Need travel toy suggestions for 2 yo

[molly2004]

Hi, there! I have a question for all you road-tripping veterans. What do you take along for your toddlers? I've purchased two magna doodles for them. I've got the snacks. Besides that, the typical suggestions of coloring/drawing materials and play doh won't work for my guys. They still eat their art materials . Portable DVD players are also out, not in the budget.

What other things do you think will work?

Thanks for your help!

 

[christinadei]

My first leappad, toddler proof books, pillow and blanket for naps (hopefully), childrens CD's, any other toys they like, dinosaurs, cars, stuffed animals, etc. Anything that will keep their attention at home and not make a huge mess in the car.

 

[brymolmom]

How about borrowing a portable DVD player? That doesn't hurt the budget! Or just some CD's to listen to - we borrowed some Wiggles and Winnie the Pooh CD's from the library and the kids LOVE listening to them in the car.

Also - You could try the 'color wonder' markers - they only color on special paper. And markers are a lot more difficult to eat than crayons! Or - let's put it this way- I doubt they'd eat them more than once or twice until they figured out how horrible they taste!

Something that worked for my kids were dollar store picture albums that I'd fill with old 'unused' pictures. That would occupy them for awhile - flipping through and pointing to everyone and saying their names.

Other than that - just new things that they haven't seen before. I got a bunch of dollar store stuff and pulled it out periodically - one thing that got a lot of use were the plastic slinky things you can get at Dollar Store - got one for each of my kids and my son played with that thing for a couple of hours in the car.

 

[bartleby1]

The mini-aquadoodle mats are great for little ones. They come with pictures of sesame street, thomas the train, winnie the pooh, and princesses. There might be more, but those are what I have seen. You fill the pen with water so it doesn't make a mess. I keep these with me in the diaper bag in ziploc bags all the time. The kids color the pictures with the water pen and when the pictures dry, they are ready to be colored again.

My kids liked to play with almost empty water bottles at that age. We discovered that out of desperation when we ran out of things to occupy my DS one year. DH handed him a bottle of water that he had been drinking and DS loved it. He shook it, banged it, squished it, probably chewed it, lol! This was the same trip that we handed him the AAA map to play with from each state that we went through on the way home. He shredded them into a million pieces but it kept him entertained for quite a while.

I have also brought a large tupperware bowl full of little people stuff or match box cars. Pick a bowl that is the right size to fit in their lap in the carseat. This way they can play with them in the bowl and not so much goes on the floor (unless they dump the bowl, lol). A cookie sheet with magnets usually entertains them for quite a while. Just be sure that you choose large magnets if your kids still eat things. We used disney character magnets from previous trips last time but you could probably use any magnets you have on your fridge or ABC magnets.

We did a lot of singing kids songs and disney songs on the ride and I usually bring a beach ball for them to play with at rest stops (blows up quickly and takes up little space).

Will they do stickers without eating them? Maybe you could find a sheet or two of the large stickers with characters on them? Even if you only gave them one large sticker they would probably like pulling it on and off their shirt or pants. My 18 month old loves to peel stickers off the sheets and stick them on a piece of paper, or her clothes.

HTH!

 

[StitchandPooh'sMom]

We also do a lot of singing, especially songs with hand motions (Wheels on the Bus, Itsy Bitsy Spider) - it keeps them busy and also lets them move around a lot. We do have a DVD in the car, which helps immensely, but they don't want to watch TV the whole time.

We usually bring the magnetic playboards (by Smethport) - we buy them at Toys R Us or our local toy store. They have Thomas, Strawberry Shortcake, My Little Pony, Dinosaurs, etc. Colorforms are good too if they won't eat them.

One thing I bought today was a tape measure with an animal face on it (two actually, a giraffe and an elephant). For some reason, my kids love to take the tape measure out of my purse and measure the windows, the seats, each other, etc! I am saving them until our next car trip!

I also go to the party store to pick up little games or toys that they haven't seen yet. The Dollar Tree is great for that too!

 

[Contrariwise]

What works for us:

Veggitales Silly Songs CD's- entertaining for the tots and not too mind numbing for the parents! Some are really clever.

Lauri Puzzles/lacers/stackers.

Noise/busy boxes- something small with a lot of different buttons to push. Or the books with the side bar of buttons to push.

Window Art stickers.

As someone else mentioned- matchbox cars. We get a whole bag of new ones and hand them out as soon as the old one is tossed aside.

Kids meal toys! You can buy a cheap "lot" on e-bay and hand them out like the cars.

 

[dawnball]

In my big sack 'o stuff I had:
markers (excellent projectile toys)
a coloring book (fun to shred)
maracas
clacker-type musical toys
jingle bells
stickers
a stuffed mickey
a velcro cake to cut apart (with knife)
kid-friendly CDs and books on CD
board books
rubber balls
plastic slinkies
a sack of legos
a sack of foam numbers
a sack of foam letters
enough snacks to feed a platoon

and the most important and annoying toy of all. A little tykes keyboard. It played 6 songs from tinny little speakers, or she could bang on individual keys. I hate every song it plays, because with a few unfortunately short interruptions - she pushed the buttons for 10 straight hours. She had no interest in anything else from the giant sack 'o stuff. She'd just fling offerings away and play with that keyboard. No radio was allowed, no CDs. I think if I'd had a passenger who could help she'd have been distracted by temporary tatoos though. Then she could have come home covered from head to toes in tatoos.

 

[pjtm]

what about those "stickers" you use on windows? I think they are called clings? They always have holiday ones. They can put them on and peel away the near the window- if they can reach it! LOL!

 

[Jesussavedme]

Kids songs...Raffi is great to listen and sing too, Laurie Berkner too.

The light up spinning toys they sell at Disney and Disney store. Great for the night time drive. Get that putty and stick up some glow in the dark stars on the ceiling of your vehicle.

Books, some new small toys I bought at a consignment shop, everyone else covered all the other stuff pretty much.

Don't overpack stuff, I did and then was pleasantly surprised at the amount of time my toddler actually spent watching the trucks go by and not needing entertained. (Drove from Florida to Montreal and back again twice, Drove from Florida to Chicago and back)

Have fun!

 

[mommyceratops]

When we did long road trips when my DS was little, I hit the dollar store, watched for sales and WRAPPED it all up. It takes time to unwrap and he loved it! (do take a garbage bag with you though) But the wrapping was the key for him. He got a little surprise about every hour, he couldn't tell time so we fudged a little.

Also I would take a cookie tray and buy magnets he loved that. Hours of fun, used magnets as a surprise too. The tray doubled as a lap tray to play on.

But watch what you spend you could just end up spending as much for a DVD well worth the splurge! Everyone has a peaceful drive.

I always watch for sales for road trip toys. Start in advance and you can get some cool stuff!