Long drive ideas for children

[Jolie C]

Does anyone have any good ideas for ways to keep a 5 year old entertained on a long drive? I'll welcome any and all thoughts on the subject! Thanks!

 

[dwbakerjr]

How much are you willing to spend? We had a lot of 'success' (i.e. much more quiet from the back seat) after we bought one of those lap top DVD players, and a set of headphones. They watch Finding Nemo and Ice Age, and we drive more efficiently. Last I checked, the small ones are about a hundred bucks...

good luck..

DB.

 

[Jolie C]

I'm willing to spend enough for a portable DVD player in addition to a few other things. Do you really like yours, then? It was worth it?

 

[Octoberbeauty]

Hey Jolie, I make frequent long trips with my kids. Here are some of the things they do: Leap Pad books (turned down quietly), just got my son a cd player (for his 5th b-day in two weeks because he loves music and I know this will keep him entertained), handheld electronic games are good, coloring books and crayons, suckers keep them entertained for awhile , picture books, etc. Ugh, I can't think right now. The new Leapsters are really good (I've heard) and so are the video now players (if you don't want the expense of the DVD player)

We want to get them a DVD player for the car, too. Hoping my fil is getting them one for their b-day. However, the cheapest ones I've seen are around $200.

Anyway, these are just a few ideas. I'm anxious to see some other ideas too.
Hugs,
Sherry

 

[kasar]

Here's what we've done:

We gave each kid a roll of quarters which was their's to keep. Everytime they had a fight (not a problem for you since it sounds like you have one child) or asked "are we there yet?" we took a quarter. Since they wanted all the money for themselves it worked like a charm. Best $20 I ever spent.

Another one is to buy little, inexpensive trinkets (matchbox cars, little animal "critters", tootsie rolls, little puzzles, etc) and wrap them up in tissue paper or wrapping paper. At certain intervals which you determine, they can choose one present to open. If you wrap it tightly enough with plenty of paper, it takes a while to open and then the gift keeps them happy for a while until it's time to open another one. A messy activity, but it works.

How about old-fashioned sing-a-longs, or I spy?

DVD players are great too as are books on tape. We've "read" 2 Harry Potter books while on long car trips.

 

[pixiemomma]

Gameboy! Dvds, leappads, crayon, paper and a clipboard.

 

[debster812]

Benadryl (joking, people, joking)

Seriously--Gameboy, Books (if no one suffers from carsickness), books on tape or CD, Surprise bags, pipe cleaners (you would be amazed at the creations they can come up with), portable DVD if it's in your budget, Leapad. The Gameboy, Leappad, and DVD can all be used with headphones, which could be a sanity saver too for you, the driver.

Good Luck

 

[Jolie C]

Pipe cleaners is a great idea! I like that. Thanks to everyone who has suggested ideas so far! I'm making a list.

 

[Cruisin]

One year when my kids were about that age, driving back from Orlando, we counted all of the McDonald's signs that we could see from the highway That gave us something to look for and kept us plenty busy cause there are tons. You could also count something else, red cars, big trucks.

Make or buy car bingo games, you know, find a truck, a street light etc. and mark them off.

How about making up some "school" work pages, simple stuff for a 5 year old...like letters, numbers, simple adding, whatever level they are at.

Watch license plates as they go by and make a game with them, like find license plates with letters from your name and spell your name out, whatever you can think of to do with letters and numbers.

How about making up a story, each person takes a turn making a sentence or a word in the story. See what funny stuff you can come up with.

Ever seen the MadLib books. They are stories with blanks and you fill in the blanks before you read the story. Eg. they say name a noun, noun, verb, adjective etc. Then you go back and put them in the story and usually get funny results

Those a just a few ideas that come to mind quickly.

Have fun

 

[CEDmom]

I just read a great idea in the travel section of our paper. Bring along a roll of aluminum foil and tear off pieces as you travel along. Children and make the foil into all kinds of shapes, animals, buildings etc. Best of all it's cheap and easy to clean up.

