~~~HELP-1st time driving..how to entertain almost 3 y.o.

loveysbydesign

I can pinch a penny so hard you can hear it scream
Joined
Dec 30, 2005
We are surprising our kids with a last minute budget trip to WDW. :woohoo:
We leave on June 12th and will drive all day Sat and almost all day Sun. from PA. Same for the drive home the following weekend.
I need ideas for ways to keep my almost 3 y.o. ds occupied!
We've never driven more than 3 hours for a vacation so this will be quite interesting!:rolleyes1
I'm thinking my older 2 (ages 11 and 7) will be ok occupying themselves with their MixMax players, videogames and book reading.

We'll only spend 2 days at the parks(using leftover tix), 1 beach day and 2 relax around the pool days.
 
we just got back from a 20 hr drive and we used a portable dvd player to keep our 3 yo entertained.

Other ideas- color wonder coloring pages (no mess), travel sized magna doodle, stickers and sticker books, lots of snacks, be sure to stop at places where they can get out adn run around a bit every few hrs.

I also had a bag of small toys from the dollar store (mostly disney themed) and I would break them out if she started getting restless.
 
bring a little backpack for each child and fill it with new coloring books and crayons, little snacks and treats,. maybe a new inexpensive toy. Our kids watched movies the entire way...they were 2 1/2 and 5 when we drove and they did great...actually they were better for our 17 hour drive then they are for 3 hour drives..go figure.;)
 
We just got back from a ten hour drive with my one-year-old. I got a lot of board books from the library and whenever he got restless, I would hand him a new book. He might like reading more than most kids, so I don't know if it would work for all kids. He also liked having lots of snacks.
 
Here are some less obvious ones that kept mine busy. We drive every year.

Tape- amazing how fun a whole roll of your own tape can be.
Bubble wrap- he popped and popped for about an hour!
Water- paintbrush thingies - they sell that special pad- you just put some water in the brush and they can paint.
Colorforms- fun on the window.


By the way I strongly suggest doing the BULK of the driving day 1 (we do 12 the first day and then just 4 the second) the kids will not want to get back in the car day 2 shorter the better! We also leave at the CRACK actually before the Crack of dawn! We pile them into the car at 3AM- that way we stop early- go out to eat. Swim- and get into bed early. Hit the road early am- and we are at disney before lunch.
Good luck and we've done it many times with all ages of kids (they are now 5, 7, 12, and 16. I am thinking this will be the easiest yet) Did I just jinx myself?

Oh and my other tip! REDBOX!! I got 6 new movies for the dvd player for $6 we just dropped them off when we stopped for the night (I used their website to make sure there was a location near our hotel and there was one right next door!)
 
We came home yesterday from our 24 hour trip from Boston MA. I have 3 kids who are 4,6 and 9. We brought movies, coloring books, toys, white boards, Ipods(touch and nano), the DS and other small things to entertain them.......it was all a complete waste of space.

We left at midnight to head down there so they slept for the first 8 hours. After that talking and watching out the window was all they wanted to do. Plus we stopped to eat and get snacks. they went in and out of sleep for the whole trip. Well the trip down they did watch a few movies. We arrived on international drive at 10pm...so it was a 22 hour trip. We checked into the Comfort inn that night and then checked into our Disney resort at 7am the next morning.
Coming home we left Disney at 11pm. Again they slept the first 10 hours(they were tired, lol). They weren't interested in movies or anything. They went in and out of sleep.

Honestly I thought the trip would be horrendous, it wasn't that bad at all. I woulddrive again. But next time I think I would leave at 8 or 9pm so taht we weren't driving 2 nights in arow. It would be one over night and then arrive in the day light.

Luckily the drive can be done in one day....I wouldn't split it up.
 
We drive 1100 from STL with the camper. We learned quickly that rest stops are your best friends to burn energy. Bring a kick ball or an outdoor toy they like. We would eat snacks /lunch/dinner and run them 15-20 minutes. Helps take of the pent up energy.
 


here are a few things I started when my DD was 3 and well still do and she is now almost 17...lol

I pack a travel toy box. It is full of coloring books, colored pencils, or even better the crayola magic colors that are markers that only appear on the special paper! Hand held games, and a notebook of plain paper for drawing and playing tic tac toe etc.
DVD player...of course bring a favorite DVD but also borrow a couple of never seen before ones from friends, co-workers, family etc.
Have secret snacks and treats for along the trip. About every 100 miles get the bag out and let the kids have a special snack or a new travel game that you picked up before the trip.
