We're going on a great southern / midwest tour and have some awesome sites to visit and activities planned at our destinations, and I know I can pack a movie a day for "quiet time / downtime", some books and a couple small toys, but what else can you suggest to keep the time in the car interesting? Any ideas welcome. We really want some quality family time, we want the kids to see the country and learn about it, but we also want happy kids. The kids are 3 and 6, we will be stopping for breaks pretty often, but any games or ideas are welcome, for future use also.
We play "Tractors, Deer, and Turkeys."
Basically, you get points for what you see. Tractors are 1 point (no construction equipment or lawn mowers...farm tractors only). Deer are 5 points and turkeys are 10 points.
You can subsitute anything. We've played Mustangs, Cameros, and Peterbilts on the highway. :-)
The kids REALLY get into it.
When we go on trips we compile a c.d. to listen to. Then we label it San Diego 2010, or Summer Vacation 2012. Our kids are a little older now so it is fun to get their input that isn't riddled with "The Wiggles" or "Barney" songs.
We are taking the kids at the end of this summer for 2 weeks in Hawaii. We are already talking about what songs to put on the family vacation c.d. Can't wait to roll down the windows and belt out a little Goo Goo Dolls and The Killers...while driving the coastline in a swimsuit with my family.
I make up bags of snacks and keep them in the front seat. Every hour I pitch a baggie to each of the kids. We love doing Mad Libs also.
Play the "lets tell a story game." It will be fun and adventurous with your little ones. My hubby or I start making up a story for about a minute..then when it gets to a potentially good part you pass it on to the next person. Then they develop the story even more...then pass it on to another person. Ours usually end with someone getting eaten by a shark or falling in a volcano...and poop and farts enter the plot somehow every time!
Enjoy the road trip!!
We sing (badly), play beaver rack - that is a point for a wood grain car and a point for a roof rack - and punch buggy - that is a high five for a VW beetle - you can add points for convertible and on the move/parked. Really it will work for anything you want to see - trucks, boats, billboards, etc. The 6 year old may be old enough for geography but the 3 year old isn't. You could play that while the 3 year old is napping. We have never done videos and we started doing a 9 hour drive with DS when he was a year old. He actually looks forward to it each summer.
Stop at a truck stop and buy a set of road bingo cards...lots of fun. ;) I also like the Mystery Man (or something) puzzle books with the magic pen, but perhaps those are still a bit old for your children.
I like the road trip bingo that's always fun. You can play I spy. Some of the other things would be harder for the 3 year old to do. But you can play the alphabet game with signs and billboards and stuff like that.
we got books on cds for the kids... little house on the prarie... was 6 cds... so about 6 hours.. it really helped pass the time. we did ipads.. colored.. sang
we stopped every 3 horus for potty breaks... and made sure we were at a hotel by 5 or 6 so the kids could swim.. make sure each hotel has a pool that is not being remodeled!!
