Ideas Please!!

I play "I spot" with my daughter. We go through the Alphabet seeing who can spot the next letter and then we do colors, she loves it and could play a couple times before getting bored.
How soon are you leaving? I saw these Wikki sticks in a magazine they recommended for traveling. Look them up.

I don't have anything new to add, but want to re-emphasize having a place for his feet. My kids were always pushing their feet into the backs of the front seat - finally realized their legs/feet were tired & sometimes even falling asleep.....
We road trip from Idaho to Iowa twice a year. Stopping every 2 hrs to get a "gas station snack" (usually something they don't normally get) and walk around or play helps. Parks and school yards (in the summer) are great places stop!! We're also finding more playgrounds at highway rest areas lately. We also use a DVD player, a Leapster, and my 10 yo daughter packs a bunch of books.
When my dd was about 5 and starting to read, I made her a list of the towns that we would go through to cross off as we travelled so I wouldn't hear "How much farther?" Now we give her a map & at Christmas she was showing it to our DS (who's 5). Sometimes keeping them in the loop helps prevent the "nagging." Even showing him the clock - "it says 3:30 now, we'll stop around 4:30" helps.
I also find that my attitude rubs off on them - when my back starts hurting & I get whiny, so do they. If I try hard to keep it an adventure & a mystery "what will we see next", they do better, too......
Oh & my kids think ordering pizza into the hotel room is the greatest thing ever!!! That might work as a "prize" too
Have a great trip!!!

Hi Cindy,
We are pros at traveling so here are my kids favorite picks.

We love the Leapster...get headphones. They are expensive ($50) but well worth the money. The games are educational and it will grow with him. It comes loaded with drawing and a few games on it so you don't have to buy a cartridge if you don't want to. It's for 4 and up but my daughter got hers at 3. You just have to show them how to use it.

We also like the "Sprout" toy line at Target. It has take along decks that have your child point out stuff. Since he can't read you will have to help him. They have other "travel" toys too.

A cookie sheet with magnets is also very fun.

One tip I have is to use colored pencils in the car instead of crayons..they don't melt.

I purchased a travel desk for my kids that attaches to the back seat. When it's folded down they have a desk that is sturdy enough to eat on and color on.

Good luck. I hope you have a great trip.

Very long car trips were something that I did over and over and over when my kids were little and I mean trips that were anywhere from 13 hours to 3 days (we're a military family so we don't always know far enough in advance to buy airline tickets at a reasonable price). The DVD player was a GODSEND!!! Honestly, pick out some of his favorite movies, as well as some that he hasn't seen yet so he doesn't get bored watching the same thing (often my kids want to have their favorites on, but they want to play and do other things while it is playing in the background). I would also suggest that you buy plenty of cheap, but new toys and books (interactive with touchy feely bits are always good), and keep them away from him, like you were thinking, so they are new and very distracting when you pull them out. Also good is to have snacks and treats that will take a while for him to eat.

**A good plan for us was to make sure and pull over at meal times and sit down at an actual restaurant. That way, the kids felt like they were getting out of the car, and we could time it for them, so they'd know when we were going to get out of the car....for example, we'd say, each of your movies is an hour and a half. You are going to watch 2 (or 3) movies and then we are going to stop and get out of the car - even if you just pull over at a roadstop with room for the kids to run around and play. Granted, this adds a couple of hours onto your total time, BUT it was much more pleasant for everyone - and if we stopped at either Burger King or McDonalds for lunch, then the kids could play at their playland and get out some of their energy. I know eating at fast food and then sitting in a car isn't ideal, but I always just got a salad, so it wasn't too bad. Plus, they don't actually have to eat while you are, they can play while you eat and then take their food with them and eat it in the car, so that's an additional distraction for them.

As for the driving at night bit, I would recommend you not do that, especially if you are doing it because you are thinking the kids will sleep through most of the trip. Don't get me wrong, this might work very well for your family, but we tried it and it was one of the WORST mistakes we've ever made. We found it to be far more dangerous to drive at night with the decreased visibility, plus the increase in animals that came near the road. Plus, despite the naps we took to try to be ready for it, my husband and I were both exhausted and our daughter only slept for about an hour of the trip. It was an awful experience. We found that traveling during the day and hopefully them getting a nap was the best way, even with the other frustrations.

Good luck and I hope you have a very safe and fun trip!

