4Kiddos Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 We will be moving across the country next month. My husband will drive a Penske that is towing his truck and I will drive our van. It will be two long days of driving, a day off, and then two more long days of driving. Anyway, i wanted to find some toys or activities or coloring books or something that will help my kids with the drive. My six kids are 10 and under. I would really appreciate some suggestions! Has anyone found anything that made the drive easier for your kids? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Colorforms are good ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junie Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 We listen to Adventures in Odyssey on long car trips. Also, we always saved Happy Meal type toys for car trips only. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Targhee Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Audiobooks! Also, a dear friend made up little packages for each of my kids when we moved from AK - one to open on each day of the 5 day trip. They were small things, I don’t even remember what, but that special package made them all the more interesting and cherished. We have done a few big moves and lots of car trips. Some things that help: 1) don’t let them have free access to everything from the beginning. Hold some things in reserve for later in the trip or only certain times in the day (eg my kids couldn’t do screens like iPad or their DS until after 4:00). 2) Pack lots of small snacks - zip baggies are great - to offer at intervals (eg if you’re going to offer Pirate Booty put it into snack baggies or cups instead of passing around the bag). 3) Crayons melt. And break. We used the crayola twistable crayons because they were harder (higher melting point) and you could always twist up fresh crayon instead of peeling off paper). Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caedmyn Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 I've bought paint by sticker books for the last couple of trips for my kids in the 7 to 11 age range. Also dot to dots and Dover little activity books. Audiobooks are good too. Mine watch a fair amount of movies on long road trips. They also like the game Spot It! and those travel bingo-type boards with sliders to cover the found slots. A book with various travel game ideas (like Slug Bug variations, I'm Going to Grandma's, etc) has been used some too. Wikkisticks are good too. Travel size games entertain them but they lose/drop/scatter the pieces everywhere so I no longer bring those on road trips...ymmv with those. The only thing I've found to be helpful for toddlers is lots of snacks. Mine have all been sick of being in a car seat by halfway through the first day and they spend most of the rest of the trip hollering or whining. They also will cry for hours, long past the times they'd normally fall asleep, before sleeping. Then when they wake up they cry for another 30-60 minutes. Hopefully any toddlers you have are better travelers than mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 When travelling with toddlers, I tried to sit back with them and do finger rhymes/read books/use activity books. But it takes a LOT of time. Do you have a responsible older sibling that will be willing to interact? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JessReplanted Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 The last time we moved across the country a friend gave our kids boxes as we were leaving with a bunch of little activity things in them. They thought that was fun. We are moving again soon and I’ve been thinking about audio books we could get. One thing that surprised me last time (and made travel easier) was that everyone was SO exhausted from all of the packing and cleaning and from the anticipation of moving, that we were all actually relieved to finally get in the car and just sit there. Our kids were 4, 5, & 8 at the time and they all did fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Another thing that I used to do for DD was to wrap little treats (snacks, small toys, books etc) to be opened at set points. Having to unwrap both added a little extra time and increased interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Our travel box has these things in it right now: -pipe cleaners -knitting spool -building toy -bingo cards (2 each of license plate, interstate, and road trip) -camera w/memory card & battery fully charged -travel spirograph (has handle and clip ins for the pieces) -clipboard with storage compartment: mathmania book, plain paper, pencils, a pen -Encyclopedia Brown book -picture book -Usborne How To Draw book -Viewmaster & cards -Rubic's cube / Gear Ball -wipe off logic cards I change out the activities at each stop and I have a different, small bag of things to take into the hotel room or restaurant with us: crayons, a mini Lite Brite, conversation cards, felt checker board, a deck of a card game. That way nothing gets stale. And since there's only a selection of about 3 things between stops, I don't have much to gather up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink and Green Mom Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Mine always liked the license plate game - a blank US map so they could color in the state when they saw