rest stop entertainment ideas

[MotherofLandon]

We drive, everywhere. Our trip to Disney will take about 12 hours. I want to put together a little bag of activities to use at rest stops to help the kids (3 and 11) stretch their legs. I'm thinking bubbles, frisbee, ... hmmm

Anyone else have any good ideas?

Thanks!!

 

[Chelley00]

We always keep a soccer ball, frisbee and the little bouncy balls in our car on road trips.

 

[chekhovgirl]

I've been known to travel with mini kick scooters and find a quiet corner of a parking lot

 

[chekhovgirl]

And we have a small car!

 

[MSSANDRA]

We have taken balls plenty of times. A frisbee is good and bubbles are great. We sometimes pack a picnic and sometimes we have went through a drive through an exit or two before and had a picnic with fast food. Just watch your little one closely as there can be quite a bit of traffic at these stops. Something else we have done is stop at a mall that is right off the road. We will grab food court lunch or dinner and many times there is an entertainment activity right there (wall climb, merry-go-round etc), or we might wonder in a store or two and let the kids get a ice cream or cookie or candy purchase to take with us. We only do either of these things when we are in no hurry or just taking a road trip. When we are trying to reach a destination....we drive with very few and very short breaks and we found that even the 7 year old does fine. We drive 8 hours to family about once a month and we do one 5 minute do it all break. Does not work for everyone but it does for us.

 

[worm761]

Jump rope doesn't take up much room either.

We drive too. We have done a soccer ball, hula hoop, bubbles, etc. We pack lunches and snacks to help save on the cost too.

 

[disneyandme]

Jump rope or skip it.

 

[bigbabyblues]

We always have a soccer ball or three in the car. My DH and boys are interested on Geocaching, and DH finds where a cache is located at different rest areas along the way. They have fun looking for them, and it is a way to stretch legs for a bit.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

Rest areas in Southern IL all have playgrounds. We love that. Wish it were more common!!

With that in mind though, hit the play area at McDonalds or even check to see if there are parks near the interstate

 

[chris31997]

Exercises like running, jumping jacks, wall push ups, standing streches. Everyone does it.

Camera for pics. It might help to have a list of things the kids need to get a pic of.

Check out the maps. Where are you, where have you been, how much further do you have to go?

We always stop at State lines. God place to get "a little school" in. Find info about the differant states out like state bird, motto, fruit, etc....

 

[pixiemama91]

Rest areas in Southern IL all have playgrounds. We love that. Wish it were more common!! With that in mind though, hit the play area at McDonalds or even check to see if there are parks near the interstate

I wish more rest stops had playgrounds as well. That is so cool.

I second the idea of seeing if there is a playground near an exit or you could check to see if there is a state park or something similar that you could stop have a picnic and go on a mini hike.

 

[lovetogowdw]

There are several apps out there that provide information (including the availability of a playground at each named restaurant like Burger King, McD's, Chick-Fil-a, etc.) that might be of use to you. We use iExit's "family friendly" feature.

Also, there are several books out there that provide road trip advice for specific highways. Check out the "Kids Love __" and the "Along ___" books. We've found some great little interesting/educational stops that were well worth the 5-10 minutes extra spent near exits. If you can take a walk around a historic battlefield, then exercise and history/geography lesson in one!

 

[Lilliputian]

We like those guns that shoot foam disks. The kids have a battle, and the disks go off in all different directions, so there's a lot of running around to pick them up.

A few pieces of chalk for drawing hop scotch is good, too.

 

[DCbride]

I second stopping at a park instead of a rest stop. We have driven every summer since DD was 2. This summer she really needed a run around break. We were near Fayetteville, NC. I googled parks and found this one

Christina Smith Park
500 Fisher Street [ map ]
This park is co-located with JS Spivey Recreation Center at Walker-Spivey School. On 15 acres of property, this facility has become very popular for large group functions. There are a variety of activities available at the park, the newest of which is the Splash Pad, a unique water feature that adds to the neighborhood and the events held there.

It was free and she was able to run and get wet at the splash pad. Everyone was refreshed and it was definitely a great free way to cool off while burning energy. If you find a few parks along the way before you go you could plan your stops around parks instead of rest areas. (and yes there were restrooms)

 

[North of Mouse]

We drive, everywhere. Our trip to Disney will take about 12 hours. I want to put together a little bag of activities to use at rest stops to help the kids (3 and 11) stretch their legs. I'm thinking bubbles, frisbee, ... hmmm

Anyone else have any good ideas?

Thanks!!

When my son was 4, he & I took a long trip on interstates to my sisters home.

I took a ball and at each rest area he & I played ball together. We each got lots of stretching exercise and I didn't have to look 'stupid' running and playing to get my 'stretchies'!! Plus, we had lots of fun together!