We've had to do a number of longer road trips with our little one, and as she got more mobile, she tolerated the car seat less. We got all those things that you mentioned, and we also looked up "road songs" that we could all sing (but it's disturbing what some of the words to the little ditties (my darlin' clementine )we sang as kids really are once you read them...but anyhoo).
Bring his favorite things, but plan on making rest stops at playgrounds. It does make the drive a bit longer, but to let them have time outside the car running around for about 1/2 hour makes going 4 more hours a lot more bearable for everyone. We even brought her bike with us last time, and know where all the easy to access playgrounds are on the route that we have to go on. Have a couple of no/low car days between heavy driving days also helps.

good luck and try to enjoy the ride!

Hi Cindy,
When my kids were little we went on a lot of road trips. Once I got into the mind set that I had to be entertaining then the whole time in order for the trip to be tolerable, then we all did much better. I often sat in the back seat with them and read books and played games. We sangsongs, I got books on tape from the library which have a lot of fun sound effects. I held the book and turned the pages (often from the front seat) and they loved that. I also bought new little toys and activities, as you did, that I pulled out periodically throughout the trip. We also had a movie player, however, my kids got more annoyed and wanted out the longer it was on. So, for us, we learned that we could only watch a few movies and that they had to be spaced apart. TV has always been a treat for my family (not on very often) so it worked for us to say, "let's play games and read for one more hour and then we can watch a movie."

For stops, I recommend bringing your own food and stopping at parks, or buy food at a grocery deli and then stop somewhere that the kids can run around. Trying to make them sit at a restaurant may not work so well.
I hope you have a fun time. I atually miss those days a lot. Even though it will be stressful at times, road trip with your little ones can be very fun.
Take care, B.

Hello Cindy sounds like a fun trip. My husband and i took a similar trip with our kids last year. We had all the toys,dvds etc. But they ended up playing with 2 things the most so I swear by them now. One of them is an Aquadoodle, my 2 and 5 year old were entertained for hours the other was a leapster game system. I found ours at a local Kid to kid store they were used and came with several games for under $30 it was a great deal and a wonderful help. They also enjoyed just plain old Coloring books. We also played alot of car games, like i spy, what song am I humming? and we also listened to sing along cd's. Hope this is helpful and that your drive is stressfree and happy.

Frequent stops (every rest area that looks like it has even the tiniest bit of grass to run around on).

Outright bribery ("if you behave you can have some M&Ms")

A music player and headphones. For you and the driver. Sometimes you just have to crank the volume and go to your happy place.

Pack a couple of his favorite toys for the "things to play with while driving" surprise kit.

And don't forget the child medicine kit. Tylenol, thermometer, etc. If one of them gets an earache or fever or something, it is much pleasanter to have the medicine in your car than to try to find a store somewhere along the way.

We just finished a 24 hour road trip with four kids, the youngest 3. Travel magna-doodles are fun. "count" how long you'll be driving by number of movies (just 4 more movies, etc.). New little toys from the dollar store, like a bag of stretchy bugs or something. Fun food and the occasional treat like a small bag of m-n-ms. Lift-the-flap books. Either lunch on your lap (like a happy meal so eating takes up part of the car trip time) OR stop at a place with a play-place for meals, and let him play while you eat, but take his lunch in the car. With careful planning, he'll do great. Good luck!

All good ideas so far.
A couple of years ago, we took our then 5 and nearly 3 year old kids on a road trip from Utah to Kentucky (24 hours driving time). We stopped for the night half way there, so we had 2 12 hour days in the car there and back. We also chose to make as few stops as possible so we did our best to have potty breaks when we stopped for food or gas. And we did it all during daylight hours (my husband hates driving in the dark and I have terrible night vision.)It went surprisingly well. Here's what we did.
We had different snacks that I would surprise the kids with. We had new activities that we would surprise them with when they got bored. We had the DVD player and they each got to pick a new movie before we left. The other thing that really worked was that they knew that if there weren't any big problems that day in the car, we had something special for them at the end of the day. Yes, we bribed them to be good! For our 4 days in the car, the prizes were: a new pillowcase (with their fav characters) that we put on their pillows the first night, plush blankets (fav characters) that they got to sleep with when we got to KY, and new movies that they got to watch the last day in the car. They got stuffed animals the day we got home, so I didn't have to pack them. It was well worth the extra money. You could break it up into different time frames, but it worked really well!
Good luck!

