Earthmerlin Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 I'm taking my 9 year old daughter on a long car trip to Florida soon. I'm looking for in-car activities to stave off boredom. I've got tons of audiobooks lined up and podcasts queued. She gets car sick so reading isn't an option. I'll be driving so I can only chat with her, nothing more. Any ideas on non-messy actvities I can load up on so all's right with the world while we're in the car? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted December 14, 2018 Share Posted December 14, 2018 Does she like stickers? We used to bring stickers and wax paper for the kids and they would use them like colorforms. I also had magnetic doll books that we only brought out for car trips. And magnadoodle (or etch-a-sketch would be good, too). Go to the dollar store and find little prizes for her to break up the trip - you can give her a prize every couple of hours. Snacks are always good, too. Of course, if she gets carsick you have to be careful with all of the above (I had one like that). 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acresoft Posted December 15, 2018 Share Posted December 15, 2018 Road Trip Activities: Play harmonica, or recorder on a road trip, as long as it doesn't distract the driver. Make up a story, with each person adding a sentence. Or play a game like 20 Questions, or License Plates. https://www.edmunds.com/car-reviews/top-10/top-10-road-trip-games.html 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
domestic_engineer Posted December 15, 2018 Share Posted December 15, 2018 (edited) Finger knitting a big bag of Pipe Cleaners and/or glow sticks (If you can stand the noise) Bop it or Simon; Learn to twist balloons into what-nots Perplexus or other brain teaser She's probably old enough that you could try play dough on a cookie sheet? I don't know; I haven't tried it myself. haha Maybe just a roll of Aluminum foil to shape and mold. Edited December 15, 2018 by domestic_engineer more ideas 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earthmerlin Posted December 15, 2018 Author Share Posted December 15, 2018 These are all great ideas! I'm glad I asked. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earthmerlin Posted December 15, 2018 Author Share Posted December 15, 2018 (edited) 8 hours ago, domestic_engineer said: Finger knitting a big bag of Pipe Cleaners and/or glow sticks (If you can stand the noise) Bop it or Simon; Learn to twist balloons into what-nots Perplexus or other brain teaser She's probably old enough that you could try play dough on a cookie sheet? I don't know; I haven't tried it myself. haha Maybe just a roll of Aluminum foil to shape and mold. Finger knitting....hmmmm....I'll need to look that one up! Edited December 15, 2018 by Earthmerlin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earthmerlin Posted December 15, 2018 Author Share Posted December 15, 2018 Can anyone recommend a non-messy science kit? Or a science activity book (a la puzzle book)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earthmerlin Posted December 15, 2018 Author Share Posted December 15, 2018 She's also interested in learning German and Latin so (non-irritating) CDs teaching such would be great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted December 15, 2018 Share Posted December 15, 2018 I keep a box under my bed with car trip supplies. Most of the stuff is pretty simple: -a clipboard with paper, printouts for things like cootie catchers, and activity pages -a small pencilbox with scissors, colored pencils, regular ones, glue stick etc. -a travel spirograph -a pencilbox with a building toy (gathered by many car trips while Wendy's was promoting them. 😄 ) -an atlas -road bingo cards -conversation starter cards -a light up toy for night -a non-pencil writing toy. We have a magnetic board, etch-a-sketch, and a boogie board. Not all go on every trip. I have another small box for hotels/meal stops with small games I can rotate in and out of my purse. The thrift store is actually great if you want to find small toys you can use on trips and put them away other times. It's where I found the light up toy and conversation cards. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted December 15, 2018 Share Posted December 15, 2018 5 minutes ago, Earthmerlin said: Can anyone recommend a non-messy science kit? Or a science activity book (a la puzzle book)? Like Snap Circuits? That might work in the car.This Is Not A Science Book. Very similar to their math one, but different focus. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Earthmerlin Posted December 15, 2018 Author Share Posted December 15, 2018 Math trivia cards or conversation prompts? Hmmm, wonder if they exist for this age..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted December 15, 2018 Share Posted December 15, 2018 (edited) 17 minutes ago, Earthmerlin said: Math trivia cards or conversation prompts? Hmmm, wonder if they exist for this age..... Maybe something like this? 99 Math Puzzles book. (I swear I'm not an Usborne dealer, but I've been invited to enough parties to know their stock well) Edited December 15, 2018 by HomeAgain 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
domestic_engineer Posted December 15, 2018 Share Posted December 15, 2018 (edited) Some more ideas: Paint by sticker books ... although it might be too much close work though for her in the car. Noodle loaf podcast (it’s a bit more interactive than most podcasts) wikkisticks those “blow out” thingees that we had growing up to celebrate birthdays. EDIT: like this Oooh - speaking of things from our childhood, what about those water games where you were trying to ring the post by pushing a button that then puffed air into the chamber?EDIT: like this (sorry precise words are not happening this morning) handheld pinball machine? Sorta like pachinko. EDIT: like this Edited December 15, 2018 by domestic_engineer add links 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted December 15, 2018 Share Posted December 15, 2018 Oh, I forgot - we used to get the Brain Quest cards. Dd loved those. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
domestic_engineer Posted December 15, 2018 Share Posted December 15, 2018 2 hours ago, Earthmerlin said: Math trivia cards or conversation prompts? Hmmm, wonder if they exist for this age..... Conversation prompts: the Ungame? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted December 15, 2018 Share Posted December 15, 2018 47 minutes ago, OKBud said: It's unreal to me how much kids can eat while sitting in a car or train, but they really pack it away. LOL, not just kids - all I do on road trips is alternate between eating and sleeping. I find them so boring. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 Looking out the window and thinking. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-rap Posted December 16, 2018 Share Posted December 16, 2018 A friend of ours made our kids a check-list of things to find every day while looking out the car window during a long road-trip. It was 20 different things every day, such as: 3 white cars all in a row; a red barn; a horse; etc. Once everything for that day was found, there was a cheap $1.00 prize for each child. (Each child had to find everything, but they could help each other.) Anyway, our kids just loved this. It was probably one of the highlights of the road-trip! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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