Just coming home from a Disneyland trip I have been thinking about what helped keep the kids content for the long car journey.
1. The best was the DVD player. We didn't watch a lot of movies but when the movies were on, all was well. We put all our kids movies and since we traveled on a Sunday we also brought a case of church movies. The kids each took a turn to choose a movie.
2. Homework. The kids had a weeks worth of homework to do so we arranged with teachers to get their homework beforehand so they could do it in the car. That took a lot of time.
3. Coloring Books. My mom got each of the kids a coloring/activity book from the dollar store. They loved getting a new book to color in. The crayons were a little messy so maybe a little container to keep them in would be a good idea.
4. Library books on tape and Playaways. The Librarian gave me this idea-thanks Shawn. The playaways (these are digital books with their own output devise) were really cool because each kid could have their own book and set of head phones and they thought that was really fun.
5. Stopping to eat meals. As much as it was a temptation to keep on driving to get their faster I think it really helped to all get out and eat meals out of the car. We brought a cooler so we could make sandwiches and it gave the kids a chance to get the wiggles out.
6. Leapsters or portable playing device. We didn't bring any of these but with a long drive I think this would have been a good idea. We did use a cell phone a few times that had some games the kids like to play. "Angry Birds"
7. Quick and non messy snacks we found-fruit roll ups, pretzles, twizzlers, work good.
8. Musical Chairs-If possible I think changing up the seating is good just to give kids a new face to look at. With car seats that might be too much of a pain but the others not in car seats could change it up.
Well that's not that many ideas and I wish I would have done a little more prep time so I was more prepared but we made it safe and sound without too many tears. I would love some more ideas for future trips we have planned. Please share when you get a minute.
I love DVD players. It's always a life saver when we head to Missouri, which we will be doing in a few weeks. I love books on tape too. On our way to California this summer we got Tennis Shoes among the Nephites. I wasn't sure how the kids would take it but they loved listening to the story. We are definitely doing that again. I have a hard time just letting them watch a ton of shows but what do you do when your in the car for 21 hours.
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