Plan to stop every 2 hours while he's awake if only to get out & run around the car 3 times (since he's 3). It will take longer to get there but I'm all for quiet & no whining from the backseat. My younger ones have grown up in a vehicle-closest family was 1.5 hours away & their big brothers were 14 hours away, & we were always the ones to make the trip. My boys did okay with random McDonald's toys & Hot Wheels. I also had a snack bag for each kid-they got to have special snacks (suckers, fruit snacks, pre-bagged chips) & a soda for one meal, 2 juice boxes & a waterbottle we kept refilling. What about finding a piece of framed metal to put magnets on, or a small chalkboard & some chalk?
Between the DVD player, the McD's toys (it seems that they like those the best-and they're small so you can pack a lot of them) & the not-our-usual snacks, trips went pretty well, even our Colorado to Idaho to Arizona trip (3 days because of snow in UT)
Have a great trip!

We just took 2 10-hour trips to Montana in the last two weeks. Ugh! The things that saved us was the DVD player - (bring 10-12 videos) and 'road gifts'. I went to All-A-Dollar and bought 10 or 11 toys (crayons, coloring books, race cars, funny glasses, etc.) and every two hours I would give our son something to play with. It would only entertain him for a half-an-hour or so, but between that and the movies, it got us on our way! Good luck on the trip!

We drive to OR every summer, sometimes twice and this summer we've already been three times and are headed out again this weekend. Our problem has always been the passes. Our kids are really sensitive to the change in altitude so having a lots of things to drink with a straw helps. We also play the yawn game while we are going up really high quickly. It is just a contest to see who can do the longest yawn, the shortest yawn, the loudest yawn. The act of yawning pretend or not gets their ears to pop and they are much happier the rest of the trip. A funny side affect is that usually after a boisterous round of yawn game they fall asleep. Now that my kids are a bit older we also keep a supply of taffy, gummy snacks and chewing gum. Anything to keep their ears from hurting and the whole trip goes great.
If you are driving through the desert on 20 there is a big antelope herd just East of Burns and then there are the steel horses although we always have a hard time finding them. If you go I-84 this is a great time of year to count trains, windsurfers, barges, stop at the falls, check out the fish hatchery, look for police cars between Pendleton and Baker City and keep an eye out for deer especially in the evening. Our kids really look forward to traveling when they have some expectations.

We just drove to and from California about 9 hours each way and I have a 2.5 year old and a 6 month old. My friend gave me a bunch of random cheap toys that her kids do not use anymore and I wrapped each one separately. When he got antsy I would give him a present and he would open it, which took a few minutes and played with it for a bit. It kept him busy for quite awhile. Good luck and have fun!

We drove to Oregon in May 2008 when we had a 5 year old, 3 year old, and an 11 month old (and I was 6 months pregnant at the time). We have taken lots of other road trips before and after that. I think my 3 year old was in a booster seat at the time rather than a car seat. My kids have always preferred boosters once we've made the switch, but if your going to switch, make sure your son won't undo the seat belt by himself while you are driving. When we do long road trips we also take a dvd player, lots of little toys, games and books, and lots of snacks and drinks to have along the way. One thing my kids really enjoy is that every 2 hours or so, if they have been good in the car, we stop at a park and let them play for 15-20 minutes (we just have our GPS find the nearest park to wherever we are). It is fun for them to try out new parks that they've never been to, and it gives them good incentive to be good in the car. Plus it gives everyone a chance to stretch our legs and use the bathroom. Good luck and have fun!

Make sure he has something to prop his feet on so his legs don't get tired/lose circulation. I don't know what kind of car you have, but he may be big enough for a booster - check with your local health department to see if they have them for cheap - ours charges $20. Maybe something new will get him excited about it. We have a minivan now with the fold down seats and our kids seem to like it. Then just wear him out the day before, it sounds like you have everything else pretty much down.

Last year we drove to San Diego with our 3,2, and 9 month old kids. We brought little surprizes - notebooks with stickers and colored pencils, those magic erase coloring books, etc...About every 3-4 hours, (especially on the way home) we'd bring out a new surprise.
We also took plenty of breaks, at parks if we could find them. It is so much fun - we actually love road trips, even though the kids do have a hard time.
Have a great trip - Oregon is one of my favorites!!!

