Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Non Media Travel Ideas
My sister-in-law Kristin called me today and asked for some travel ides. They are moving cross country in a month and have a 2 yr old and a 5 month old. I had some ideas for her from our last summer trek out to WA but I'm always up for new ideas. So ladies I know there are plenty of you out there who have to travel cross country to visit family and I want your little travel gems. I want ideas that are non-tech as much as possible. Maybe you have a good sing-a-long CD that doesn't drive parents crazy or something like that but plug in the DVD player isn't quite what I'm looking for. I know it has it uses but I prefer it as a last resort or at least for the trip home when all other mental mom powers are exhausted. I'll compile your ideas in another post and we'll see how much fun we can have keeping our children (and ourselves) happy while we hit the road. Thanks for your help!
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my kids love the crayola wonder packages - i dont mind them either because i dont have to supervise them since the markers only work on the paper and not on hands, doors, windows or carseats! Perfect!
Magnet Pan. I once used an old covered cake pan, sort of like {this}. A metal lunch box would work too. Fill w/ ABC or other small magnets. They store on the inside & play on the outside.
Coloring Books also stored in plastic bins. The bins make great "lap desks".
Travel Pals On the back of the front seat (if that makes sense), I hung a mesh laundry bag filled w/ their fav stuffed "Travel buddies".
Goody Bags. Once when driving from UT to IN I made goody bags. I decorated brown lunch sacks and then filled them each with a small toy or activity. I scoured the dollar store for weeks for ideas and trinkets. Also, I added a little treat like a fruit snack,smarties, etc. Everytime we crossed a state line, we'd "celebrate" by opening up a bag. It gave them something to look foward to!
Make-Your-Own activity pads. I googled "coloring pages" and "free printables" to find some new activities. for my older ones, I used free state printables so they could read some fast facts about that state. Here are just a few sites:
Kidzone, kidzone State Printables, Lucy Learns, Moms Minivan Printable Travel games
Kids Magazines. In their totes with their coloring pages,I splurged on kids "magazines" for them. I found some "nick Jr" and "disney playhouse" magazines at Wal-Mart. Of course I use "the friend" too.
Game Jar. I had wrote down activity ideas on strips of paper. Every EVEN hour, I would let one kid pick out a "game" from the game jar. Ideas:
1 - "How many ______ do you see?" Have the kids look out the window to see if they can find a 10 or 20 of a said item. For example, "horses", "flags", "red cars" etc. Count out loud; see if you can find 20 before moving onto the next one.
2 - 20 Questions. Have them use yes/no questions to figure out the item you're thinking of.
3 - Singing. We always sang in the car when we got tired of the radio/CDs/(iPods). Anyway, in order to keep everyone happy, I would let each child take a turn picking a song and then we'd all sing together.
4 - Create a Story. This is sort of like Mad Libs, for toddlers. I'd say a story-starter, like, "Once there was a fish named..." and the kids would fill in the blank. Then I'd say, "and everyday {name of fish} would..." and so on and so forth. Sometimes I'd ask, "Then what'd he do?" to see what they would come up with.
5 - Story Hour. Pick a book from the book bag and I'd read it out loud to everyone.
6 - Paper Fans. Basically they colored and decorated their own paper. Then, I taught them how to fold it accordian style. They really loved this. Then if they were too hot, they had their own fans!
7 - Exercises. I would say things like stretch your legs out in front of you. Slowly look as far as you can to your left, and then hold it for 5 seconds. (repeat to the right). Sit up really tall. Now, shirnk down really small. Touch your chin to your chest and hold for 10 seconds. Reach really high and see if you can touch the ceiling. Shake your hands out. Now, give yourself a hug. They thought it was funny, but it was a good reminder for me to stretch too.
8 - Draw What You See. Let the road trip be their inspiration. If you have colored pencils, this works great. My daughter drew a bridge once, while one of my sons tried to draw a "cool car" he saw on the interstate. My other son drew a pic of McDonald's arches. Because A - he loves food and B - we could see them from the freeway! lol!
Hmm, we drove from Utah to NJ and back not too long ago...maps to see where you've been and where you're going, post-it notes, pipe cleaners, finger puppets!, twistable crayons (they don't melt, don't require sharpening and don't mark on the upholstery as easily as pens), play jewelry...basically half the car was packed with fun things to do, but our kids were too little to really play any travel games. Oh and of course, something to snuggle with for each kid. I forgot one for Nicole who was 1 at the time and luckily my sister had more foresight than I did and gave her one.
wow! What great ideas! Is one of you available for hire to coordinate the kids activities for my trip from OH to NM? = ) Thanks for sharing!
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