Ideas to Occupy Children While on a Road Trip

If you want your kids to be able to color, you could get something that uses and aqua doodle pen. It's just filled with water, so your husband can't get mad if they do draw on the car. :) Or, a magna doodle would give them room to draw without the possibility of drawing on anything in the car.

We are going on a trip to Pennsylvania later this summer, so I've been looking for ideas as well. (I'm looking forward to reading the responses!) I am planning on going to the library the day before we leave so that the kids have new books to read in the car. I am also going to put away some of their music cds so that they are new again for the trip. We also have a DVD player for the car so I'll pack a couple of movies as well.

There are lots of game ideas at http://www.momsminivan.com as well.

1 mom found this helpful

Hi D.,

Well I have not taken a long road trip with any child under 5 so for the baby I am not sure, however my family of 5 just took a long drive from Michigan to Florida a few months back (18 hrs.) my children are 16,10,6. The trip was great. To keep them busy we had a DVD player with all sorts of movies. I have an ipod video 30gb with movies, tv shows, music. My oldest son had his psp(playstation portable) which does all my ipod does plus games and he also had his mp3 player. My other son and daughter had their disney mix max media player which also plays videos, movies, music. Retail for $100 in stores but can get them new on ebay for $50 or less.

Plenty of snacks, and thats all it took. They enjoyed watching movies. You can get ones they have never seen, some favorites and some tv shows on dvd, and maybe since the baby is so young dvd's with sing along interactive.

Little Einstein's, The Wonder Pet's, Word Girl, Dora, Diego, Blue's Clues, Barney, etc...

Good luck on your trip.

Hi D. -
My 4 year old loves maps - so together he and I make a map of where we are going and mark special places along the way, for example train tracks, farms, big factories or parks. They we look for the markers as we travel. He also loves his travel bingo game and I-Spy. He packs a little box/bag of little toys that he likes to play with and he gets one at a time and we rotate to keep interest up. Also a DVD player is nice. My 22 month old, loves to "read" he takes his favorite books and reads. He also likes to look through "Mom's purse" and see what he can find. I put all kinds of little interested things in an old purse and he just has the best times riffling through and see what he can come up with. Hope these ideas help. Have a safe trip.

You've gotten a good start, D.. A Magnadoodle is a great thing, too. What about travel Yahtzee for the older one? Having finger friendly snacks that won't cause too much of a mess is always good, too. Favorite books, or a new book or two..you'll do great. Have a fun trip and congratulations on all three of your darlings!! B.

Hi
When my friend took her daughter to Florida (from Michigan) when she was around 5, she went to Michaels or the Dollar Store and got pipe cleaners and large beads for her daughter to make bracelets, etc. The beads were large enough for her to handle easily and the pipe cleaner stiff enough for little hands to manipulate. Plus, it didn't take up alot of room. Have fun!

Hi D.!

How fun for you all, a family vacation is something to be remembered!
The number one thing that has kept my children from having car meltdown is music. More specifically Rafi! He makes childrens music, that for some reason, captures their attention immediately. And the bonus is, its not totally annoying like some of the kids music can be. Singing together in the car is a great way to pass the time. They also have books on CD at Borders (but those are better off w/the headphones!!) My kids also enjoy Leap pads and Leapster L-Max those are the educational video games and blessedly also come w/headphone jacks.

Just a side note, for while you are there, a disposal camera and a photo album, might be a great way for your 5yo to document the trip (and maybe some pics along the way at the pitstops might be fun too!)

Have a great time!
Jen P

A few other ideas, My son loved music so we had tons on kids CD's to put in. We turned the speaker on in the back seat only so we wouldn't have to hear these songs over and over and over.... Also we had a little car travel table to put over our sons lap (it fit over his car seat) so he could color and even eat on it. He is also a huge book worm so we packed tons of books in the back seat that he could reach on his own. Also we had Leap Frog with lots of different books and he would occupy his time with them at great lengths.
Just a few more ideas. Good luck.

hi you can buy the washable crayola crayons and the color wonder markers that only color or show up on the specific color wonder paper they really work so you wouldn't have a mess that wouldnt come out

You can rent books or cds with stories on them from the local library. My 5 year old daughter and I just finished Ribsy by Beverly Cleary on tape. We got Ann of Green Gables on cd from Barnes & Noble. Get a portable player with a set of ear plugs and you are good to go for the 5 year old. It's hard to remember when she was 15 months old... I remember one trip when eating cheerios was a big hit, music tapes would probably be fun for a 15 month old, too. Go to a dollar store and get cheap little toys and wrap them up. Then give them one of these gifts every hour or so. That keeps them entertained and interested. Paper dolls, dolls, ponies, little toys cars, etc can be fun to play with while riding. Good luck!

I don't know if the one year old will be able to use the etch-e-sketch but I bet he could use a "doodle-pro" the magnet boards with a pen attached. They have little travel ones or ones with a pillow lap that come with magnets that make stamp pictures. Does your 5 year old like paper dolls? Have you considered a travel dvd player? The 5 year old could wear headphones so you don't have to listen to the movie, but in any case disney songs might be better than whining out of boredom.

