Any ideas on how to keep two children happy and entertained on a long vacation drive? (11 hours)?

Question

Hi, I have a 6 yrs old son and a 20 month old daughter, we are leaving this Friday for vacation, it will be about an 11 hour drive. Any ideas on how to keep them happy and entertained? Also what are the best things to take to eat and drink on a long drive like that. I have a few toys I plan to take and I have a portable dvd player but does anyone else have any other ideas, this will be a super long drive for them. We do plan to stop a few times but not for long periods. there is a total of 20 family members following each other, so we will not be able to just stop if they are getting bored with the ride. any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

Games To Play
With Children In The Car
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Traveling with children is always an adventure. When we took our first big car trip with our daughter while she was being potty trained, it didn't take more than three minutes for her to say "I gotta go!" Yes, traveling with children can be an experience.
By making regular car trips of 200 to 300 miles every couple of months, we have learned many tricks for traveling with children. For instance, we let our children pack a snack bag for long car trips (with our supervision of course). They decide when they will eat their snacks. They know that there will be no other snacks during the trip and they must pace themselves. We also let each child pick at least one audio cassette for the trip which we will play for them during the car ride. But the best trick we have is our collection of car games.

Car games are a terrific way to entertain children and yourself too! The games pass the time, stimulate thought, and can educate the children! The great thing about car games is they can be played by many different aged children. Imaginative use of car games is all that is needed to modify them for different ages.

Many of the games we play in the car are games you probably played as a kid, but have forgotten all about...such as 20 Questions and Geography. Some of the others we play may be new to you, but are also winners. And keep in mind, these games are also great when you are in waiting rooms; on line somewhere; or waiting for a table in a restaurant. They don't have to be played in a car!

20 QUESTIONS

20 Questions is truly a classic game. It can be played by children of all ages. There are many variations of the game. We will describe only one variation of the game.

One person thinks of something which falls under the category of animal, mineral, or vegetable and then tells the other players which category is correct. The players then take turns asking questions which can be answered with a YES or NO. For instance, if the category is animal a player might ask "Can it fly?" or "Does it have four legs?" And after 20 questions are asked, if the players have not already guessed the answer, each player gets a last chance to make a guess. Afterwards, a new player tries to stump the group.

GEOGRAPHY

Geography is another classic game. But Geography is not for younger children. This game is best for children ages 8 and up. Not only do they enjoy the game, they know enough locations to be able to play the game well. Although the fine points of the game may vary from place to place, this is how the basic game is played.

Someone starts by naming a country such as Japan. The next person must name a country whose name begins with the last letter of the previously named country. In this case, Japan ends in N, so a country which begins with N must be named such as Nigeria. And then, since Nigeria ends in an A, the next person's country must start with an A. And so on until someone gets stumped.

Please note, some people play the game with city names; names of rivers or other bodies of water; and in the United States it is often played with state names. Set your own rules and have fun!

NAME GAME

Simple, yet a fun game. Perfect for children of all ages. Think of a name. Then tell the group whether it is a boy's or girl's name, and tell them the first letter of the name. The group then tries to guess the name by calling out all the names they can think of which start with the appropriate letter. That's it. Simple, but fun!

ALPHABET MEMORY GAME

Great for children of all ages. An excellent way to help reinforce a preschooler's ABCs, yet fun for the elementary school aged child too!

The first person starts with the letter A and say "A is for ---" filling in the blank with any word beginning with the letter A such as APPLE, ARTICHOKE, AIRPLANE, etc. Let's use APPLE. The second person then does the letter B, but must also remember what A was! So, let's say the second person decides to use the word BOOK for B, the second person would say" A is for APPLE and B is for BOOK.

You continue your way through the alphabet. By the time you get up to the letter Z the player will have to recite each and every letter with its corresponding item. The game takes a while and kids love it, particularly if you throw in some silly words or phrases like S IS FOR SMELLY TOES.

The ABC Game- Object to complete the alphabet first. As you see the letters on billboards & license plates you shout out your letter and point. Once a letter has been claimed other players cannot use the same letter. Make it harder by limiting to only license plates or billboard signs.
The Theme Song Game- Just silly & fun. One person hums the tune to a favorite TV show (here you can tell I grew up in the 70's) ex: Hawaii Five-0, Gilligan's island, Flipper, Brady Bunch, etc... the one who guesses does the next song.

