|
|
Post by jann0319 on Jul 16, 2015 18:18:39 GMT
Does anyone have any travel ideas for kids age 5 and 2. Things they can do in the car? It's a 12 hour drive so I need ideas!
|
|
|
|
Post by freecharlie on Jul 16, 2015 18:20:33 GMT
My kids are much older, but when they were younger they watched DVDs in the car, colored, and read books. Now they play on their tablets and watch dvds.
|
|
|
|
Post by hdoublej on Jul 16, 2015 18:33:16 GMT
I think Magna Doodle makes a travel size but even the regular size would work.
DVD's
I spy
Car Bingo (not sure the 2yo could play this)
|
|
|
|
Post by Basket1lady on Jul 16, 2015 18:56:37 GMT
I was going to suggest a Magna Doodle as well, if they still have them. We also used a LeapPad at those ages, but I'm not sure that a thing anymore. (My kids are 18 & 16 now). We are military, so we made lots of long trips in the car over the years.
Picture books, coloring, magnetic paper dolls (a cookie sheet makes a nice big base. I got one at the dollar store so I didn't have to use my good ones. Just make sure magnets will actually stick to it.). Polly pockets, little cars, dolls, action figures, etc. I had a stash of toys that were just car toys for long trips, so they didn't see them that often. I'd pull toys over time and stash them, saw ell as new toys.
Also a roll of painters tape or making tape can be a lot of fun. Let them tape themselves and the car. You can pull it all off at the destination and it's fun because it's sort of forbidden to waste tape like that normally. Same thing with a ball of yarn. One of the kids got into yarn on one trip and they had themselves covered in it and each other. They giggled about that for a while.
I also did foods that take longer to eat for snacks. Safety lollipops, Cheerios, and that sort of thing. We stopped at rest stops so that they could run around. And we drove through naps. And we always, ALWAYS stopped at a hotel with a pool. It was something they really looked forward to and a good way to burn off energy after being in the car all day.
|
|
|
|
Post by freecharlie on Jul 16, 2015 19:21:22 GMT
Safety lollipops?
|
|
|
|
Post by lily on Jul 16, 2015 19:25:20 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by HelenaJole on Jul 16, 2015 20:19:36 GMT
My daughter brings some kneaded eraser with her so she'll have something to fiddle with.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dori~Mama~Bear on Jul 16, 2015 21:21:25 GMT
When daughter was young I had one of those organizers (she called it her car fun pouch) that hang over the back of the front seat. It had paper, books, colored pencils because crayons and pens are not safe in cars. She had a couple of the ball puzzle things that you roll the ball around and put it in the hole. They are clear plastic boxes. She has one still that she never did get rid of it has 4 levels It is a cube and it has many balls on each level and you have to get all the balls in the holes. She had a mini etch a sketch. a few hand held games. Ok they didn't have tablets back then so we had hand held games for her. these things stand in the car all the time. every time she got in the car they were there for her. I do like the idea of magnets and a cookie pan. As she got older she had word search books and other puzzle books. She also had a my first cassette player or what ever the name of it was. player with ear phones She had some music but she also had audio books from the library. She loved them. My mom bought her a view finder that changed into binoculars she loved them. Still has them. I had to laugh because a couple days before she left she was laying on her bed looking through the view finder. She has lots of discs for that.
husbands partner and his wife got their daughter (she is now 3 but was 2 when she got it) a tablet for toddlers. she loves it. It is one of the ones you have to buy games for. They take it every where with her. She has a little bag to carry it in. She only has 3 games for it. we went to dinner with them one night an she was sitting at the table playing with it. It was fun. We all took turns playing with her with it. They travel be tween here and Salem Oregon a lot so she has to have something to keep her busy. They also have a not sure what it is called but it is kinda like a etch a sketch but you have a stylus that you draw on it instead of the knobs. She really likes that too.
|
|
mlana
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,523 
|
Post by mlana on Jul 16, 2015 21:34:10 GMT
My DD loved the CD/book sets from the library. Each kit had the audio cds for the book as well as a copy of the book being read. DD loved to listen to stories that were above her reading level, and being able to follow along meant that she increased her familiarity with vocabulary, sentence structure and punctuation. I had a cheap cd player but nice earphones so she could listen to her book while we listened to something we found enjoyable. As she and DS ages, we all listened to the same books and had some great discussions. We often made out of town trips just so we could listen to a new book as a family.
