Activities for long car ride needed

[Ninnygunk]

Help! We're traveling from KY with 4 kids (4, 5, 12 & 15). Looking for games, activities to keep them from melting down. We normally leave late at night so they sleep through most of the drive. This year we'll be leaving in the afternoon & are not looking forward to "how much longer?" and "are we there yet?". The older kids enjoy helping the younger kids with games so we are on the hunt for some advice. Thanks!

 

[kksmom92]

When we do the drive from Michigan to Flordia we always make sure we bring lots of books for the kids and the last couple years they brought their leapsters. This year they both got a Sony MP3 player for Christmas and let me say.. that thing has been priceless so far. I went for a 1 1/2 hr drive with the kids (ages 5 & 7) to visit my DH at trucking school and they just chilled in the back seat listening to either their music or the stories I put on there for them. I know when we go in Jan there is NO WAY we will be leaving without them.

 

[Kat&Dom]

My son and I would count Canadian flags on long trips and see who finds the most. It has made me realize that Canadians are actually more patriotic than I first thought and it is quite fun.

Other things that I bring for long car rides are DVD player, DS and sometimes I just encourage him to look at the scenery.

 

[cam&phoebsmom]

last Jan. we drove down from MD and we left early in the morning so we had a full day of in the car. Most likely your olders would be okay with a handheld game system or ipod, so it is probably more of a concern for your younger 2.

We had Color Wonder markers/books/paper and the set had a little clipboard so they had something to work on. I had bought little coloring books and new "look and find" books prior to the trip and would pull out something new each hour. The "Where's Waldo" and "I Spy" books are great and can be borrowed from the library and that way they can switch off books and you are not out any money. You could even pair up the younger/older siblings and have them race to finish a page if you were able to find 2 of the same books at the library.

For my DD who is 4 right now she really likes using dry erase markers. If you get coloring pages and slide them into page protectors the kids can color them and then wipe them off with dry paper towels. I make sure my markers are the washable ones just in case (regualr dry erase markers really stain).

We also had books that included a water pen-you bsically color with th water and the color on the page appeared. Then when they dry you can use them again.

My kdis do not normally get a lot f junk food, so in the car we do get treats on long drives like that. Twizzlers and bags of smartfood are family favorites in the car, alternating with baggies with grapes or carrots.

DVDs are great as well. A lot of times consignment stores have them for cheap so I always check when we are going on along trip so they have something new o watch (along with Disney classics

 

[nchulka]

Get a tube of mini M&M's and eat all the candies Then fill the tubes with quarters, they fit perfectly. Give each child a tube when you get in the car and tell them that every time they complain or ask how much longer or argue with a sibling they have to pay you a quarter. We did this on our 20 hour drive with an 8 & 6 year old and they didn't give up one quarter!

 

[kandb]

Snacks, stuff from the dollar store, I used to buy balloons and a little ballon pump (come in one package) and make balloons and the kids would play with them for a while. Lollipops, got to have lollipops. Have Fun

 

[Disney_1derland]

Do you have pictures from a previous WDW trip? One thing we have done that our kids really love (even the older ones) is to turn some previous trip pics into coloring pages. They love coloring their memories and it gets them excited about the trip. This will keep my 5 and 8 year old entertained for a long time. We always buys some special crayons, like the multi colored twist ups and stuff we don't normally have, which helps to keep it new and exciting.

Our kids love treasure hunts so we do them in the car...I make lists of things they would see along the way and they check them off as they go. When they complete one, they get a prize. A small toy or new book, just something small usually from the $1 store just to keep them interested.

My 5 year old loves to have books read to him so I have recorded some of his favorites onto my mp3 player with me or dh reading them and using the 'turn the page at the tone' and we have a small keyboard I used to make the tone. Now he can read along with me in his actual book while listening to the mp3. Helps to have an older child who can set up the mp3, hand them the book and make sure it's playing, etc.

We also make the sayings "how much longer....are we there yet...is it almost time....etc" off limits but we make it into a game. We give the 'manager' a book of small stickers and a score card with everyone's name on it. The manager counts with a sticker every time someone says an off limits phrase. The person with the least stickers gets a very desirable prize at the end of the trip. Last year it was an extra dessert of their choosing (two of my kids will do ANYTHING for dessert They can try to get around the off limits sayings, but it forces them to be creative and it gets really funny. We laughed a lot at this!

Have them do round table story telling. One kid starts, the next kid adds something, the next kids adds more and so on. You can jump start this by showing them pics from the last trip and they have to base the story off the picture but the story can't be the truth about what's going on in the picture. It must be made up. Again, a great way to keep their minds busy so they don't notice the passing time.

 

[aprilfoolwed]

We did the Color Wonder, DVDs, handheld games, license plate games etc like everyone else mentioned.

We also did the Quarters Game - they all started with $10 in quarters, and havd to give one up every time they asked "are we there yet?" I think 1 kid lost 1 quarter - that's it!

I made the kids their own coloring and activity books with pages printed off the internet. I could tailor them to each kid's likes/dislikes and abilities (more puzzles for the older kids; more coloring for the younger ones).

