I am leaving in the morning for a 700 mile trip with my 3 boys. I need some ideas for things to do in the car. I have a game boy advance that plays cartoons, new coloring books/crayons, pipe cleaner to play with and that is about it so far.

Any other suggestions?

By Emily7 on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 04:06 pm:

We always had our own tape player, well I guess now it would be CD player, so we could listen to our owmn type of music.

By Children03 on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 07:09 pm:

What about a magna doodle for drawing, books to look at, take some snacks for them, pick out some of their favorite music to take a long with you.

By Colette on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 08:08 pm:

I would stop and get stories on tape or cd for them to listen to on the way. Lots of snacks, maybe give each child a bag with stuff in it to keep them busy.

By Bellajoe on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 08:39 pm:

We travel in the car a lot with our kids, most of my brothers and sisters live at least 4 hours away. We bought a small t.v. that has a car adapter. Our kids watch videos on the way to where we are going. Of course this purchase is only really worth it if you travel often.

If your kids have Leap Pads, those are great for in the car.

I also have a special bag of toys that they only use on long car trips. We only go on these trips 3 or 4 times a year (sometimes more) so the toys are practically new to them every time!

For your oldest if he/she starts saying they are board you can play games like 20 questions--you think of something and they have to ask only yes or no questions to figure out what you are thinking of. I spy is always an easy one. With my dd who is just learning what sounds the letters make we do an alphabet game. Starting with A-Z and just name something that begins with that letter going back and forth between you. A is for Apple, B is for Balloon etc.

For your younger ones you can tell them "i am thinking of an animal that says Moo" and let them guess what it is. Or I am thinking of a bright yellow circle in the sky...etc.

Last weekend we drove 7 hours in the car, and today we drove 3 hours, so if I think of something else we did to pass the time, i will let you know.

By Kaye on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 08:49 pm:

We travel by car quite a bit. I do not suggest a tv, if you can avoid it. Yes it helps, but you really miss out on teaching them how to entertain themselves. First I pack snacks and drinks, when mine get grumpy it usually means they are hungry! Pack small drinks, with big cups you have to stop a lot more! My middle child drinks whatever he has, be it 4 ounces or 20 ounces, I always let them have 2 if they are still thirsty So for entertainment, music, books on tape, etc. Pack a variety, some of their music, some music you like that is okay for them to listen to, also some sing alongs. We love to all sing to Grease. I also keep a christmas cd in the car because we all know the words..LOL. I pack colored pencils (they don't melt or write on the seats), coloring books, mazes, etc. Also I pack each child a small bag of toys, power rangers for my youngest, pokemon figures for one, and polly pockets for the other. The other advice is go as long as you can the first day instead of spliting it even. Our trip was 16 hours, so we did 10 the first day and 6 the second. The second day is always the toughest!

By Coopaveryben on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 10:14 pm:

Thanks to everyone.

I guess I will go see if I can buy us some new CD's....we have a lot of CD's but I am so sick of hearing them I could scream. I like the Christmas music idea. I also like the books on tape idea. We are reading Huck Finn and I think I will take that along and finish reading it the oldest.

We went and got them some Magna Doodles. My oldest has a leap pad but he only has two books....they are so stinking expensive.

I agree with you Kaye, I think I will try to go about 8 hours tommorrow and the last 4 on Tuesday.

Thanks to everyone!

By Texannie on Sunday, June 20, 2004 - 11:18 pm:

We have a tv, but we also do other things, so our kids know how to entertain themselves. It's just like at home..sometimes they watch tv, sometimes they read, sometimes they work puzzles ect...I don't see a car trip as any different.
Magna doodle is great. so is gameboy. coloring books. books on tape are great for the whole family.
If you are going on a long trip, I don't think you should discount anything that keeps them entertained.

By Amyk on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 06:42 am:

Do a search for "car trip games" online - looks like there are some good ideas. Have a safe trip!

Amy

By Children03 on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 07:00 am:

I was totally against having a t.v. put in my van a few years back when we first bought it, but after having 3 girls and listening to the whining in the car we decided a few weeks ago to give in and have a dvd player installed. We took a trip to Disney World a few days later (8 hour trip) and I must say my girls didn't make a peep the entire way down there. They love it and we love it!!!!!

By Bellajoe on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 07:59 am:

The t.v. is the way to go. Of course they don't watch it for the entire 4 hours, they entertain themselves too. It really makes it alot easier for you and for them, it makes the time go by. You can also get them headphones so you don't have to listen to the movie the whole time .

By Jackie on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 08:53 am:

We do the tv/vcr thing, it is a blessing.. That is if you have those great children who never complain.. LOL
My kids also have art stuff as well, crayons, colored pencils etc.. so after each movie they watch I make them do something else.. We go and do the all through the car ride, switch activities back and forth.

By Conni on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 09:05 am:

Well, we are the evil parents that have TV/DVD player in the car. Our kids actually do entertain themselves here at home without watching much tv at all. And after we arrive at our vacation destination they barely watch TV at all because we are so busy entertaining ourselves. So we dont see this as a negative at all to be able to watch a movie while riding down the road. We do travel ALOT on long trips in the car. We actually have an extra TV screen that we mount in the very back seat and we plug the gamecube (again horrible parents!lol) in to that, so if someone is watching a movie, someone else can be playing the gamecube. We do take headphones in case dh and I dont want to hear the movie-- but we usually all watch it as a family driving down the road and laugh and talk about it.

My boys are BIG readers, so they always take some books they are reading. (if you are traveling at night like we often do--they can still take the books and read while at your vacation spot.

Like many others have mentioned--They also have their own CD players and listen to books on tape or music. My oldest (12 yo today) fell in love with my MP3 player on the 15 hr drive home from Florida last month. I use it when I jog. Now he thinks he needs one.

Pillows and blankets are a must. My kids sleep alot in the car--well like I said we do travel at night.

We always pack a cooler with fruit/crackers/drinks. We do not take any more snacks than this, as we dont want alot of food in our cars, dont want the kids stuffed with snacks when its time to stop and eat a meal, etc...

My 4yo always takes a baggy with lego's or cars, his Powertouch reader, and he listens to music alot.

The older boys will take a deck of cards.

Hope you have a great trip!!

By Mommierenee on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 09:52 am:

We moved & had all 3 children and us in the front of a huge moving truck for a 20 hour trip!!! We slept 3 nights along the way in hotels, as we could not hold up for too many hours with all of us in there!!! It was QUITE a trip. I bought a lot of little toys from Wal-Mart just before we left. New books, one new leap pad book, and a couple of kiddie cd sing alongs! What was good about it was that they knew they had new toys that they'd never played with before so it made it more exciting for them. I got 1 or 2 at a time each time we stopped for gas or whatever & switched them out.
Oh, I just noticed that you are probably gone already! Oh well, maybe someone else can benefit from my ideas! LOL

By Vicki on Monday, June 21, 2004 - 02:19 pm:

I agree that the TV, DVD in the car is the best thing that was ever invented!! There are plenty of other times that kids can learn to entertain themselves IMO.... on a long car ride when everyone is crammed together and no one is having fun is not one of them!! LOL