Dvd players are great............take his favorite movie and a few new ones to keep him interested. You can also take a personal dvd to play his own music with his own headphones. So you won't go crazy hearing the same thing over and over again.

D.,

Your husband probably wouldn't want stickers either, but what about magnetic boards? I found a Clifford one a few years back that had a beach scene and you put the characters and beach accessories on the board in any way you wanted. Then your daughter could tell you a story about her picture.

Also a felt book could be similar.

On our trip to Florida we borrowed some books on tape. Our son loved listening to the story a chapter at a time and we enjoyed listening to something other than Beauty and the Beast (his favorite at the time).

You might also want to check out some library books for your eldest that are easy readers so she can work on her reading skills and look at something that is completely new to her.

I'm sorry, I really don't have any suggestions for a 15 month old.

Good luck on your trip!

Colorforms are great for the car (and airplanes too). They stick on windows and peel off with no mess!!

Good Luck
J.
www.YourPeacefulBirthing.com

My kids love to color in the car. Have you considered Cayola ColorWonder markers? They only color on the special paper. They have lots of choices at Toysrus and they were buy one get one free a few days ago. The pack comes with a coloring book and several markers. Aquadoodle also came out with a travel version. I seen that at Walmart earlier in the week. Have a fun trip!

If you new car does not have one - purchase a portable DVD player and head phones. Buy some new movies that the kids would enjoy and your off. Surprise them in the car with the new movies when you need them. My 3 kids (ages 3,4,6) also like the leapster hand held games. We have 3 and they play with those on travels in cars. I jsut drove to KY by myself whith the kids (6.5 hours) and between the leapster and new movies we were fine.

Happy traveling

Coloring and pencil and paper games and activities work just as well with colored pencils, and they don't stain, leak or melt in the sun. A box of 8 or so is under $2 and you can get pencil sharpeners that have attached containers to catch the shavings. They should protect the new car and help keep the 5 year old entertained. You can also get DVD players that plug into the cars cigarette lighters and you can play age- appropriate DVDs on a small screen--- Spongebob, Veggie Tales, that sort of thing. Tales from Beatrix Potter/Peter Rabbit DVDs were a favorite of our kids, and made long car rides a lot easier. Even work on the 15 month age, which is really hard to entertain. And yes, they won't get hooked on endless T V, because this is vacation, and the rules are different. Be very careful with the magnetic games around a 15 month old, the pieces can be swallowed (and hold together magneticly in the stomach and bowel) or inhaled and cause a trip to the emergency room for choking or bowel obstruction. They are better for children over 3, and not within reach of toddlers. Hang in there. L.

Hi,
When my children were young. We went to Disney World. That was a very long trip. We brought a 13" T.V. with a VCR in one. Now the T.V.'s come with a CD player. The kids enjoyed movies and cartoons. They talked about what they wanted to do together. We set the T.V. on a box of some type on the floor. We also had hand held games for each child.
We left early (while it was dark) so the kids would sleep most of the way.
I hope this will help.
J. C.

If you kids like to color there are books with "magic" marker where the color only shows up on the paper (it is not by crayola). I know Meijer sells them in their book department. The books are smaller and only have 1 marker, but it appears different colors on the paper. Also does you daughter like dolls, they sell magnetic dolls (similar to paper dolls, but the cloths and accessories are magnet and much studier than paper.)

Hi D.,

I have an 18 month old, so I can relate to trying to keep your 15 month old occupied. We just spent a long time in the car this past week, and the thing that worked the best to occupy him was a DVD player. Second to that was one of those "Doodle Pro" toys where you draw with the magnetic pen on a cord (similar to the Etch-a-Sketch you mentioned). I also brought snacks that he doesn't usually get, so the novelty of them kept him entertained for awhile. Hope that helps.

Take care,
C.

Hopefully the 15 month old will sleep. I'd leave around his nap time and hope it's a longer nap.

Watch what you feed the 5 year old. If you stop at McD's or someplace to eat-- limit juice/pop/sugar. Bring healthy snacks for the car.

I go to the dollar store and put together a "goody bag". The last one had books, stickers, coloring stuff (it's pretty hard to get crayon on stuff...), flash cards, and other misc. small toys, activities. Plan on something new about every 30 minutes.Does your 5 year old still take a nap?

Also take a DVD player. 4-5 hours really isn't that long. We've done it several times and have never found it to be that bad.

A friend of mine takes a yardstick and marks off the trip by hours (or whatever) with tape on the stick. That way the children can see how far the trip has progressed, how long is left to go, and if the parents choose, it's a good visual guide of how long til the next new toy. (I also have a friend who buys cheap toys, wraps them, and then gives them every so often as a good behavior reward).

~L.

