforms. My kids seem to like them better anyway. Colorwonder markers may be good for the 4yo. I'd avoid crayons in the summer, I have a nice blue stain on one of my van's seats to prove that a crayon can, in fact, completely melt out of it's wrapper in a hot van! Good luck! It can be done!

 

[LaraK]

Valium!

JK! I put a bin-o-stuff in the middle seat between the kids and put little guys in there for pretend play, books to read and doodle pros (those were great)

 

[virginiamama]

Baby wipes and a small bag for trash. I always forget the trash bag.

 

[macmahony]

12 hours is easy!! My kids are very used to traveling, we go to see my family a few times a year and that trip can be between 14-18 hours, and disney for us is around 20 hours. We pack the dvd player, maybe a new movie but my kids really only watch the tv once we get where it is dark and they can't do anything else.
We have a leapster, and a game boy (my girls are 5, 4 and 2), they really don't play them long.
I pack them each a box with a new color wonder marker set, stickers, scotch tape, post it notes, bubble wrap, a pen, they each get a pack of pipe cleaners. That stuff alone is hours and hours of entertainment!!
Your little one will be the hardest to entertain, but mine survived. I brought stickers and she had hours of fun with that, I would stick them all over her, and she would spend tons of time taking them off and sticking them on her or the carseat tray. I carry a small thing of bubbles, and have had to use it once (it is for emergencys only), we had been in the car about 16 hours, and were planning on getting off at the next stop for the day, and sat in bumper to bumper not moving traffic on the highway for almost and hour. Bubbles saved us all from lots of crying!
I usually throw in a pez dispencer, they love that too. My kids love the long drives! We talk about what state we are in, how many left, they love to plan getting out at the gas station and picking a snack.
I know many people won't drive, but for us, we would ONLY drive, the time with the kids, being together for us is 100% worth it. I loved traveling as a kid, and I know my kids feel the same way!
Have fun!

 

[Blueyed Girl]

I have a 3 year old son & I agree with all of the above! The other things I brought were: Disney movies! (if you have a portable DVD player-can be a life saver!), I also had some sticker books and stickers, and one of those coloring pads that you can put water inside the "marker" and when they "color" the paper the color magically appears. (I liked this one due to the lack of a mess!), we also brought him a bunch of his little hot wheel cars to play with.

As for snacks we had goldfish "crackers", goldfish "pretzels", some rasins, & we brought a small cooler along with milk & individual bottles of nursery water.

Of all the things I packed, the movies worked the best. 2nd was the sticker books.

 

[fterie4u]

This is a great thread! We alos have a long car ride coming up, 11 hours! We are planning on driving throught the night in hopes that our DD (she will be almost 17 months when we go) will sleep through the night. I have bought a few things to entertain her when she wakes up such as stickers, washable markers, dooodle pad. However, my question is, does anyone know how to keep their head from falling forward? I mean if she is going to sleep that long, i need to support her head more so she does not get a stiff neck. Any suggestions? We have thought about getting one of those airplane pillow things that go around your neck, what do you think?

 

[Ellester]

This is a great thread! We alos have a long car ride coming up, 11 hours! We are planning on driving throught the night in hopes that our DD (she will be almost 17 months when we go) will sleep through the night. I have bought a few things to entertain her when she wakes up such as stickers, washable markers, dooodle pad. However, my question is, does anyone know how to keep their head from falling forward? I mean if she is going to sleep that long, i need to support her head more so she does not get a stiff neck. Any suggestions? We have thought about getting one of those airplane pillow things that go around your neck, what do you think?

We've never had luck with the travel pillows. They are not designed for little heads and necks. I would try to recline the seat just a little bit, if you can. If not, little ones are very flexible so she'll find a comfortable spot and get over any stiffness very quickly! You can also try a strategically placed rolled up baby blanket or two once she falls asleep and settles in. We had some success with that, but usually ours just found a comfy way on their own.

 

[girlsx4]

I feel as though I am expert in this area. I have 4 girls and we have taken MANY long car trips w/the girls. They have all been great! A couple things we hadn't planned for........2 of my girls get carsick. We went on vacation a few weeks ago and one got sick on the way there and one on the way home.(it happened last year, too) So, next trip, we are bringing a bucket Just make sure you are able to get to an extra change of clothes if necessary and bring a plastic bag(or 2).
If you don't have a DVD player, GET ONE! You can get a portable one that can strap on to the front 2 seats. The girls love to watch movies and it makes the time pass quickly. Color wonder markers/paper will also be great(no mess). We always fill a box with snacks.....suckers, granola bars, crackers & candy. And we pack a cooler for drinks, too. In an 11 hr trip we only make 2 stops so we make sure we have everything the girls could want! Good luck! Like I said, we've been taking long car trips for years and it's always been GREAT!!

 

[justwinnie]

Toys R Us has a rack full of magnetic playsets like these.

They're very slim and fold in half to be the size of a magazine or smaller.
They have My Little Pony, Sesame Street, and lots of other characters available. You can find it in the "Imaginarium" section of Toys R Us.

If you belong to Costco, they have had some felt playsets that come in a clear plastic bag. Lots of different styles available.

At Target, they have these clipboard containers that are filled with colored pencils, markers, etc. You can find these in the crayon/art supply aisle. I love these for trips (car or airplane). I remove the insert and just fill it with the things I want. I use the pencils, but leave the crayons at home. Paper, color wonder stuff, etc. It keeps everything in one spot. It's similar to these, but they come in red or blue filled with art supplies.

