Top Ten Road Trip Tips for Entertaining Toddlers in the Car

So we are back from our family reunion trip to Utah, and I am pleased to report that it went very well! I had visions on screaming children and hours of headaches, but we only had a few tears and at the time I couldn't say that I blamed them. I was very ready to get out of the car too!

I was very worried that we would all be miserable the whole way there so I gathered and stowed away all sorts of things to keep the kiddos entertained and prevent as much misery as possible. Some items worked very well and were used multiple times! Some were short lived and then rejected henceforth and forever, and some items were never touched. Here is my list of what worked for us.

1. Movies! This was the all time winner for hours of distraction and happy driving! I bought Toy Story (1) and a couple Veggie Tales (we are Veggie Tales fanatics at our house), but the majority of movies we brought we already had. Wall-E was the most watched on the trip, and it is also the most watched at home. One trick I used was to put away some of the movies we already owned and them bring them out especially for the trip. So it was like they were getting a brand new movie! Yep, I had to think in advance for this one! :) You don't have to go out and buy a high end car DVD player (although that would have been really nice). We just used our laptop to play the movies.

2. Music was the second best anti-cry mechanism. I had a bunch of cheapo children's silly songs cd's (not to highly enjoyed by the adults, but very mich liked by the kids), a couple Veggie Tales cd's(liked by both kid's and adults), some Rozenshontz(I know I spelled that wrong), and some Brite Music. If the kids started getting cranky, just pop in one of these babies and revel in the absence of whining! Music is a great tool. Find some that both adults and littles can enjoy.

3. Don't forget to bring a favorite toy or blanket! I was worried about losing A's beloved Thomas the train(not cheap), but I was so glad to have him on the trip with us! He plays with it every single day, and I just know he would have been constantly asking for his Thomas. He was usually fine as long as he had his Thomas. Traveling and being out of their normal routine can be stressful and difficult for some children. Favorite toys or blankets are comforting.

4. Color books were great for my B.! He just discovered coloring a week or two before the trip and what great timing! He would color and color and color some more. Older kids might like color books with activities in them. A. doesn't like coloring. He would rather watch me color! I think the key is finding something your kids really like and adapt it for the car. A. loves his trains, but we can't set up a track in the car, so he just played freestyle with a few trains, cars and a new helicopter I found for him for the trip. New stuff is always good too. My sisier does the present method. She buys several things that she knows they will like to do in the car, and then wraps them up, and on the trip they open one whenever they need a little pick me up. I have heard of this working for other families as well. I did not do this for this trip because right now I can easily hide things and then just whip them out when I want. Most of the new things were color books, and a couple small toys and few movies. The movies were in the case with the rest of the DVD's, the color books were all together were they couldn't really see, and the toys were small enough you couldn't really see them amidst all the other stuff! So no need for wrapping this time around.

5. Sticker books are fun and different. The ones that have restickable stickers are the best! Magnets are also great for some kids. You can just use a small cookie pan or cake pan and break out a bag of magnets. It is super easy to make your own magnets out of those advertising magnets(I will have a tutorial on this soon).

6. Pointing out things that might interest them makes riding in the car more interesting. We saw numerous trains on our way and whenever we would point them out to A he would say in a hushed, reverent tone, "train!". He was so excited to see a real train!

7. Snacks are vital for the traveling toddler! Have things that they can feed themselves like cereal, grapes, carrot sticks, crackers, or raisnins. Maybe a specail treat of something you don't usually have as a reward for being so good in the car? We had cookies at the end of one day. Before out trip I bought the munchkin snack bowls that are suposed to be spill proof. There is a flexible lid thing that you can reach though and get you snacks. They worked great for A. (3 year old), but B. (16 months) had a little trouble getting his snacks out. So give it a try if you have an older toddler.

8. Story books are great if you can read in the car. I cannot read in the car for very long because if gives me a headache and then the headache makes me nauseous. The books I brought were mainly for bedtime, but I read a few in the car and the boys really liked that. I wish I could have lasted longer. It was easier to read books that I had read to them over and over and over because I knew them by heart so I could look out the window and just turn pages as needed.

9. Have a little down time in the car too. I found that it was nice for everyone to have a break from the movies and the books and hubub for a while. Just look out the window. Maybe put on some realxing music(but not too relaxing music-gotta keep the driver awake!).

10. It is very important to have some run around time as well. Whenever we would stopp to fill up on gas or grab a bite to eat, we always let them run around as much as possible. Get those wiggles out while you can! Everyone will be much happier!