need help

[tinkerjess]

we are driving from Texas to WDW its about 14 hrs. drive i will have my ds 8- and my dd -3 we are leaving at 3 am and we are not stopping except to potty and eat i need some ideas to keep the kids busy. we have a dvd player, but after one movie they are sick of t.v. please help me w/ some ideas!

 

[Cloudwatcher]

I am having the same problem thinking of ideas for my DD3. I am in Louisiana and we will be driving straight doing it from 7am until we get there about 12 or 13 hrs.

I have the dvd player and that will work good. I also have a small magnadodol (sp) they are about $2 at Walmart. If you have a Target near you check out there dollar rack in the front of the store, they normally have tons of good stuff. I also have a coloring book and big colors and stickers. Also I have an ipod that I have music just for my DD in so that she can have her music and we have ours.

Oh also, I was in my Family Dollar Store today and they have Mickey and Minnie doodle boards for $3 and princess polly's for $2.

 

[staci]

We have gone on quite a few 10 hour drives to see family. Color wonder stuff is fun. Books are great especially if they are new. Books on cd are even better - look at the library. I just got ds(4) a mp3 player (a cheap one) and dh put all of his cd's on there. My kids rarely get junk food, so that goes a long way. Suckers can help for a LONG time! I always pack a few favorite toys. We sing a LOT of cheesy songs. The dvd players are a godsend. Especially for the 3yo, you will need to stop quite a bit - strapped into a carseat it is really easy to get leg cramps and stiff being still so long. Good luck!

 

[MommyBuzz909]

I've driven across the country many a-times!!

License Plates games....usually make a running tally of what I saw most - surrounding states do not count!! (i.e. for Texas - NM, OK, LA & AR don't count)
Slug bug!!
I always like to see how many malls we drive by
Most commons restaurants at exits (there's LOTS of DQ's and Subways in this country!!)
Big rigs - where they're from - how far from home they are!
Get an atlas for both of your kids and have them follow along in it....

 

[tami82]

Buy Auto Bingo my kids enjoy it. I used to also as a kid. Cracker Barrel sometimes has them or you can get them on e-bay.

 

[tinkerjess]

good ideas!! keep them coming

 

[gallafamily]

There are some really cool disney sticker book out there too! My kids love them. The 3 y/o could even do them with a little assistance. I would check into those too.

 

[Cloudwatcher]

Dry earse board. My DD has one on her desk that keeps her busy for hours so for our trip in April I will be buying a lap one for her.

Count a certian color vechile, ie all the red cars up to hundred or so.

When are you leaving?

 

[milmom6]

There is a really neat subscription you can get from Highlander and it is a little magazine / coloring book with hidden pictures. You know, the kind where you search for the mitten, the pencil, etc? My boys really like them and it isn't a big cost.

To keep them from arguing, they are each allowed $10 for arcade games for a trip. I give them each a roll of quarters when we start, and every time they argue with each other, mom gets a quarter. After you take the first quarter, they really act much better.

We play the game "I am thinking of a ...." and the person has to give clues and we each take a turn. This can get really interesting with a 5 year old because he sometimes creates animals and such.

My boys are huge hockey fanatics so they often ask their dad to name a professional hockey teams state and they have to name the team. For example "Detroit... Redwings".

I must also admit my boys (and hubby) have a DS, GameBoy, PSP and DVD player between the 3 of them, so mom usually drives and they get to play and watch movies.

Hope these help!

 

[DVCkidsMOM]

We have 16 hours driving from TX to WDW and break it into two days. For us, it's critical to start early before the kids are up and get a few hours in while they are still sleeping. When everyone should be up (which is later than they are up in the car) we stop for breakfast - sort of. Each stop is at a park, rest area with room to run, or location with play structure. The kids must run an obstacle course we determine around rest area (being considerate of and away from others, of course) or play actively during the 5-15 minute stop. M or D prepares food out of a cooler or buys something permitted in the car to eat when we get back into the car. No point sitting to eat then sitting in car again but the car does get messy - it's a trade-off. We've found that the kids melt-down by mid afternoon and we either need to be done driving at that point, or have a long 2+ hour stop with active entertainment (expensive for just an hour or two, but the USS Alabama is great for climbing off some energy) after which the kids will nap through getting us another couple hours down the road.
Our 8yo can read in the car but his little sister would get car sick with that so she has silent games, leappad with headphones, and other things already mentioned. We stop before we need to - every two or three hours - because it's less time out of the schedule to stop than it would be to fix the melt-down...

