We have a long (9 hours+) car trip coming up. Any great ideas for DD8 and DS4? They love their Auto Bingo cards (http://www.amazon.com/Travel-Roadtr...id=1342548045&sr=8-3&keywords=auto+bingo) and of course we'll bring books, but what else? Please Lord, nothing with little pieces that will fall on the floor of the car.

DS can read--about late 2nd/early 3rd grade level. His fine motor skills are early K level--he can write, but not very well, and he'd rather not do much of it. He can definitely circle and x out. He loves dry-erase things, but we aren't finding much that's on his level these days.

They are freakishly good at Where's Waldo books, so those are no good (they're done in about 15 minutes). I Spy is better, but we've done most of the ones at the library.

I haven't tried it, but a friend of mine said she had good luck with Bendaroos as a car toy.

If you don't have one built in, you might think about bringing a portable DVD player.

Our kids like to draw so we bring a sketch book and colored pencils for each (spiral-bound). If you're ok with crumbs in the car food is also always a big hit

We also charge up our iPad and laptop and let the kids play on them.

If we're really desperate, we go for the DVD Or we bore them to tears until they fall asleep and let them nap

polarbear

Books on CD are a nice ride eater. Sometimes we find a book/CD or two at Cracker Barrel and then drop it off at another one when we are done.

Interactive games we've done:
Name something you see beginning with the next letter in the alphabet (armadillo, boat, car...)

Storytelling handoff... each person contributes a line until the story ends. Can be extra fun with a tape recorder for later.

DS6 will sometimes just watch the scenery and think. But we've learned never to give a time estimate in case he wants to figure out the seconds and count them as we go..... argh

No screens will be on tap; we don't have a portable DVD player, smartphone, or iPad and I wouldn't give them my laptop (no way, Jose).

magna doodle. comes in many different sizes.
have them take turns to draw something that starts with letter A or make it a contest and other kid trys to guess what it is. many other ways to use in creative interactive games.
and no mess, its self contained like etch-a sketch.

get a triptik and use to learn mapping and navigation skills. and math for the how much farther.? i dont know look on the trip tik and add it up.
what's the next city, town over 4,000 etc.....

We supply ours with a large stash of back issues of Highlights, Ask and Muse magazines, as well as an atlas / maps from AAA. And we make sure we have a lot of They Might Be Giants CDs in the car, and all their other favorite music...

DeeDee

Audio books - we get them from the library to save $$. We also make stops -- parks, McDonald's PlayPlaces, etc.

We just did a 13 hour ride with our 7 and 5 year old. They each had 3 books, a small toy, and a bingo game. They were fine. They looked out the window, we talked and told jokes most of the way.
They were fine on the way there and the way back with little to do. And believe me, my children are INTENSE creatures. There is just something about being in the car and being able to look at different landscapes that works. We saw farms, mountains, The Worlds Most Awesome Flea Market (Thank you, God!), parks, hills, trees. They were cool with it.

Audio books?
I'm enjoying 'Luka and the Fire of Life' by Salman Rushdie. Depends on the 4 year old, but it's 5 hours long!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/all-ears!-audiobooks-for-family/id263497549
has 'Phantom Tollbooth' which my son loved at 4. Not sure if it's the whole book or not.
DS also liked listening to the Oz books
http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/book/ozma-of-oz-by-l-frank-baum
Frank L Baum, not Gregory Maguire's version.
Don't feel like you have to start at the beginning - I think Baum was learning his craft on the first one, and I could never get through it.

If you have time to preview, you may enjoy reading aloud the series - http://www.amazon.com/Fairy-Illustrated-AUDIO-Download-ebook/dp/B0076GX3KK
Problem is that some of the stories are just too scary at age 4, 8 or 48!

Good luck!

You've gotten so many great entertainment ideas on here. Any ideas I had have been covered.

We take a lot of long road trips. (Family all over the place.) The best piece of advice I got was to eat our meals in the car, and spend our rest stops playing and exercising, rather than sitting for even more time to eat. Such a small thing has made a huge difference with three small children on our car rides.

Safe travels!

Colorforms.

Someone already mentioned a magnadoodle. Etchasketch is another thing which is awesome for long car rides.

Puzzles-- like Rubik's cubes, etc.

