You all were amazing at the meeting today! Thanks for your ideas! Remember to use this blog for anything- great ideas, annoucements, etc. Make it your favorites. We'll all get a lesson our our forum website too!
All the fun ideas below can be created for SUPER cheap. Even if you won't go to second hand stores or garage sales for your family, they are THE BEST place for small toys, craft supplies, and extras that your kids will love and never know or care where they came from!
1. Kathy Fair's Driving Wheel for Peace. A handmade cirlce that gives her kids a visual que on how much time they have left in the car together. Each hour ( or half hour or whatever), the kids physically remove part of the wheel so they can see how much time they have left.
2. http://www.momsminivan.com/ 101 car travel games including Battleship
3. "I unpacked my grandma's truck and I took out an..." Finish the sentence with something from each letter of the alphabet.
4. Clear Shoebox for each kid to give messy snacks, toys, and other surprises in
5. ABC game...Arthur from the Amazon loves Avacados. Burt from Bigtown likes burgers...
6. Magna Doodles- hours of endless fun! Challenge your kids "Everyone draw a tree and show me! Now a fish, etc"
7. I spy inside the car and outside the car
8. DVD players!!!!! Personal ones so no one has to fight over movies or car ones for everyone
9. Nintendo DS
10. Old School Hand Held Games like Solitair, Connect FOur, etc- the kids still like the super cool stuff from when we were young too.
11. Cookie Sheets with magnets
12. Books
13. Usborne 100 things to do cards http://www.amazon.co.uk/Things-Journey-Usborne-Activity-Cards/dp/1409501000
14. Make up new word to common songs- use kids names
15. Dum Dum Suckers to keep little mouths busy!
16. Before a really long road trip, get a special treat bag with lots of goodies. Have the bag be your car bag. Every hour or certain amount of time, get out new things for everyone- toys, books, CD's, DVDs, coloring books, activity pads, crayons, markers, etc.
17. Wrap up small second hand toys that are new or even their own beloved toys from home in bright wrapping paper. Surprise them by giving them a "gift" throughout the roadtrip. Little ones will find the unwrapping just as much fun as the treat inside.
18. Don't just give the books to your kids to read, read to them. The passenger seat is a great place to hold the book out so all little eyes can see.
19. Dress up in the car. As an activity bring a bag with items such as mismatched socks, hats, scarves, glasses, etc. Hand them out and have everyone do something silly ( scarved wrapped around leg, socks on hands, etc.)
20. Play G rated "Would you Rather" to have some fun open conversations. "Would you rather eat a bottle of ketchup or mustard" "Would you rather skin your knee on the playground or get a really bad papercut"
21. Tell a story together. have everyone add to it...Once there was a girl names Sue and she was 12 feet tall....then have the next person in the car add to it. This game is even fun for toddlers.
22. Negotiate personal times- for the kids and parents " I'm going to read books and tell stories with your for 10 more minutes and then you need to find something to do on your own for awhile" Don't entertain the kids all the time. They too need to learn to sit still, be quiet, and play independently.
23. Stretch out Snacks. DOn't give them all their snack at once, keep giving them parts of it througout a period of time. Crackers now, apple in 10 minutes, then a cookie 10 minutes after that.
24. Don't Rest at the Rest Stops! Move. Actually spend 10 minutes there instead of just bathroom breaks and back in the car. The kids need the physical activity. it might wear them out and then they might nap or it gets their blood flowing,the bad moods gone, and gives them enough energy to get through a few more hours in the car. Get those kids running and jumping and moving. tell them to run around the pavilion three times or race to the garbage can and back. Create printed scavenger hunts ahead of time for the rest stop ( find one piece of trash, three green leaves, a bottle top, a tourist information pamphlet, etc)
25. Turn on music TOGETHER! CD's, radio- it doesn't matter. Whether you sing along or just sit and listen it gets the mind moving and your kids appreciating music!
26. Books on tape or CD. The library has TONS of these. Don't think your kids won't listen. Try. They need to practice their audiological skills just as much as visual skills. Get a great book on tape. Teach them to listen. It takes adults awhile to adjust and concentrate. Talk about it first. You may have to rewind and replay the first chapter again to be sure they actually heard it!
Great ideas everyone! I feel empowered to try some new things! Add to our comments section with anything else you think of!
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2 comments:
Ladies... you all have such wonderful ideas! I will be using many of them for our long car ride in Feb. to Disney with the boys! Thank you so much for being such wonderful, creative & sharing Moms! You're the BEST!!!
You can see the different type of Usbourne Cards at www.usbournebooks.com. Also someone usually has a booth at the Celebrations and One Week Boutique. They also have some cool sticker books. Loved the plastic shoe box idea, will be on the look for those, thanks.
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