A few ideas:
1. You are right on with driving while he's asleep as much as possible.
2. When our son was that age, I went to the dollar store and bought one little prize for each hour of the drive. Every hour I would let him pull out a new prize out of the prize bag. Make sure it's something he'll actually want to play with for awhile.
3. Books on CD. Sometimes these are more enjoyable than watching movies all the time.
4. Plan in plenty of 20 minute stops while he's awake.
5. Try taking some hand puppets. These keep my little ones distracted for awhile--of course I have to be the one acting out one of the puppets; so this will probably get old for you before it's old for him.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

It sounds like you are pretty prepared. I take my kids on a road trip from Utah to southern California quite a lot (once a year sometimes more), and that is a 10-12 hour drive. We do it in one straight shot (we don't stop at a hotel or anything, we just drive straight through) with potty breaks and stopping for meals but that's about it. And all four kids usually sleep almost the whole time. I've never had to worry about what to bring to keep them distracted. I just make sure we have munchies in the car, and each of my kids has a small backpack that has a coloring book and crayons and a small magna-doodle or etch-a-sketch, and I give them some snacks in their bag (so I don't have to worry about not being able to reach the back seat of the van) and they each have a small water jug, and that seems to be enough. I have music to play in the car, and we don't have a dvd player for in the car, and they end up just sleeping most of the way, waking up every now and then to ask where we are and if we are at grandpa's house yet.

what about book on CD? also kid songs, I check cd's out of the library when I am looking for more and to see if we would want to purchase or not.
little toys are something my daughter LOVES and I have to restrict how many she can take, she likes little animals about 3 inches in size, so we give her a few of those on our trips as well.

We just got back from OR last week. My son also hates his car seat.

The DVD player was what saved us. We also had a new ribbon book from grandma that he enjoyed.

We left at four in the morning and got there early afternoon.

On the way back was a little harder, but we had left at 10am and got home at 11pm.

We tried to stop every hour or so, but somewhere my son could run for a little while, and we could walk around.

We also had a small cooler with cheese, and other snacks so we did not have to find food when we did not know the exits very well.

S.
mother to Kai
www.HomeWithKai.com

You might try making something like a Bingo card with pictures of things you will see along the way. We your son sees one of the things on the card, he gets to put a sticker over it. When he gets a row or covers the whole card, , there is a reward.

Have a great trip!
N.

Hi Cindy,
We went to Oregon last spring, when my daughter was almost 3. I bought her a few new books, the Cars soundtrack cd, some special little treats, and a new movie to take with us. We also went to the library together and picked out some books and some books on tape/cd. I also bought my daughter those "new" markers & paint sets from Crayola and Elmer's. They only color/paint on the special paper that they come with. It was something new and different and it kept her occupied for 2 hours! She painted the whole book and colored on a bunch of other papers. They are really cute. We also stopped a bunch along the way and got out and played. We would play ring around the rosie, hide and seek, and tag at various rest stops. Make sure and keep some surprises "secret" and only give them to him when he is getting really restless. That way, you'll still have some tricks up your sleeve for the long trip. Good luck and have fun! -Shellie

I have young son who don't like to be still either. We don't have a dvd player so I have to be creative to keep them busy. My favorite car tricks are.... giving them an entire roll of scotch tape to play with, keeps them busy for at least 40 minutes. I buy a new box of bandaids and give the whole box to them, another hour kept busy. They might look funny with bandaids all over but no permanent damage done:) My kids alwasy eat a whole apple in the car, also keeps them busy for 20 minutes. I just bring things from home that are safe but maybe they don't get to "play" with on a regular basis. Just be creative. A little mess in the car is worth it if there is not crying. Hope this helps

You sound like you have some good ideas already. My oldest is pretty easy going about long trips but my youngest screams and screams after about 3 hours. If your 3 year old still takes naps, how about leaving around naptime? That way he can take his nap in the car which takes care of the first couple of hours. When his nap is done, take a break. Find a park, let him run around for a while. Drive for another hour or so, then take a break for dinner and again find a park so he can run. Then you can do a long stint with the DVDs, and other distractors until he falls asleep. The only thing that consoles my daughter is if I squeeze into the back between the carseats and play with her (not the greatest -- I barely fit and get car sick if I don't watch the road, but it's better than screaming). Good luck and have a fun trip.