Long car trips

[latebloomer]

We're planning a long car trip later this summer--our first really long trip. We'll be travelling about 700 miles to a family wedding. We plan to take a couple of days to get there, then a few days in a hotel. Any good suggestions for keeping a 5-year-old boy happy in the car?

I found a child's lap/craft desk that has a rim and pockets for holding crayons etc. It fits just right over his car seat. Anyone have any ideas besides cds/dvds, lots of stops, lots of non-messy snacks?

 

[Neenie1]

How many kilometres is that?

I remember a long (8 hour) road trip that dh and I took when our ds was 3. He was entertained for a long time with a pair of child safety scissors and an old newspaper LOL. Yes there was newspaper all over the back seat, but he was quiet for most of the way. Yes he helped pack up some of the newspaper the next day after arriving at our destination.

 

[MyaShane]

One thing we found for a long car ride were washable, non-toxic makers that worked on glass. My girls had a ball drawing on each of their windows and it cleaned right off. They also can spend a huge amount of time on those books that have pages of stickers at the back that you have to then find where each sticker belongs in the book; they love those.

 

[overit]

Dvd, crayons, snacks, gameboys lol.....not much to suggest. Google for some car trip game ideas you can play with him.Also, give up the front seat and sit with him in the back for a while in spurts...keeps him happy and busy then all "alone" back there lol.Careful with reading, books....they can cause car sickness in the back seats especially.....so keep the reading times short with breaks in between.

 

[£amb]

There are many ways to entertain kids in the car and some ideas will include yourself as well....

I used to play ISPY with the kids, and it would keep them interested on their surroundings for awhile. Make sure you only do this for a short while so you don't lose their interest. If you do it too long, they may not want to play it at a later time.

If you don't mind alittle mess in the car, bring along magazines and scissors. Once again, make it a game and have them cut out only the things you name off. They will take time to look for the picture and cut it out. Also, have a notebook that he/she can make their own drawings. You can point something out on the road, and see if they can draw it.

Another thing I did was bring along a CD with songs your child may know. I would sing in wacky voices and have them do it too.

Bring along a few inexpensive toys (like from the $1 store) that they haven't played with and give a toy/item out throughout the trip. The "newness" of the item will keep their interest for a bit.

Just a few of my ideas.... Good Luck!!!

 

[NotHardcore]

I'm not a parent, but I went on a few long car trips when I was younger. I strongly suggest having some easily accessible bags/buckets in case he gets carsick. When I was little, the long car rides would really get to me. Having saltines, ginger ale, and water on hand could also be good. When you stop off to get food or pack food for the trip, give him things that will be easy on his tummy.

I know this was all about carsickness, but I figured it was worth mentioning because he'll be miserable if he gets sick (I know I was).

 

[lucypevensie]

A colorful kid-friendly map or road atlas? He can follow along and know where you are on the map.

Alphabet hunt. Have him look out the windows and look for all the letters of the alphabet on signs, license plates, etc.

20 questions. This has been our kids favorite travel game for years. They still like trying to guess the animal I'm thinking of.

The Spongebob game. List all the Spongebob episodes you can think of. Kinda silly, but it takes up lots of time. Our kids love this one.

Art supplies. Markers might be better than crayons this time of the year. They melt pretty fast if one should get lost or if you forget to take them out before parking for any length of time in the sun.

Sticker books, flash cards, those travel bingo games, toy cars, beanie babies.

We travel across Wisconsin several times a year and these are some favorite activities of our kids. We did get a travel DVD player but they'd rather play games than watch movies. They are used to entertaining themselves. The do like their own music. DD has an iPod and DS has a CD player. They both have their own Nintendo DS Lite.

 

[immersedingrace]

Try this site, plenty of activities, printouts, ideas. As does this site. This one has links to various sites for activities. At the bottom of this page, there is a link for activities. And one last page that sells activity kits.