One of the big things we did was just talk to the kids about how long it was going to take for us to get there. They knew it was going to take a long, long time (20 hours!), so there were no questions about that. For the little guy, we tried to put it in terms he understood (It's much longer than going to Mom-Mom's house - it's longer than driving to the beach, etc).

We also do "state line parties" whenever we cross into a new state. For us, driving from SE Pennsylvania to FL, we hit A LOT of state lines in the early part of our trip. So it gets them psyched up! We would do little things - like have a special snack, or get a little gift when we crossed the border. It also helps teaching them about geography.

I'd also focus on breaking down the trip into smaller pieces. For example, the kids really lose track of time when driving, so it helped them to know that lunchtime was after the watched two videos. Or let the older kids follow the route on maps and tell them "we will stop when we get to certain town, VA."

Books on CD from your library can be great too. Sometimes my kids get tired of the videos, and hearing a story they have never heard before is great for all of them!

I got all sorts of little games/treats for them and would pull out something special whenever someone got cranky.

I also let the kids get treats from vending machines when we stopped. It's something we NEVER do at home, so it was their reward for making it from one rest stop to the next. I figured it was well worth the $1 for a rice krispie treat if it kept them going for another few hours!

 

[Ninnygunk]

Thanks for all of the fantastic ideas! I love them all. Definately going to fill those m&m tubes & get some books on tape. I've never thougth about the "state line" party - brilliant! I'm going to write these all down & start compiling stuff now. Love it!! Ya'll might just save our sanity!!!

 

[Aalsen]

Kids have their psp and nintendo this days, dont they? Hehe

 

[Aalsen]

Oh, and the game that if you see a yellow car, you hit the other one in the scholder. Hmm.. maybe that would be more unpleasent then pleasent in a while

 

[locolala]

Make sure that anything you take would be safe in case of an accident. The general rule of thumb is that if you wouldn't chuck it at your child's head, you shouldn't have it loose in the car. I might be a little bit paranoid, but even for long trips we're very careful about what kind of stuff we have loose in the car.

 

[Ninnygunk]

I never thought of that! There's no telling what will be packed in the van when it's all said & done. The 2 older kids (and the 4 yr old) will have their IPod's. My niece & nephew (4) have DS's and my son has a MobiGo (kinda like a pre-DS). My nephew can play for hours on the IPod or DS but my son doesn't stick with it long (which is good imho). He's one that would rather play with toys or be read to. Should be interesting to see how this car ride plays out!

 

[scrapbookmommy]

We also drive down from KY. I have to say my two 14 & 6 on our last trip done very well. They took their ipods, DVD players and DS's. I also printed off travel games like travel and license plate bingo. I laminated them and then cleaned them up after we got home so they will be able to use them again this year. I made them a goodie bag last year with new coloring books, magazine, snacks, word search books and such but I gave it to them all at once last year. This year I'm making "state line" goodie bags. So each time we cross the next state line they will get a new goodie bag. I picked up Disney playing cards and coloring books so far for those. I think I will pick up the Pinocchio movie to surprise them with. Also I think for each state I will print off some interesting trivia. It will put a little geography and education into the trip. We will go to library to get some books for the trip and DD wants a Nook for her birthday so she will take that also. Something I plan to do for my youngest is to make a map or board and every time we go a hundred miles he places another car onto the map or board. This will help give him a better concept of how far we have went and how much farther we have to go. I know I'm probably in the minority here but I really enjoy the big road trip. It just reminds me of going on vacation when I was a kid. We just have such a good time talking and laughing and sharing our excitement for the trip.

 

[growinupdisney]

On the way down we drive during the night so onec they are in the car we don't hear from them again until we arrive in WDW.

But, on the way home we leave in the morning. My oder kids sleep alot of the way but when they are awake they usually watch DVD, IPOD, PSP, print off trivia sheets

I usually buy a couple of color wonders for DD3, print off cloring pages.

When my dd16 and ds14 were younger(between 8-12) she would get a map out and hightlighted each state we went thru, what time we arrived and left, etc. We like to play the alphabet game too.

 

[monkeybug]

Right now Costco has some great Mickey mouse sticker activity books. We bought them last time we drove and they kept the kids busy for a little bit. They also have some really cool "doodle a day" books. I want to say they are about $7.

 

[monkeybug]

I also love this "Car Bucks" idea and think I'm going to use it on our trip to California.
http://preparednotscared.blogspot.com/2010/06/car-bucks.html

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Get a portable DVD player or a little good bag with color books or toys. That's what we did with our kids when they were little.

Plus they slept a lot.

 

[Arenita]

A dry erase board is great for tic-tac-toe and hangman. And it was also used to write song lyrics, list possible names for a dog and gather orders at Sonic.

(We use it in the room to list the plans for the day and in-room menus. I never go without one.)

I just noticed - 5 months!!!

 

[dsnymomof4]

DVD players are wonderful! They have kept the kids entertained for hours and hours on our many drives down. Also, I always make the kids journals so they can write about their trips and I always include some printed games - like a license plate game - one year we found all but one state - I think it was one of the Dakotas. (Yes, we actually saw and Alaska AND Hawaii)! For the younger ones, I'll print out disney coloring pages and mazes - you can find them on the internet. I also make them goody bags. Sometimes, I'll keep little gifts and give them some presents at certain points of the trip.