what to do

[kim5678]

My daughter loves those games that just plug into the tv and can be used with a portable dvd player. She has wheel of fortune and dream life and she loves them, keeps her busy

 

[Whosemom]

We have Mommy's Magic Bag that I pack full of what we call State Line Treats. Every time we cross a state line, I pull out something. A dollar store toy, a bag of chips, whatever. At the Florida line they got Disney Tshirts. Then at WDW I got to sneak off and refill the bag for the trip home

Maybe not so much for OP with 3 boys, but WOW we got some serious mileage out of Polly Pockets.

 

[LaraK]

I took my kids to see my mom in Indiana by myself last summer. I thought it would be horrible...the DVD was a lifesaver. I also kept a crate of other things on the passenger seat to toss over my shoulder at them as I drove. The things that held their attention were:
The doodle pro (magnetic drawing boards)
Mini-princess I picked up at the Disney store for DD
Cars for DS
Books that made noise when you pushed the buttons

One tip...make sure if you bring a movie it will not drive you nuts...after 4 hours of Superfriends I was ready to jump out of the window. I also took my i-pod and loaded a couple of comedy albums on it....I put one ear piece in and left the other piece out. The comedy kept me engaged and I didn't get tired.

 

[margiemc]

We have driven down 6 out of the last 7 trips. Nintendo DS or Gameboys, Discman (or Mixsticks) are good too. We have a portable DVD that we are bringing. It really is a lifesaver. If you're kids are old enough, they could use the headphones with the DVD player so you don't have to listen to all their movies. I picked up some previewed DVD's at Blockbuster of some new movies DD9 hasn't seen yet. I usually don't pack crayons though, because they can melt in the car if it gets too hot. So, I pack colored pencils instead (less messier than markers). New coloring book or drawing pad and definitely pack the snacks. We also play word games in the car and listen to Disney CD's as we get closer.

 

[lg3]

Three words: Portable DVD Player. Do it!!!! You can still hear the radio in front. I would never take a long car trip w/little one without it. Don't forget to recharge the battery too.

 

[pha1226]

I drove alone 13 hrs with my then 3 and 5 yo dds. We have a dvd player in our van, they took Leapsters and I packed each of them an activity bag. Each had coloring books, crayons, colored pencils, notepads, small colorform travel sets, magnadoodles and fruit snacks. I also wrapped some small dollar store presents to give out periodically and had small water bottles and snack bags of pretzels and goldfish.

We're driving to WDW in March and I have a similar plan (except that they've graduated to GameBoys). I look for cheap kids movies on ebay or the pre-viewed ones at Blockbuster to give them something new to watch. I also went to the Disney store where the clearance stuff is now half off the clearance price (and I had a 15% off coupon!). I got them Little Mermaid easels that have white boards and markers and chalk board and chalk. I also got then Fairies art sets with stampers and markers. They had those little activity books with crayons or colored pencils attached (Lilo and Stitch and Heffalump) which are great to throw in a backpack for emergencies (long waits for food, long lines, etc.) It was all so cheap! I've found good stuff in the Target dollar section and toy clearance section too.

They love watching dvds and playing gameboy but my kids do better with a variety of things to keep them occupied. I can't wait!

 

[sahwifeandmommy]

my kids had a 12 hour drive a few weeks ago and the one thing they really enjoyed was books on cd. We had never read any Jigsaw Jones books before but they all loved them. I also read aloud another book-took about 45 min. Between that and their v-smile pockets they did really good especially for their ages.