 

[momm2four]

Window clings are fun to play with on a long trip.

Lori P.

 

[BrinxFam]

Our youngest DD6 will be playing with her color Pixter on the way to WDW next month. We also do the treat bags with small surprises throughout the trip. We have the tv for the van and traveling music. One of DD's favorite things last year was a metal cookie sheet and magnetic shaped blocks and letters. We also found some magnetic Barbie doll things in the party aisle at Wal-Mart. The cookie sheet also doubled as a nice surface to color on and for a "table" when she wanted a snack while driving down the road. Travel Bingo is a hit, as well as looking for license plates from different states and the alphabet sign game is fun for everyone.

Have a great trip.

 

[dwbakerjr]

Originally posted by Jolie C
I'm willing to spend enough for a portable DVD player in addition to a few other things. Do you really like yours, then? It was worth it?

Yes,we do... we vacation by car (van) almost every year, and visit GrandMa in Oklahoma several times a year. Our 'collection' of kids DVD's has grown to about 60. In a real shocking development to us old fogies (i.e. parents), we are surprised that the 3 Stooges are pretty high on the watch list right now (nothing is ever new under the sun, they say).

 

[always quiet]

If you are going to bring crayons and paper for the kids to draw on, can I suggest using a spiral notebook instead of loose papers. We did loose paper one year and the ENTIRE back on the van was covered with papers!! A spiral notebook keeps everything in one place. Crayola used to make (they might still....it's been a few years), a lap desk for the kids. The top slides off and it big enough to hold the notebook and crayons.

Another vote for gameboy, personal cd players, a deck of cards if the kids are big enough (and if you have more than 1 child in the back seat!! ), mini etch-a-sketch, travel games (note - travel perfection in horrible!!! Too many little pieces!!), if the kids are old enough and in school, try and get their assignments before you go and that also gives them something to do on the ride and you don't have to worry about it while on vacation.

 

[Trish Bessette]

I own a portable DVD and it is the best to keep young ones occupied on a long trip!! My two girls (10 & 7) love it! Not only do they love to watch a movie, it keeps them so quiet

Enjoy your trip.

 

[MomofKatie]

Just a quick suggestion- we never bring crayons or markers because of the mess factor. If you've ever tried to get melted crayon off of upholstery, take my word for it... not fun!!! Especially in the hot FL sunshine, those little suckers melt quickly! And markers mark more than just paper. My pick for drawing/coloring? Colored pencils. They keep the backseats clean.

The DVD player sounds like a great idea, too. We are going to get one before our Disney trip this fall.

What are the VideoNow things? I've seen commercials- would like opinion from someone who has one.

 

[Skywalker]

- I just have to chime in here and say that yes, that portable DVD player is a must!!! I was ready to kiss it by the end of the trip.

- Also good old fashioned colouring books, pads and crayons.

- We brought some puppets and they worked on a puppet show which they put on once we got to our hotel!

- Lots of books. Our guys were too young to read so I brought a bunch to read to them. Starting to get restless? Time for another chapter!

- Little food treats to surprise them with now and then

- Music CD's. I bought a Scooby-Doo soundtrack CD which they fell in love with. Anytime they got bored they asked for it and sang along. Killed a good few hours!

- We marked our route on a big map and whenever they felt like we were never going to get there, we would get out the map and show them the progress we had made and that made them very happy!

 

[piglet too]

I would really invest in a good portable DVD player. I saw one at Target not too long ago for $150. I also love my boys Gameboy Advance SP, the one with the built-in light and rechargeable battery. It really works well, and even in the dark! You can find them pretty much everywhere for $100, that is the price set by Nintendo. Games range from $10-45. I am not a fan of Video Now, at my work we have been gtting a lot of complaints about them in the past few weeks.

 

[4greatboys]

We love our portable dvd player. My 2 youngest are 4 and 2 and they enjoy watching their movies.