If your son has a favorite character (Clifford the Big Red Dog; Dora, etc) see if there is a travel kit that includes him/her. When my godson was little (turns 17 tomorrow) i bought him a Clifford travel bag with crayons, activity book, and story. If you can't find a kit already made up, make one up and use that when things get particularly rowdy as a treat. If you can find "read - long" books on CD (or tape) get a couple of his favorites so that you won't neccessarily have to read it to him (I get car sick if I read in the car so LOVE those read along books) and don't forget to get one or two of your favorite books on CD as well (maybe at your library or at a Cracker Barrel - they have a program of some sort) for when he's sleeping! You may also get a longer book on CD that may be new to him that might keep him entertained due to it's novelty.

My nephew particularly loved when I read him a bed time story but loved it more when I made up a story about him (he's 5,...whoa, just turned 6). The story wasn't particularly good but because I used HIS name in it, he loved it. He wanted me to keep going after about 30 minutes of a really, really, really bad story line.

Anyway, have fun and don't forget his "lovey" if he has one! THAT can ruin a trip in no time!

 

[Assisi]

My dad (a mathematician) used to get me to do calculations every time we passed a road sign. I don't recommend that.

'If we have 560km to go and we're travelling at 70km/hr how long 'til we get there?' Too long!

 

[GolfingMom]

We've done a few longer car rides (but not 700 miles) and found a few things that work well.
New books (none they've seen or had) given to them one at a time every so often during the trip so not all at once.
New toys - same things as books...a little car, motorcycle, helicopter etc given to them every few hours.
Books on tape.
New music CD with loud, upbeat adult music. This keeps DH and I from losing it too.
Snacks.
And we try to leave either right before their nap time or somehow incorporate their naps/bedtime into our driving.
We've never done electronic toys yet. We are traveling a longer trip this autumn and *might* get them a gameboy but we'd like to stay away from that if we can.

 

[bliz]

On the first day of the trip, pack the car the night before and let your son stay up later than usual. In the morning, slip him in his pj's into his car seat while it is still dark and get in several hours of serious drive time before he wakes up. Making a lot of progress the first day makes it easier to make extra stops etc. at stops on later days.

When you do stop, try and get some exercise in. Playing catch, walking a long distance, doing jumping jacks etc. Avoid high sugar snacks - that'll just give him extra energy and no way to use it up!

 

[Birbitt]

I have a few suggestions and not just for activities.
Activities:
how about a car bingo game...you can get ones with little windows to slide that he can mark off when he finds them, also if you give him a chart with pictures of all the states license plates you can have him see how many different states he can find. Play the alphabet game everyone in the car tries to find words on signs (or just the letters) that start with each letter in order the first one to Z wins. Also coloring books, songs (google travel songs and you'll get some great ones), dvd's, and when ever you stop try to do it at travel centers where the kids can get some free literature (they may not be able to read it but it makes them feel special) and run around a bit.

Convenience:
try to bring along some cups with non spill tops so you have a steady supply of juice and some easy to munch snacks (we like cheerio's, carrots, celery, veggie crisps, and crackers), Also when we travel we use pull ups on our boys (many children may not like this but sometimes will give in when you explain that we will be on a long trip and sometimes may not be able to stop right away when you have to go) to avoid accidents in the car seat (which will make the rest of the day uncomfortable). Also try to start early and stop early...(we usually travel from 5 0r 6 am to 4 or 5 pm) We start our day in jammies and stop at a rest stop just before breakfast time to change and then we go eat breakfast somewhere.

 

[latebloomer]

Thank you, everyone, for the suggestions. Some I had thought of, many I had not. If he were a little older, I'd teach him "Minister's Cat" or "I'm going to California and I'm taking a ..." First person starts with an A item, next says the A and a B, until you get to the end of the alphabet and have to remember all 26 items. I will have to check the dollar store and the library. We're also looking at the map for interesting stops along the way.

