This will be our very first, very long (like 18 hours one way) road trip.
I'm sure it will be fantastic, an awesome adventure, but the organized part of me is kind-of dreading being cooped up in a car for that long. So I'm going to do my very best to have lots of "stuff" for the kiddos to do so that all the "are we there yets" don't drive me totally crazy!
I've got the standards: portable dvd player, ipod, Nintendo DS......but I need other helpful hints and tips!
Any great iPhone apps for me or the kids that are must haves? Great snack ideas? Make ahead games for us to enjoy?
I'll take anything you've got....the planning is already underway....I want it to be as smooth as possible!
Thanks in advance, from a mom who doesn't want to loss her mind before she even gets to her destination!
8 comments:
Traci, When Mike was about 5 we went to California---long car trip. We made a cloth sack and filled it with goodies---every morning before we left the motel he could put his hand in and get one thing---a toy, a book, a snack, just a variety of inexpensive things---some neat some probably boring. My Mom gave me some money to help buy the things so he knew the gifts were from grandparents and us too. It made getting dressed, leaving TV cartoons, etc. a little easier in the mornings if you knew you had a new toy waiting. Another thing we did was one year in Colorado my Dad had given Mike a cloth bank bag--Mike could only bring as many rocks as the bag would hold home so he constantly had to be making choices about which rocks---otherwise we would have brought the entire car trunk home with rocks. We played car bingo and all those silly games but did not have DVD players, video games, etc. and we walked uphill to school, etc. Where are you going on this "great Sullivan adventure"??? marilyn martin
Traci,
We just road tripped to Rapid City, SD and we kept track of how many different state license plates we saw along the way. Roundtrip, Urbandale-Rapid City-Urbandale, we saw 42 of the 50 state plates (2 Alaska's, 3 Canadas and no Washington DC). Maybe print a map of the states that you can check off along the way. See if you can beat 42!!!
Have fun,
Tim
Thanks for the great tips Marilyn....and Tim, well I always like a good challenge....game on buddy! We can totally beat 42!
funny, we leave at the end of july for an 18 hour road trip too!! probably 20 hours with stops i am guessing!
the longest we have done with them is only 6, so i will be anxious to read your comments.
do raid the toy stores travel sections, and even target has some cool travel games by their luggage.
i have heard to pack a jump rope, frisbee and soccer ball, etc to use at rest stops, but it might be too dern hot!
kerry
I can say from experience that the kids will handle the trip much better than the adults....my girls always surprise me with long trips....they are almost easier than the 3-4 hour trips because they know going into it that it is a LONG trip! Good luck!!! If you will be anywhere near GA (or gulf shores....the girls and I are going there to visit friends at the end of July) let us know!! :)
Surprisingly with all the long car trips we have taken with Palmer, he has done great. He seemed to do better when he was younger. One thing he enjoys is looking at a map or atlas to see where we are going and/or have been. Maybe pick up a couple smaller ones that each kid can have. We also play games with the atlas - asking if he can find the state capitol, certain cities, certain roads, etc.
Also, don't forget about Redbox for movies. You can get one here and drop it at the first Redbox you come across and get another movie at that one and so on. It's great for trying "new" movies that they don't have and cheap at $1/movie/day. The $1 bins at Target are great for getting fun items - I usually get a fun notebook of some type that Palmer can either write in, put stickers in, draw in or whatever he wants. A friend of ours also keeps track of what type of roadkill they come across on their travels. Just something a little different!
Jodi R.
I second the Redbox comment above. We have found that to be a great way to watch newer movies for only a dollar. We use them all the time traveling to Ohio.
If you don't have the idea already I would suggest clipboards or lap desks, too. My kids like to color and write (make lists) and they find it easier if they have a hard surface.
We do the license plate game as well. I think it's more exciting for me to see an unusual state than the kids. But having a pocket atlas would allow them to see how far the other car has traveled to be on the same road. Road trips are fun family bonding!
We doodle with the Ed Emberly drawing books (you can borrow ours or check out Amazon). www.crayola.com has great color pages with state info sheets, birds, flags etc. I only pack colored pencils. Ever try to scrub melted crayon out of van carpet? (Dawn and a power washer works.) We still like color wonder books too. We have tried kids books on cd from the library some are ok and some are hard on the parents. I also have the kindle app on my phone. There are lots of free or library rental e books online. Have fun!
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