We have three coming up in the next four weeks or so. Two are to family, who each live two and a half hours away. And one trip is to Chicago, so about four hours away.
So with that in mind, I thought I'd ask my readers and followers to share their road trip tips for kids.
For instance, for us, each girl gets their own road trip ba
g filled with toys, books and sometimes a special road trip item. I highly recommend travel Magna-doodles and Aqua-Doodles. We also have a Water WOW Doodle Book. It was something I saw at an airport last month and immediately thought of the girls. It's like an Aqua-Doodle but it makes colorful pictures appear. The plus is that it dries and then you can play with it again. I didn't pick them up at the airports but I was thrilled to find them at a local store. So the girls got them in their Easter baskets. And they love them! They are cool too because the water really makes the pictures come to life. And there are little search and find games for the kids to do with each picture.
g filled with toys, books and sometimes a special road trip item. I highly recommend travel Magna-doodles and Aqua-Doodles. We also have a Water WOW Doodle Book. It was something I saw at an airport last month and immediately thought of the girls. It's like an Aqua-Doodle but it makes colorful pictures appear. The plus is that it dries and then you can play with it again. I didn't pick them up at the airports but I was thrilled to find them at a local store. So the girls got them in their Easter baskets. And they love them! They are cool too because the water really makes the pictures come to life. And there are little search and find games for the kids to do with each picture. We are also huge fans of books on CD. S loves to listen to the stories and is really good about following the page turn signals. M, at 2, also wants to "read" with the book on CD.
I also learned from our local library that they have a new kind of book on tape. I can't remember what it is called, Playmedia or something like that, but it's this small, hand-held-type of MP3-type player that has the story on it. So each kid could rent their own stories and listen to them using ear buds or ear phones. I think that is an awesome idea! Then we adults can listen to our own music and stuff. I was told there was also quite a selection in the adult section. Our library does not have a lot of these type of books for preschool aged kids but there are probably some chapter books they could listen to. I think we may give them a try sometime this summer.
We don't have a DVD player in our van and I've avoided going that route, especially since our trips really aren't that long. If we were travelling for more than four hours, sure, I might look into something.
But we also plan our trips around nap-times. That helps to pass the time quickly. :) Except for the time M decided not to nap at all while on a road trip last year to Minneapolis. Oi! :)
So what road trip tips do you have? Games? Activities? Snacks? Rest stops? Map programs? Hotels? Share it all!
Posts
1 comment:
In addition to the things you named, I also check out several Look and Find books at the library to bring along. The girls love looking at these and they can stay occupied for a long time, either together or alone. There are some for toddlers, too, that are more like board book pages and have less things to find.
I save the plastic baby food containers to use as snack containers. Then I fill a larger baggie with trail mix (cheerios, etc--no chocolate because it melts!) and can fill and refill their containers from that. They also each have a small water bottle.
We do audiobooks on CD as well--but without books to follow along. The library has Amelia Bedelia, Green Eggs and Ham and other stories, Arthur, Beatrix Potter (Peter Rabbit, etc), and more. Unfortunately they don't have them easily sorted by age, so you have to search a little. But that list should get you started!
Do you have a bucket in your car, just in case? ;-) We've been on several road trips where H has gotten a "yucky tummy" and we've been thankful we had the bucket!
Post a Comment