 

[FollowHisPath]

Do you have a portable DVD player and any kid dvds( aproprite for his age?) if so take that along but be sure to take the car charger and the regul;ar charger becuse those things die withen 3 hours dependeng on what kind you have.

coloring books and cryons would allso be good if he is into that

 

[lucypevensie]

I just thought of another traveling trick. If he's anything like our kids he'll ask a lot of "When are we going to be there, how much further, how many more miles....etc..." questions. These questions get old and annoying. We've made it into a sort-of game. They can ask the question only if the are looking out the window and are seeing a McDonalds restaurant sign. This does 2 things - it really does cut down on that question a lot, and it encourages them to look out the window.

Kind of a silly thing, but it really is a sanity saver for us.

 

[latebloomer]

He notices a lot of things looking out the windows when we go on shorter trips. If we can't find a travel Bingo, we'll have to make up things for him to look for. And Daddy's figuring out how the new portable DVD player works. I figure we'll have 2 coolers--one for snacks and one for DVDs. Maybe counting games--counting blue trucks or red cars or how many fields have cows or horses.

 

[TCat]

My parents would take us on long car trips every summer. I remember my mom having small suprise bags for each day.

One in the morning and one after lunch, each would have some car game like animal rummy or go fish cards, a special snack, a book or hand held game etc. Half the fun was the suprise about what might be in the bag.

My very favorite car game was playing Name That Tune, still is..

 

[Robinsegg]

Some ideas:
1. Put a towel down on the seat under his seat. This will make clean-up (from crumbs or crafts, etc) easier.
2. You can get small "magna doodles" from walmart fairly cheaply.
3. Make him a map that shows how far you're going and different cities (that will be listed or where you might stop) along the way. This allows you to tell them precisely where you are (we're halfway between city a and city b). Works wonders for our kids!
4. There are lots of card game types available at the dollar stores just now.
5. Punching balloons are great for roadway stops and hotel rooms. They don't pop as easily as a balloon, they don't knock things over as easily as a ball, and they can be deflated and reinflated many times. 3-pack is $1 at dollar tree.
6. Stop for meals when possible. Getting up and moving around instead of sitting in the car can really help with the extra energy.
7. Adventures in Oddessey (by Focus on the Family) are great audio stories (usually available on CD at your local Christian bookstore) the entire family can enjoy. 12 half-hour episodes are generally between $25 and $30. Listen to half there and half back. (Our kids are 5 & 8 and have enjoyed these for a couple of years now.)
8. Use tv sparingly, for when he's especially tired, it's dark outside (and in the car), or other specific times. Watching tv while sitting still will get old surprisingly quickly!
9. Find coloring pages that will increase his education. Whatever he's interested in, just google "coloring pages" and that interest, and you'll find some stuff.
10. Give him toys that attach to one another or have magnets or something . . . it's annoying for everyone to have to stop the car to find "that piece" that bounced underneath a seat.
11. Gas station plastic cups (like QuickTrip) work well for the above-mentioned cups with lids. Just start with something from the station, then refill later with drinks from home.
12. A gallon or so of tapwater from home will work well to rinse cups when changing drinks.
13. Remember that salty snacks means drinking, and drinking means potty breaks. Use them sparingly.
14. Take sandwich bags to put all manner of things in: toy pieces, leftover food (for later or until you can find a trash can), wet wipes, etc.
15. Get a few sets of magnetic alphabet . . . and a cookie sheet or cake pan. The magnets stick to the pan.

I hope something in here helps!
Rachel

 

[Dogbean]

We're planning a long car trip later this summer--our first really long trip. We'll be travelling about 700 miles to a family wedding. We plan to take a couple of days to get there, then a few days in a hotel. Any good suggestions for keeping a 5-year-old boy happy in the car?

I found a child's lap/craft desk that has a rim and pockets for holding crayons etc. It fits just right over his car seat. Anyone have any ideas besides cds/dvds, lots of stops, lots of non-messy snacks?

at that age they are ready for a Nintendo Game Boy Advance, or even a Nintendo DS. there are lots of educational and brain boosting games for them to play on there, so don't worry about mindless video games.