My snack advice is to just give them something new or normally "forbidden."
I also liked using a Snack Trap for finger foods like Cheerios, Goldfish, Cereal, etc in the car when my daughter was younger (1 - 2, she's now almost 4). And a juice box holder helps keep squirting juice at bay.


We only take 4-hour car rides (which can go up to 6 hours w/traffic. ahh traffic!), but even those can be trying.

Good luck!

 

[lg3]

ITA - Don't forget the portable DVD player!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dh talked me into buying one for a car trip we took a few years ago, and I thought it was going to be a total waste of $$ - WRONG!! It is fantastic. Our dd would never use the earphones though, but that's okay.
Like the cooler idea for healthy drinks and fruit along the way. I always keep a roll of paper towels in the back of the car, along with an extra towel.
You can also get the no mess water markers/coloring page booklets with Disney Princess or Cars theme at AAA offices - I found one last week. They are also available at The Disney Store - I remember Buzz and a few others too. At our local Target I only could find My Little Pony.

 

[thepeach80]

http://hyenacart.com/all4kids/

We're hoping to get one of these for each of the boys for our trip. I hope she makes some more soon, they're almost out!

My biggest reccomendation would be to turn anyone who is under 30# rear facing in their seat. Riding rfing, keeps them reclined making it easier to sleep and is also safer. My boys have the best times if they can see each other, I don't know what we'll do if Evan ever gets too big to rf.

 

[smphbear]

Colored pencils worked well as a replacement for crayons.

The other family traveling with us 2 weeks ago bought each of my boys one of those metal folding trays from the dollar store. Then, she bought them each some of the ABC and shape magnets. She gave them to them when we got to Disney. They loved them so much that the DVD player never got turned back on for our 10 hour ride home!

 

[graygables]

Raffi! When our 4 were little, we sang LOTS of Raffi songs on our long roadtrips (lots of those). Keeps their brains engaged, mouths on the lyrics (and not whining), and was tons of fun having them make up the motions. When the littlest was a baby, she was inevitably entertained watching the others, trying to join in. When mine were little, they were never that into watching videos, and even now, rarely watch anything when we roadtrip (which is averaging once per month now...)

I wouldn't do colorforms at those ages, though, too much of a choking hazard in relation to the play value for the one child. Bubbles are fun, but can get messy in the wrong hands, so keep them up front. Ours also loved finger puppets. You can get some really cool ones from Manhattan Toy (I get them at my Borders bookstore). We keep them in the car all the time and my DDs are now 8 & 11! We also let ours use soap crayons on the windows to draw pictures. A little wet paper towel and it's easy to clean off.

 

[Claudia1]

I take a dark sheet and use extra-large paperclips to hang it from various spots in the van to make a tent after DGD goes to sleep. We have a couple of hooks for clothes that work great for this and they keep the sheet off of her face. She has plenty of air space, too, the the extra-large clips are not a choking hazard if she pulls it all down.

The sheet eliminates some of the lights that may wake her up like the opening a door in the van, oncoming headlights, gas stations at night, etc.... It may seem a bit tacky but it really helps to keep her in a sound sleep.

 

[Stitch'sCousin]

A dark sheet or some cardboard to put up on the side windows also helps to block out the sun if the kids are watching a movie. Nothing worse than somebody being on the "wrong side" of the van and getting the sun in their eyes!

 

[DisneeMommee]

Crayola makes window markers. Our kids could only use them on long trips and color on the window to their hearts content. Don't forget the windex and paper towels. We would make a clean slate at each stop. I saw Colorforms at Ben Franklin and the "educational" toy stores in our area. I have wrapped packages that they get at each state line with items in the package related to that state - Kentucky - a set of toy horses, Georgia - set of civil war army guys (our youngest could line them up for hours on the seat and play battle). I also wrapped snacks in Disney gift wrap and when we needed to stop the whining, it worked wonders. You can print bingo cards off the internet. They have some very basic ones with just the colors of cars or vehicle types - we put them on cheap clipboards. You children might be a bit young to play alone, but you could make it a family game with just one bingo card. Puppets also worked wonders when our little ones were fussy. They would peak over the seat and soon they were giggling. We have Mickey, Minnie, Chip, Dale, Goofy, etc. We even have some little finger ones of Mickey and the gang - they are old and I haven't seen them anywhere in years. We also do the sing alongs - you will get really tired of the same old songs, but your kids won't. We also do some research about the areas we will be traveling through to point out landmarks along the way. Goodluck and enjoy them.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Whiskey. Lots of it...

 

[teachrfuture]

We have taken many road trips with the kids. On time I started this snack sack "game". Every couple of hours, everyone can grab a snack bag (No Peeking!) Inside each snack bag are one or two small snacks (chips, granola bar, fruit roll-up, crackers, trail mix, cookies, etc.) Trading is allowed .
My girls (7 and 9)and my son(14) really look forward to snack bag time. Sometimes, I add a small prize to the sacks.
We also bought a Dual DVD player with games for the next trip.

28 days until Disney

 

[PAdisMOM]

We have done this twice with our DDs (21 hours!). I also made a small gift bag for each new state we entered. Inside I'd put one small toy (crayons, bubbles, pipe cleaner- all Dollar tree finds), a snack and a juice box. This gave them something to look forward to.