Entertaining Kids on Long Car Trip

We drive 7-8 hours from Mpls., to Chicago several times a year. My daughter has never just freaked out and started crying. She sleeps most of the time even still at age6 and if she get's antsy we go grab lunch at McDonalds or something and let her run around.

Dvd player, books, window clings, snacks all work well at keeping her busy just switch out what their doing every once in awhile.

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DVD Players help.
Bag/box of books between them for self entertainment.
Snacks are a good source of entertainment too, especially snacks that they don't often get, like suckers.
Plan on stopping a few times to get out and stretch and spend a few minutes running or playing in that short stop. (even if it takes an extra hour to get there, the pit-stops will be worth the extra time.)
Play visual games like I Spy or letter/color hunting games.
You could bring some family friendly audiobooks that the entire family can listen to. You can usually rent them from the library if you plan ahead of time to give the library enough time to order them.

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You may consider giving them something like Benedryl to help them sleep. It would make for a more pleasant drive (the driver can focus better as well) and they would be well-rested and less crabby when you get there.

(In my defense for those that disagree with this: I've never done this myself and I've always avoided any medications for my family unless absolutely necessary. But I have heard of others that have done this and, in some circumstances, it may prove to be the best option.)

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We drive from Rochester to Green Bay often - it's abouta 5 hour drive. I always buy a few new toys to put in a goodie bag for my 2 1/2 year old. I also bought a DVD player. It's wonderful. We didn't want her to get dependent on it - so we bought a portable one with two screens (you can attach one to each seat so each kid has their own screen). I only use it on trips of two hours or more. We bring an arsenal of kid friendly movies and it really does help. That DVD player was the best $150 I've ever spent!

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Hi S.. We've been making long trips with the kids since they were a couple months old. We now live in the UP of Michigan and the drive to my parents house in Ohio is 12 hours with no problems along the way (just made the trip last week!). A 'goody bag' for each child is great. I (or my mil) buy new things...pad of paper, new crayons, slinky, Crayola color wonder, colorforms. We also received dvd players last year for the kids. They can pick out 3 movies each to take on the trip. Snacks are a good diversion too. We stop and let the kids run at the rest stops. I've also been known to do jumping jacks and stretches with them while waiting in line at the coffee shops:) When all else fails we have a cd with the song "Green Onions" on it. It's great! The kids love it when you wave your arms to the beat or have one of their favorite stuffed animals dance to the song. Have a safe trip.
L.

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S.,

Good luck on your trip. We took a trip from IA to MO last year with my oldest being 2 1/2 and my youngest being almost 1 1/2. The DVD player was a blessing. It kept them entertained for long periods of time. That and having frequent pit stops for stretching legs we made it without any huge problems.

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When my son was little we used to do really long car trips often to see grandma and grandpa, now we live by them. What we did then is bring kid cd's, my son liked Veggie Tales, and we would sing!!! :) By the end of the trip I was usually so sick of the cds I never wanted to hear them again but it got us through. Also we brought colors, books, and lots of snacks. When we finally got a portable dvd player it was a blessing (now you can pick up one cheap) and my son would sit and watch movies.

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We just made a trip down to Kansas City with our 22 month old son. It was a 6.5 hour drive each way. I had an arsenal of toys and would rotate them as he got bored with one. I made sure to have some of his favorites and also a bunch of books.

We didn't have a DVD player because I didn't want him to get dependent on it whenever we get in the car.

He did wonderfully.

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We like to stop at a restaurant with a playground, so the kids can play while my DH and I eat. We get the kids food to go, so they can run the whole time we are there, and eat in the car while we drive. It gives us a little peace, the kids some runnin' time, and something to do when they get back in the car.

We also read stories out loud, watch movies, sew lacing cards, drive micro machines, play with tiny plastic animals, color with color wonders,stick colorform stickers to the windows, play with flashlights/glowsticks,and string beads.

Good Luck!

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It helps to have brand new toys that the kids have never played with before such as a brand new coloring book and brand new box of crayons or a brand new superhero toy....that way they aren't already bored with it before you start! Before long car rides my parents would take us to the toystore to pick out a toy just for the car ride. We couldn't wait to get into the car just so we could have the new toy! Audio stories and CDs are always a great idea if you don't want to spend a few bucks on a DVD player. Pick stories/songs that your kids have heard before, that way they can "read/sing" along with them. Last but not least, you WILL have to stop every few hours. There's no getting around it!
P.S. Don't forget flashlights since you are driving at night!! If they happen to wake up and want to play, having a flashlight is much better than having to turn on the overhead light, especially if only one child wakes up! That's what my parents did with my sister and I and it worked great!

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I know there are some people who think it's bad, but get a DVD player! Take any movie you can get your hands on and let them watch that!!! When we traveled with my daughter who was almost 3 at the time, I made her a couple of good bags with snacks and small toys. I made her a map that she could trace our trip on and when we got to a certain stopping point, she got a new goody bag...she loved it!!! And I don't know about your son, but my daughter loves to take pictures. We bought one of those disposable cameras and just let her take pics from the car and when we stopped. Granted, the pics didn't come out that great:), but that's half the fun!!! Good luck!!

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