Dont make the kids go to be early the night before. I knwo this goes against everything everyone else will tell you BUT here is my thinking. They are always so excited that they dont sleep well anyway...and if they are tired in the car...best bet is that they are going to take a good nap. You may get a solid 2-4 hours which is alot of road you can cover.
(this no longer applies to us but just a heads up...Allow for plenty of bathroom breaks. I assume she is either potty trianed or at least in the process. Plan for accidents, even if she is outta diapers and pullups might wanna allow her to wear them in the car just in case you are stuck in traffic or not close enough to a rest area, or a good part of town in which to stop.
When you stop for the night...stop early enough for a dip in the pool to unwind and relax. This is for EVERYONE....
Just enjoy your trip...driving there and back is part of the fun!
 
For a 3yo, you can get a covered metal cake pan, and put different magnet toys in it (letters, stuff you make yourself, etc.)
Also, this age loves something like a Magnadoodle, or one of those faces with iron filings in it that you arrange like "hair".
Will you be sitting with your LO, or will siblings? Consider this carefully, because someone will end up *entertaining* LO at some point . . . and older kids may not want to if busy with electronics.
You can make up a picture list of things for him to look for along the way. Make up a different list for each day, maybe. Different kinds of cars, different road signs, different animals, etc.
A felt or flannelgraph type of idea would work, if he likes making pictures with shapes . . . or you could make shapes with construction paper, contact paper and magnets to include in the cake pan.
Also, we found punching balloons are better than regular balloons (they don't pop against hotel ceilings) and better than regular balls (they don't knock things over as easily), and they can also be inflated, deflated and re-inflated.
Here are a couple of sites for other ideas:http://www.momsminivan.com/toddlers.html http://fun.familyeducation.com/travel-games/activities/58040.html
 
What we use to do is put a sign at the truck that said honk and wave at kids please, youd be surprised how many people loved to honk and waive at us. we had a blast. Then we discussed the different type of car, ie truck, bus, car, and the colors. It is alot of talking on your part, but is pretty exciting for younger kids.

Also thanks for this thread, we are considering driving down from pa, and i have a 4 year old girl with add/adhd
 
What we use to do is put a sign at the truck that said honk and wave at kids please, youd be surprised how many people loved to honk and waive at us. we had a blast. Then we discussed the different type of car, ie truck, bus, car, and the colors. It is alot of talking on your part, but is pretty exciting for younger kids.

Also thanks for this thread, we are considering driving down from pa, and i have a 4 year old girl with add/adhd

Although it's a cute idea I don't think it's a safe on while driving on a highway. You don;t really want people looking around to see where the honking is coming from. Especially through the Carolinas and Georgia where people are doing 80mph. And all the big trucks through there...it's already dangerous.
 
You know whats horrible I didnt even think about that. It was something we did as kids, so I really have to have a talk with my parents, haha
 
Gotta copy down all the suggestions from everyone here and gather my goodies!
We leave in 11 days!
 
We drive Minneapolis to Chicago with DS (who is just now 3) quite a bit. These suggestions are great. Another thing DS loves is to play with Daddy's iPhone - may not be an option for you, but DH has downloaded some toddler apps on the phone, and DS is very good with doing the puzzles and other games (if you go this route, let the toddler practice while out of the car so you can help them out at first). DS is now a whiz with it - can lauch his own games, etc.

Bandaids are fun for DS to play with too - I buy them at the dollar store.

We also do lots of songs. Old MacDonald, Wheels on the Bus, ABCs, ...

When we have DNiece and DNephew (who are a bit older) in the car too, we play the alphabet game (you look at the signs, license plates, etc. and find the letters A - Z and call out what you find. First to Z wins.) DS loves to listen in, and rattle off random letters - he's a little young to truly play, but it keeps him entertained for a bit.
 
We are surprising our kids with a last minute budget trip to WDW. :woohoo:
We leave on June 12th and will drive all day Sat and almost all day Sun. from PA. Same for the drive home the following weekend.
I need ideas for ways to keep my almost 3 y.o. ds occupied!
We've never driven more than 3 hours for a vacation so this will be quite interesting!:rolleyes1
I'm thinking my older 2 (ages 11 and 7) will be ok occupying themselves with their MixMax players, videogames and book reading.

We'll only spend 2 days at the parks(using leftover tix), 1 beach day and 2 relax around the pool days.

best thing you can do is go to walmart and pick up a few little toys and new books or animals or something. If you can swing it I highly suggest getting a portable dvd player and renting 'new' dvd's of barney or mickey mouse cartoons from your library or if you have a laptop use that even if you dont plan on using it for the trip you can pack it away after the ride is over.
 

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