Guess what I am- One person states they are either a person, place or thing and the others then ask questions (are you blue, can you speak, do you bark, can you be eaten, etc) until they guess what the person is, then they are next.

Contributed by Vicki Shaw



Alphabet Signs: [A variation of the ABC game above]

One person chose the right side of the road and the other person had the left. The object of the game was to cite all of the letters of the alphabet ,in order, from a to z. You could only use a sign for one letter. The person on the left side usually had to sit sideways and read signs as they receded. The first person to z won.

Animals/Cities/Geography:

We also played a game we took turns naming animals (for example). Each person would have to name another animal (no repeating) that started with the last letter of the last animal named. This game could be played with cities (as we got older) or geographical regions (as we got older still). We even have an 'expert' version where all the geographical regions must start and end with an 'a'. (AsiA, Aegean SeA, AmericA, AtlantA, etc.)

Contributed by Brian Litteral

The Cow Game



This is a car game called "The Cow Game". We are a family of four, so 2 of us take the right side of the road and 2 the left. You keep a count of all the cows you pass throughout the day. But every time you pass a

cemetery on your side of the road, you lose all your points. The winner at the end of the day's drive gets a treat! (It used to be a nickel, but times have changed.)

Contributed by Susie Stranz


The Animal Car Game (Similar to the Cow game)

We usually play on long car trips through the country, because animals are in more abundance there. Everyone in the car plays and looks for certain animals alongside the road. The animals looked for are ONLY the domesticated kind, because birds would be almost impossible and the game would be over too fast and would be too boring. As one person spots an animal, they say the sound the animal makes and gets a certain amount of points for that animal. ex: cow--moo!, horse-neigh, cat-meow.... etc.

The points are given on the difficulty of the animal that was spotted: cow-1 horse-1 dog-1 sheep-2 llama-3 cat-3 donkey-3 pig-4 (rarely seen, except on REALLY long trips)

anything else spotted everyone must agree on the amount of points given. The game is usually played until a player gets to a certain amount.. we usually play 10 points and that lasts about a half-hour in the countryside... have fun!

Contributed by Katie

My father owns a grocery store

One player begins the round by stating, "My father owns a grocery store, and in it he sells (something that begins with the letter A; e.g., apples)." The next player states, "My father owns a grocery store, and in it he sells apples and (something that begins with the letter B; e.g., bananas)." It goes around and around with each player having to recite the entire list and then adding a new entry for the next letter of the alphabet.

If someone misses an item or gets completely stumped, they're supposed to be "out." But I have to say, we'd give them clues to keep things moving along. It's not a game which one needs to win; everyone wins by participating and making the drive more fun.

During my road tripping teen years, my friends and I altered it to, "My father owns a music store..." in which we'd have to name bands, song titles, album titles, or whatever.

Contributed by Sue


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My Mother owns a grocery store

Someone who knows how to spell goes first and says,

"My mother owns a grocery store and in it she has something that begins with the letter _."

Others in the car guess items that begin with that letter. If it is hard to guess, clues can be provided if there was an effort by the players. Whoever guesses right goes next. Can be hilarious if a non-speller stumbles into an answer as they have no idea what to say for their turn giving clues. Parents can easily make slower guessers into winners as the object to be guessed is known only by them on their turn.

Variations can be created for older kids such as "owns a department store," "owns a bookstore".

Contributed by Leo, Midwest - Thank you!

Answer 2

Wow long drive for two little people!

Juice boxes are a plus and plenty of water depending on if your child likes water. Crackers are great, but try to sweep out the crumbs at a rest stop. Basically anything that you normally give you children as a snack on a day to day basis, and they are happy with should be fine. Being over prepared is better than being under prepared. Plenty of the baby or sanitary wipes are a must, for sneezes, messes, and all around cooling that little face and neck.
Search your local dollar stores for the cheap toys and buy some that you think would interest your children. Coloring books, crayons, and those cheap magnet boards with the letters. Have a goody bag and only pull out one activity at a time to keep things new when other things become boring. You are on the right track with a portable dvd player. Stickers are also great fun. It's ok if they end up on the windows, because goo be gone and windex take care of the stickyness.
With family they will understand if certain breaks need to be taken out of schedule, due to respect of having little people aboard.
Last, but not least bring all the patience that you can muster. As long as you let the children out with you at the rest stops to stretch their legs as well, you will ease the uneasy. :)

Much Luck!

