long trip

[peggyjean123]

We are driving from Texas to Florida any ideas on entertainment for a 2 1/2 & 5 year old, ones that are not TOoo expensive.

 

[monkeyguy31]

errmm... why don't u get a dvd player in the car and watch your fav disney films or if u want you could play eye spy for a long time and see who won't die of bordom lol

 

[kpk89]

How about a clipboard and some crayons? Or Color Wonder books (no stains!)

Cookie sheet (with edges) and magnets.

Playdoh (only if you're brave and if you know they won't eat it while you're in the front seat! )

Books on tape/cd -- borrow from the library. Little House in the Big Woods got us from NH to SC.

Music

Have a great trip! It'll go by faster than you think. We made it on the aforementioned trip to SC with no DVDs on the way there. On the way back, it was going nonstop.

 

[fan_of_small_world]

Having done driving trips from Chicago to the mid-atlantic for three years with DD aged birth-3 and DS aged 3-6, here are some sure-fire tricks...

bring juice boxes / water and simple snacks - I usually divided them into individual baggies

lollipops are a great treat, and if they don't bite them they can last a while

loved the car DVD player!

believe it or not, a box of "bendy" straws kept them entertained for quite a while - DS made shapes, DD took them apart!

pads of paper, coloring books, crayons, washable markers, and stickers - Walmart had these great plastic lap trays that have deep "pockets" on the sides for keeping all the little things in

I'm sure there's more, I just can't think of any right now. I'll post again if I remember!

Good luck!!!

 

[bellebud]

craft pipe-cleaners! my kids used these for hours and hours! magna-doodles (travel size or large). walmart has really cheap lap tables with legs that fold down - they fit very well on my kids laps w/ the legs between their leg and the side of the car seat (good for eating, crafting, writing, etc). i recall reading somewhere (probably on the dis) to make up lots of lunch bags for each child beforehand each w/ a small snack, a cheap toy (dollar store), and an activity in each one. and gift wrap the cheap toy - it makes it more exciting for them. as an 'activity', i'd even just put in some paper and crayons in a ziplock, or a sheet of stickers and paper in a ziplock, etc. You might have stuff like that around the house and you don't have to spend any money on it. sometimes w/ kids, the packaging of something provides half the interest. the small snack also keeps the hungries at bay and avoids a blood-sugar drop or the 'i'm starving!' crankies. hth!

 

[peggyjean123]

I loved all the ideas, and yes we do have DVD player and many dvd so that's atleast a few hours to kill. You all have been so helpful, it is much appreiated.

 

[Kellyscrapbooks]

Having just done the NY-Florida thing last month, some of the things that worked really well for us was investing in an adapter for my laptop (played dvds and had a bigger screen than a car dvd player). This additionally allowed me to upload my pictures each night and I didn't have to buy extra memory cards. Good thing because I took over 1500 pictures!
Another thing that was HUGE was something my mom bought the kids, it was coloring books (Disney themed) that had something called bathtub stickers in them. They were like little window clings in disney characters that they used to decorate the windows of the car, they had hours of fun with that. IN fact, I still have nemo and Dory on my car.
My 4 year old LOVED the gameboy and games that Daddy gave him just before the trip. I think he played that for 3 hours a day, the hard part though is that he's not allowed to play it like that now that we are home.
Fun little snacks that they aren't normally allowed to eat much of were great treats. We stopped at each states "welcome center" and played tag to run off steam and it only took about 5 minutes and was a nice stretch for mom and dad too!