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Looking for ideas for activities for 7yo a child on a 3-1/2 day car trip


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Friends of mine have been given a car and are going to be driving across the country to bring it home. They have a 7-1/2 year old son who is a good reader and can read in the car without getting sick. He has a Game Boy, and they are looking into rigging up something so he can watch movies. However, that's not enough for 30 hours in the car. He's a bright and creative child, who can finger knit and likes to do stuff with his hands.

 

I've suggested getting him the Bone graphic novels.

 

They're looking for activities, including (hopefully) a few educational ones that are also fun. They were wondering in particular about decks of activity cards (not necessarily quizzes, but those are OK too). Funny, silly, thoughtful, all are good. They're more than willing to play along with him.

 

We would appreciate any ideas.

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Wikki Stix can be fun in the car, if they're looking for some more "hands-on" type activities.

 

My kids also get a lot of use out of lap-desks (the sort with a pillow underneath, and a flat surface for writing) in the car. The sort with a clip (like a clip-board) are particularly nice in the car, 'cause they keep papers from sliding around. Target has some cheap lap desks for kids in the $ section right now ($2.50 each, no clip though)... Then you just need paper and colored pencils, etc. Lap desks are also useful when doing activity books, etc, in the car.

 

If he has a lap desk, origami is another possibility for something to do with his hands.

 

My kids also love to play Hangman in the car. Obviously you can do that with just a paper and pencil, but their grandma gave them this set a few years ago, and that has made it even more fun. :)

 

If he finger knits, does he like to sew at all? My son *loved* using The Cute Book to make little critters to tuck in various nooks and crannies... I gave him the book along with a selection of felt (just the cheap nylon stuff at 20c a sheet) and several colors of embroidery floss and a needle. I would recommend pre-cutting some of the patterns before leaving on the trip, so all that's to be done in the car is sewing and stuffing.

 

DK has a line of "Ultimate Sticker Books" that are also fun in the car.

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Personally, we live on mad libs in the car and make up our own a lot as well.

My children also have sudoku game books but my daughter cannot read in the car or she gets car sick so she can only do those for a time.

 

What about small crafts like friendship bracelets? With a small tray under him those are easy to do, also we use a smalls erving tray and bring along things like clay/playdoh/sketchpads. We also have magnetic doll type cases. Trains, letters, words, figures, silly faces. We love our magnets for traveling but they are easy to make on your own.

 

We also do the obvious of car color quizing, scenery games and license plate notices.

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There are alot of travel sized games available now that work great in the car. I would look into those - since he is an only maybe games like Perfection that can be played by one. If you have a Cracker Barrel nearby, take a visit. They have lots of travel games and activities for all ages available.

 

When my son was 7 he actually loved having his own set of maps and guides for the states we would travel thru. That really helped his understanding of map reading and geography. When we would stop, we would always let him take out his maps and discuss all the possible options. We explained road signs, mile signs, and so on. He loved it!

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When we travel from NC to TX, my guys love to take Zoobs along and make endless creations with them. Sticker books, Leapster games, books on CD, and Dot-to-Dots also are some favorites as well as the classic oral games already mentioned.

 

One new favorite is the game where you say you're going on a trip (we say to Kalamazoo) and will bring something in your suitcase. Each person adds one thing and each person must also recite what everyone else has already mentioned in order before saying their new thing. Keep going till only one person hasn't messed up.

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I agree with all the suggestions for books, crafts, etc. You can also make up your own travel bingo cards of things to look for on the road. (Yellow VW, Firetruck/Ambulance, construction zone, etc.)

 

When I traveled with small children I kept a goodie bag. Simple stuff from the dollar store, such as candy, game pads, toy animals, postcards to send yourself from the road. We put marks on the sidewalls of one the car tires with colored sidewalk chalk and whichever color was lowest at each meal stop was the treat for that stop. Red = run around the car 3 times, blue = treat from goodie bag. Your friends could do whatever variant they like.

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My children just have a switch in their backside that causes them to go to sleep as soon as the car starts moving. :)

 

Seriously, I bet it won't be as bad as they fear. Coloring books, books on tape, word games and simple conversation have helped us make many a long trip. Heck, my older dd can just make up stories and put on finger puppet shows, without puppets!

 

I haven't seen Colorforms mentioned, but we also used to stick those silly things all over the back windows.

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I'd buy a cheap MP3 player. Ours came with free trials for audible and RCA, which meant two free book downloads. Then we found lots of free (legal!) stuff to download--classic stories, old children's records, etc.

:iagree:

 

http://librivox.org has free audio books - volunteers read out-of-copyright books & upload the files.:thumbup1:

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Even cheaper than buying an MP3 player -- many libraries have Playaways, preloaded MP3 players. They are basically like books on tape, you just pop in a battery and your own headphones. They are very small and portable, and we have used them to introduce the kids to books above their reading level.

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