PS Search for parenting.com and click "family travel" on their homepage for great tips

Answer 3

The DVD player should keep them entertained for the most part. The 20 month old (if she's anything like my 16 month old) will probably sleep most of the way there, even if it's not the normal time she sleeps - as long as the brother leaves her alone. :)

As far as snacks, I would take fruit snacks, sandwiches, easy stuff that won't stink or make a mess. Fruit drinks and sippy cups (even for the older one) are live savers. My almost 5 year old still drinks out of a sippy when we go on long trips. Try not to give them too much to drink or you're going to have to stop more often.

Good luck, and remember to bring a variety of DVDs if this is possible..... because the same one over and over will not cut it.

Answer 4

Oh I just want to say I pity you. First if you can start the trip at night so they can sleep most of the time that would help greatly. ( 3 hours of awake time v/s 11) I just took my 7 and 4 year old on a 3 hour trip and that was not grand. I gave them crayons and coloring books. we played a game where we would drawl pictures and everyone guessed what it was. A dvd player will help for the 6 year old.
as for snacks and stuff I would take stuff that is filling so they do not want to eat and drink the whole time or this will add to needing to stop for potty breaks. stay away from milk that can curdle on the stomach when kids are on long trips.
Good Luck

Answer 5

I myself am getting ready to embark on a similar journey in September with my almost 4 year old. Right now, we do a lot of traveling between states to see family members and the best thing I have found along with the portable dvd player is this....I have one of those tv trays in the back for my daughter, it is one that has pockets on both sides and also a cupholder. I then pack a coloring book and a construction pad in the pockets and I have 2 containers that I purchased from The Container Store that have 3 stackable compartments and they all interlock, and have a handle to carry easily.....1 container I keep stickers in one, crayons in the middle and markers and pens in another. In the other interlocking container, I keep her snacks, her favorite cereal in one, fruit snacks in another and cheez-its in the last. They are very handy and easy enough for her to work herself and with the tv tray, she can keep herself entertained for quite some time while traveling, all the while, making cute little pictures along the way. This has worked great for the numerous 2 hour trips we make, I hope it will work for the upcoming extended trip also. Hopefully this helps a little. =^..^=

Answer 6

Man, that is a tough age to try to entertain since they can't read the road signs and play normal "I see" travel games. The dvd player is going to help a lot. Make sure you take snacks...fruit snacks, cheerios, juice boxes etc. Also, if you can travel at night while they sleep it would help a lot. I would also get some children's music on cd or cassette so you can sign along during the times when they start getting to bored to watch dvds. Good luck and enjoy your vacation! Dont forget to bring some books for them to look at too!!

Answer 7

When I took my daughters cross country, we planned plenty of stops for them and us. We also brought activity type games.tyos for them - coloring books, etc. The younger one may need a little more attention and may get cranking from sitting for long periods, be patient and stop for breaks. I also planned my driving for the first day in the evening, this way the kids slept for several hours and I made good time driving because I didn't have to stop every few hours to give the kids a break. Also, sing songs, point out interesting things on the road, this an adeventure for them and you so make it lots of fun.

Answer 8

We are driving East Coast to West Coast, leaving the day before you. I bought some new movies and have them hidden until I show them. I have a few new toys that I wrapped up for them (Lego, spy glass, etc.) that as they get whiny I can bring out a surprise. I have raisins, goldfish cracker, fruit snacks, fruit bars, I would pack fresh fruit but we are weaving back and forth from Canada to the US and I am not sure what can cross the border when it comes to fruit. The kids each have 2 water bottles and a litter-less juice box. My five year old has his own map to follow where we are going. Good luck!

Answer 9

Too bad you are following other family members. My husband and I used to put the kids into their pajames, leave at 8 pm and my daughters just slept almost the entire way. Then you only have 2-3 hours of entertaining them in the car.

Answer 10

I think the dvds should keep them occupied or bring a sing along cd of the wiggles or something if they like them for snacks I would bring lots of fruit carrot sticks celery peanut butter and water or 100% fruit juice keep the sugar down b/c then they will get antsy and want to move around

Answer 11

Get a portable DVD or VCR for the car and bring their favorite movies with you. I have driven cross country 2 or 3 times with this little trick and it does work.