 

[mykidsintow]

We got a great book at the library before out last trip! It was in the homeschool section it was called "carschooling". It was FULL of educational games and ideas! It was great! I highly recommend it Very interactive.

 

[Sheaboys]

We drive 21hours from Mass to Florida, once a year. For our 3yr old, we had cd player, dvd player, Headphones, and stuff to read and look at. He was accompanied by a 7 and 5 yr old as well, so they were all pretty busy.

The last time we drove they were 9, 7 and 4(nearly 5) along with a 10 month old. We got another DVD player an dual screen with head phones, so two in the back could watch the same thing and the one in the center had his own single screen, all with headphones, along with MP3 players and such. Pillows and blankets.

We had a cooler in the middle of van filled with snacks. We also had a small cooler for drinks for us and juice boxes.

Trash bag for trash.

We also opt to leave after supper or right before, kids always fall asleep in the van at normal bedtime or close to it and sleep through the night while we drive. Well mostly dh drives. We stop for pee breaks and stretching along the way. We drive straight through.

 

[karibritt01]

My drive is just over 9 hours. I buy several new DVDs that they will both like, and do not let them see them until the trip. A new movie goes much farther than an old one! They (DS9 and DD5) each have a basket of "car toys" such as color wonder books and pens, matchbox cars, barbie, etc. Same as the DVDs, you'll get more mileage out of a few new items than a ton of old ones.

My best tip I can give you... when you stop to eat, stop at McDonald's with a playground. I make my kids go play while DH and I eat. When we have eaten, we all use the bathroom and get ready to get back in the car. I get their meals TO GO! We find that the 30 minutes to run around GREATLY improves their moods... and ours! Then we get 30 minutes+ while they are eating and watching a new DVD!

 

[The Lion King]

we are driving next week from OH to FL and I have started gathering stuff for our kids to do in the car. Ages 9, 8 and 5. The older 2 each have a gameboy, dd has a Barbie computer. I printed off some games and an ABC book for dd. We will have plenty of movies but I am going to try to save those for last so they won't get bored with it. I am also buying 2 movies that they have not seen yet-Bee Movie and Enchanted so that will hold their interest and keep them quiet unlike some other movies that they have seen so much they can recite the lines verbatim. We will leave in the middle of the night so they will be asleep for a good portion of the drive.

Also, I bought some Disney jump ropes at Michael's so when we stop at a rest area they can jump to burn off some energy. I have lots of snacks for the car and Disney dollars to bribe them with.

 

[tinkerjess]

thanks everybody for the great ideas i cant wait for our trip

 

[pednurse]

Last October I drove 12 hours by myself (DH was unable to come due to work & school commitments) from northern Indy to the southern part of South Carolina with my DS9 & DD5. We did the drive down in 2 days (left after school one day, stayed the night in a hotel, finished the drive the next morning) but did the return trip all in one day (starting out at 8am). It was a LONG trip. But they did amazingly well for having never had a car trip anywhere near that long before. Just the novelty of it and all the new sights to see helped tons. Also, I put together a surprise bag that they were only allowed to get something new out of when we crossed the line into a new state (this kept them from constantly begging for something else because they were "bored"...they knew ahead of time when they would get something new). I went to Walmart and picked up Color Wonder packs, Go Paints, cute little travel clipboards with activity pads & markers included, colored pencils & pads of paper, etc. With those and the stuff they picked out to take along themselves (books, music, little toys, etc) they did very well. Movies were not an option as we don't have a DVD player in our van. Playing "I Spy" and such games broke up the time as well. I hope you have a fun trip!