Long car journey tips and trick

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caza

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 8:32 pm

We are going to be travelling on a 14 hour journey. I am looking for any tips and tricks that will make it easier.
Also any games or activities that are best to entertain the kids.
My kids ages are 2-9.
TIA

amother

Blushpink

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 8:36 pm

Boogie board
Rubix cube
Rush hour jr
Sticker activities
Magnet board

I let each kid take a backpack and pack what they want in it...as long as they can carry it.

essie14

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 8:37 pm

Melissa and Doug sticker books. Find them on Amazon
Ipad with downloaded videos
Sing alongs with their favorite songs on Spotify or YouTube (my DD can do this for an hour at least)

amother

Tuberose

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 8:40 pm

We never traveled that long but these are some things I would suggest.

Stop over at a park, rest area, and have a small snack/meal.
if you are travelling at night it might be worth it to stop at a cheap hotel/inn overnight
plan your trip don't forget to make stops at the gas station for restrooms
have music in the car
have the kids play a game like count how many blue cars they see etc.

amother

Teal

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 8:42 pm

I went to the dollar store and bought each kid a cookie sheet. This was their "work surface".
Coloring books, magnets, play doh, wiki sticks, stickers all work on there.
I printed out license plate pages for the older kids and car bingo and stuck them in plastic sheet protectors so they could use dry erase markers on them
If you're doing screens I highly recommend something like this. Lifesaver for their necks
https://www.amazon.com/Headres.....ss_tl
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09N.....ss_tl

amother

Aconite

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 9:00 pm

I like to print a map with the major cities we'll be passing through. I try to plan a stop every 2 hours, and a longer stop every 4 hours. Every stop, everyone MUST get out of the car. It takes time but it makes the whole trip much more pleasant.

I also made a paper with things to find along the way.

I try to have a treat or small toy or snack to take out every hour of the trip.

Of course story tapes!

amother

Stonewash

Wed, Jun 22 2022, 10:50 pm

I did a much longer road trip with kids 2-10 (and a baby!) here's a list from what I can think of:
PRINT HARD COPIES OF DIRECTIONS for both directions of the trip- you can loose service in some locations and can't always rely exclusively on waze. (My phone broke on the way home and I had to have the hotel print out directions for me)
-Expect the trip to take considerably longer when traveling with kids. You end up needing more breaks than adults only and every break takes longer.
- Each kid had a backpack with an activity booklet, coloring book and crayons, a pop it, regular snacks, books (I think they took some card games and travel games like magnetic checkers, othello, rushour). I kept additional entertainment and nosh with me so it was a surprise and exciting when I passed back a treat or activity for everyone.

-small treats given out every hour
-small bags or jello cups to distribute candy and snacks from bigger bags
-squeeze yogurts and applesauce
-prepare sandwiches before you leave for at least the first meal, so you don't have to stop soon after leaving home cuz kids want real food
- try to time breaks around meals/and davening times and limit extra bathroom breaks if possible
-At rest area, each kid got to choose a soda/drink- was exciting to look for different flavors than we have at home that were kosher
-https://www.momsminivan.com/ is a great resource
-I printed a whole book of travel activites-
-paint with water activity pads- amazing for a 2 year old
-travel activity pads- melissa and doug, or jewish themed from toys 4u
-sticker puzzles by number, dot sticker puzzles (https://rinadina.com/sticker-puzzle-boating/)- they come in different versions for different ages
-fidget tubes, https://www.amazon.com/Fidget-.....ss_tl
most dollar stores sell them also (trust me on this one!!)
-books on cd (we got a series of 10 CDs from the library)
-notebooks for each kid to "journal", stick stickers or color, depending on the age
-ipads with uncle moishy videos and I also downloaded some kids stuff from amazon prime video. iMy kids don't usually watch and I didn't want them watching all day so I limited it to 45 minutes of watching with at least 2 hour breaks, mostly more (unless I was desperate for a quiet break!)
FYI, my kids fight in the car when we drive across town but were excited for the trip and we surprisingly had minimal, almost non-existant fighting and complaining!
Have a safe trip! Try and enjoy.

caza

Thu, Jun 23 2022, 4:22 am

Thank you so much everyone for your ideas, there are some great ideas that I would have never thought of!

amother

Silver

Thu, Jun 23 2022, 5:46 am

We had our minivan fitted with a DVD player before we left on our cross-country trip. And a boat load of cool DVDs. Worked like a dream. We had our DVD-free time too when we played games or talked.
Also came in handy for our 19 hour trip from NJ to FL.