My DS loved the coloring books that you could buy at book stores. They were detailed and might cover the development of armor over time or some historical time period's architecture. DD also enjoyed coloring. I usually brought colored pencils rather than crayons because of the melting.
Both kids also enjoyed playing the quiz games based on age or grade levels. Dd especially loved reading the questions aloud and this worked well for us when we played a game that was more age appropriate for DS.
Marcy
|
|
newlywoods03
Pearl Clutcher
Blessed Beyond Measure
Posts: 2,828
Jun 26, 2014 3:09:09 GMT
|
Post by newlywoods03 on Jul 16, 2015 21:45:08 GMT
Travel Tray We ordered a couple of those for our trip last spring. The kids were able to use them to color on, puzzles, playdoh, stickers, school type workbooks, books, dry erase board ect. We went to the Dollar store and stocked up on crafts to do, stickers, coloring books. We brought out something new every 30mins or so, sometimes it was a snack and other times it was something new to play with/work on. We also had the DVD player and leappad as well.
|
|
|
|
Post by Dori~Mama~Bear on Jul 16, 2015 22:16:40 GMT
I like the travel tray. I want one for myself. when we go on road trips I find my self never having enough hands for holding stuff when eating. hmmm they need to make something like that for adults. and then when I have to hold the spoiled one I can put a blanket on it and lay him on it instead of on my boobs
|
|
|
|
Post by cynipidae17 on Jul 16, 2015 22:22:47 GMT
When my youngest was 2 I made one of those busy bottles. I filled a bottle with glitter and shaped sequins and water then glued the cover shut. She still plays with it(she is 3). I think I found directions on Pinterest
|
|
caangel
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,441
Location: So Cal
Member is Online
|
Post by caangel on Jul 17, 2015 6:00:49 GMT
For the 5yo make a simple count down grid. 1 square for each hour that they can fill with a sticker. This helps a lot with "are we there yet" question. I usually put an extra 1 or 2 squares just incase a stop goes long or we hit a lot of traffic. It is always nice to say we will be there sooner than expected.
|
|
|
|
Post by ljs1691 on Jul 17, 2015 15:38:12 GMT
I made my own activity book with a cute binder, some page protectors, print outs and dry erase crayons. I have dots game, mazes, simple word search, pictures, tracing shapes, etc. Just print out games and such appropriate for the age, put them in the page protectors you can change them out as the kids get older to suit their needs. You could certainly use dry erase markers that are washable instead but when I first put our binder together, they were not available.
Also, a felt board with a couple of different scenes to create. I think ours was a day at the zoo with animals and such and I'm not sure about the other, but something with cars or dolls might be good.
|
|
|
|
Post by jamielynn on Jul 17, 2015 17:34:48 GMT
We do many of the things already mentioned. The iPad with a few movies is the last resort.
I often times buy the McDonald's toys when they are good without the food. I pull these out for something new in the car/plane and they are a big hit. Our store charges $1 for them.
We also have a water painting book that dries and you can reuse. That was like $5 at the fancy toy store but I have seen them at michaels and hobby lobby too. You put a teaspoon of water in a sealed pencil to use.
I also keep meaning to buy one of those water tube toys where you push the button and the stream of bubbles moves around rings or whatever the theme is. Our fancy toy store has that too.
I try to have new things for the car but I take our toddler alone on road trips from time to time and we fly a lot; so I'm not looking for things that might work; I need things that will work.
|
|
|
|
Post by ten&rose on Jul 17, 2015 17:47:52 GMT
My biggest tip is to talk it up as a fun fun car trip. Also, get them up at the butt crack of dawn and try to hit the road no later than 0600. My three sleep for awhile and we stop for breakfast mid morning and then a late lunch. It breaks up the day.
|
|