I'll probably get into lots of trouble from the parents that police how long their kids watch tv but the best thing we have done is bought a portable dvd player for long road trips. Since there is 16 years difference between our daughter and youngest son, she has a lot or road miles on her to visit family all over the country (we are also a military family). Needless to say, we have traveled over 36,000 miles this past year alone and I wouldn't do it without that player. Our little girl loves home movies and we have a ton of them - she could watch those for hours if you let her. Plus, we have a couple of "old standbys" that even my boys loved as little ones. Our favorite is "Milo and Otis" - it's about a cat and dog if you haven't seen it. The best thing about it - it's $5 at Wal-Mart. Another one that we just got but that would appeal to both of the kids is "Barney's Great Adventure". Actually, anything with music is good. As for your 5 year old - have you seen the "brain quest" flash cards? Those are great and fun for the car. Doodle Pro's solve the coloring problem in the car as well. One last idea for entertainment - Cracker Barrel has some great games for the road.
Have fun and don't worry. As for your husband and not wanting "stuff" in the car - this too shall pass. My husband was the same way. I always take a small bag of her toys/books on every trip now. I also have her non-spill cups with us - even for the 5 year old - it beats them taking the lid off the other cups and spilling on that new car. That made Daddy the happiest - he didn't have to worry about his leather seats. Plus - I bought him a "car-care" kit for the trunk.

Hi D.. We just got back yesterday from a 4 hour trip up North to Mackinaw City with our six year old son and 17 month old daughter. Before we left, I took the kids to the library and I let my son pick up some books on CD and some kids CDs to listen to. I have an old discman so I gave it to him to use. He listened to it almost the whole way up and back again. He could change the CDs himself and he loves listening to music. We also got books for him to look at as well. He also brought a few cars and other small toys to play with in the car. He did absolutely fine.

As for my daughter, she was awake for awhile and then slept for a few hours of the drive. i brought a small bag of her toys and she also likes playing with her brothers cars and such. We had no problems at all.

We normally do 2 hours trips to my Mother's house so they are used to being in the car for a little while. If your kids aren't used to that, I would try leaving at night at bedtime if possible. Then they will sleep the whole way and you can just drive through without stopping. We only stopped once for gas and lunch. If you have a DVD player, the kids will probably like that. We don't have one, but they did wonderfully without one.

I hope you have a great time. It was about 15 degrees cooler up north so make sure you pack sweatshirts and such. The cooler weather felt great though, especially after this mugginess.

p.s. Congrats on baby #3!

We pack fun bags with all sorts of there little toys in them so they can rummage through them at there own pace. Magna Doodles are great if you will not allow crayons. My life saver for long trips is the portable DVD player. We just took a 2wk, 4,000 miles cross country trip and the kids watched 2movies a day when we were driving. The did lots of other activities too, but the movies were like down time. Also, we take a soccer ball and a frisbee, so when we stop at a rest area, we can get out and play! I always feed the kids in the car and save the stopping for stretching the legs. I figure why stop just to make them sit and eat. Have fun!

What about using Crayola Color wonder markers that ONLY mark on the special paper - trust me, they work. Also - take kid music to play in the car and have a sing along. Our kids always talk about the scenery and have a competition as to whose side of the car had the most cows, etc.

Congrats on #3 in the oven. Since hubby doesn't want crayons, etc. (does he know that it won't stay clean forever?!) auqua doodles are great! It still allows them to draw and be creative. They are great for all ages from 1 to 100! Plus, I think they come in smaller sizes, not just the large mat.

If you have a DVD player in the van, kids love to watch DVDs of themselves. Family videos of them! Or, if no DVD, get a cheap photo album and fill it with pictures of them and some pictures of their favorite things or letters for learning or combine the 2. Can also do the same thing on a keychain.

One last idea, if your van has a hook up for headphones, get a set for each (even the youngest) and put in a CD of "thier" kid of music. They can listen to it while you and hubby have your own conversation.

Remember to stop often to stretch their little legs and exhert some energy. Point out all the different things they will see along the way and tell a story about it. Telling a make believe story is always a hit with kids too.

Have fun and be safe!

D.,
Go to the Crayola.com website. They have a product called Color Wonder. Their blurb is "Crayola Color Wonder products offer mess-free coloring fun. That's because Color Wonder products feature colorless inks and paints that show up like magic on special Color Wonder paper. So color stays on the paper - not on your child!"

It's a great product, and even your little one can do it. The 'magic' is the special neutral marker, and the paper is infused with the color which shows up when the neutral marker is used on it. No liquid, no ink, no mess!

You might even get some more ideas from the website. I've seen the Color Wonder products in larger chains (Meijer, Wal-Mart) and also in office supply stores (Staples). You could call around or just order from the website.

Happy traveling,
G.

We just returned from a 16 hr road trip to Northern MN and back. I have a 4, 2 and 6 month old. We have taken this trip every summer with the kids and things that I have done are Magna Doodle, books, slinky (they loved it), a special stuffed animal and small blanket. I have also gone to the dollar store and bought ramdom little things that the kids could have in the car. We also fed the kids in the car and let them run around when we stopped.
Blessings, K.