a plate from that state. We moved from VA to FL when my kids were 11 and 8 - like someone up thread said they were exhausted and emotionally drained by the time we got in the car and drove away. They too were happy to just sit with their own thoughts for quite some time. We also spent a lot of time talking about all the fun things we could do in our new location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Treats from the Dollar Store, only distributed when it's Getting Bad. Homemade Car Bingo Game = a worksheet with a photo or description in each square of the grid. E.g. find a cow, a VW, etc. You can choose things that are easy or hard or specific to your family culture, etc. The game can become perpetual, if they just keep track of how MANY VWs they see, etc. You could give them a fresh grid each day. Ideas from our specific grid: cat, vehicle with more than 5 people inside, crop irrigation rig, police car, Chevy logo, a pink or orange car, water tower, rest area sign, a Harley, the word "Kentucky" on a sign, license plate from one of the 13 original colonies, police car, etc. Also, give each kid a list of the 50 states, to see how many of each state's license plates they see. You could also give them a blank outline map of the U.S. so they can understand how far along on the trip you are. But . . . I would also consider bringing along a Mother's helper who can fly back home when the trip concludes. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Lots and lots of excellent ideas posted! I’m just going to also add my vote for treats at certain times. It works great if it’s something in individual bags or baggies, so they each have a special bag to themselves. Yes, it takes tons of extra time and planning when you’re already exhausted, but it seems to help. My kids at that age also liked those small dry erase boards and markers. Definitely those sticker books from DK were a hit too. Lollipops work for little ones who can have one, as long as it doesn’t leave anyone out who will get mad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Does anyone have a link for those state, license plates, interstate bingo cards? I’ve never used these and they sound great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 I spy bags entertained the girls on many long bus/train trips when they were little. I also made a habit of lugging around an entire library's worth of books with me every time we went somewhere - picture books and a chapter book or two, plus more for anybody who could read on their own. When we took a plane a few times to visit relatives we also brought mazes, connect-the-dots, word searches, coloring pages (the sort with whole pictures and the sort with squiggles where you have to use your imagination to complete the picture), madlibs, colorforms, the Klutz book of paper dolls, pipe cleaners, rory's dice.... And we played a heck of a lot of games. "I'm thinking of a word", which is like I Spy but without having to spy the object and a new hint every round, twenty questions, round robin stories, "secret vocabulary stories" where they had to listen for three vocabulary words and if they heard them they could tickle me but if they didn't I could tickle them, math stories where instead of vocabulary words they're solving integrated math problems (could do both at the same time), alphabetical categories (could skip the alphabetical part for small children), I'm going on a trip.... Listening to audiobooks, kid-friendly radio shows, and great music would also be helpful. But what will help the most, even if this extends your time on the road, is making sure that you guys take plenty of running-around breaks. Bring the jump rope, the chalk, the chinese jump rope, some frisbees, whatever it takes to ensure your kids get plenty of exercise before they have to strap themselves back in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Quote I change out the activities at each stop and I have a different, small bag of things to take into the hotel room or restaurant with us That's clever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink and Green Mom Posted May 22, 2018 Share Posted May 22, 2018 Car bingo https://www.amazon.com/Travel-Roadtrip-Vacation-Family-Colors/dp/B0019WXAPU 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beth S Posted May 23, 2018 Share Posted May 23, 2018 9 hours ago, mmasc said: Does anyone have a link for those state, license plates, interstate bingo cards? I’ve never used these and they sound great! Here's a link to a Car Bingo example (which I should have included when I posted)--it's a grid like Bingo. We personalized ours, but you could just print this out. (Apparently they are also called Road Trip Scavenger Hunts.) http://www.momsminivan.com/bingo/bingo-roadside1.html For the license plates, I just type an alphabetical list of the states, & they can mark next to the ones they find. Here's a list of 25 Road Trip Games = https://www.twentyfivethings.com/road-trip-games-for-kids/ And yes, I heartily agree with PP on the Rest Stops---to run AND to empty everyone's bladders at the same time! We do carry a small potty chair & a male urinal just-in-case . . . and usually don't permit the purchase of 40 oz Soda Cups! Ha. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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