DK books are good because they have a LOT of information packed into captions-- so small bits of reading, high interest level and something new to see/absorb pretty much every time you look. DD especially liked the more-science-oriented ones at that age, but interests vary. Personally, I thought that the one about string instruments was awesome. Best make whatever you provide something that YOU can stand to hear about for a hundred miles or so, though. Take my word. LOL. (Note to self; 'snakes' book = NOOOOO... )

JMO, but I hate pencil games in a car. DD always managed to drop colored pencils/pens and lose parts trying to refill a mechanical at highway speed, and don't even get me started on what a pain pencil shavings are in upholstery. DD has never really gone in for gaming in the car, though she does enjoy her DS for extended trips. (I completely understand not wanting to LISTEN to the darned thing for hours, though...) With younger kids, if you can stand the stench, the Crayola color-wonder products are nice (well, DD liked them when she was.... okay, like two). Sounds like your two are a bit past that point.

Maze/activity books are good for some kids. My DD never was all that fond of crosswords or mazes, but liked some of the other types. Usborne and Dover both have inexpensive examples. There was a brand of these that we used with DD when she was your DS' age... gosh, I wish I could remember the brand. It was quite distinctive-- they were about 6" square and came a great variety. Baku? Boku? Something like that. They were (IMO) much more absorbing than many in this genre. There were the 'hidden picture' variety, which were revealed only with a pencilling-over and then one had to locate the 'hidden' objects (much like a Highlights version of same)... there were puzzles, word-searches, even some color-and-cut models and playsets (I remember that one from a hotel room where DD set up her "farm" over a period of a couple of days). DD really loved those for travel and my office/meetings.

Sudoku/Solitaire hand-held LCD games are a good time-killer, too, and they're quite reasonably priced ($3-10 usually).

A lap desk of some kind is appreciated by some kids-- a magnadoodle or colorforms board can work as one. DD likes to use hers to lay out a full Bento-style lunch and play with her food a bit.

(We've done this kind of trip since DD was about 1yo, and given that family has lived between 400-800 miles from us through.... er... less-than-scenic terrain... let's just say that we've got a routine.)

Things that work for two kids but not one:

Mad libs
joke books
riddle books
bingo-style games


A dry erase board may be fun, too-- just be aware that you'll need IP alcohol or acetone to manage any accidents with the pens.

Bottom line is that some kids are just much better about car travel than others. We were incredibly fortunate to have a kid that doesn't mind long car trips. She's a trooper, even at 14-16+ hours straight through.

Oh-- here's another set of games to play in the car. It's a guessing game like on the old TV game show 64K pyramid, or alternatively, a version of 20 questions. You can use pictionary cards for this one, too, if you need help with ideas.

The child thinks of a 'thing' (could be idea, popular phrase, action, really pretty much anything) and THEN gets to describe it (without using the word) for three minutes in order to get you to say the exact phrase/word.

The 20 questions version, of course, is easier for younger kids since YOU do most of the talking, and they give yes/no answers to your questions.

My DD's favorite car games, those two. We tire long before she does.

Sing-along music:

Weird Al

Tom Lehrer

(the aforementioned) They Might be Giants

(some) Monty Python soundtracks

Any wacky 50's music.

We also make up our own lyrics to popular tunes. This is a family specialty, however, and may not be for everyone. In fact, some of these songs are probably not suitable for anyone. But they make a road trip in the middle of nowhere (no-- really nowhere... no cell service, no radio reception, no nuthin) go faster and we wind up in a pretty good mood too, since we're laughing.

We also regularly travel 15+ hour trips to our parents. For the rare long trip it may not pay, but the portable DVD was a wonderful purchase after many, many tedious trips (my kids are pretty little for audiobooks). We put in a movie the adults enjoy listening to also...it helps since my DH is not much of a "car talker".

I second the Highlights vote. We also play the license plate game (see how much variety you get).

Have fun!

Did anyone throw Tag Reader books w/ tag pens or Vreader out there? sorry if this is redundant. Both of my kids *love* thiers and can spend a lot of time playing with them. You can use headphones with the Tag Reader and possibly with the Vreader to keep the noise down in the car. Admittedly, my kids (and I suspect your kids)are past the 'learning aspect' of these toys, but they are super fun none-the-less.

Also, we go to the salvation army store and pick up a stack of used books and bring them in the car to read... that is always a hit too.

For our last long car ride I bought a set of Tag books and each child got a new one ever few hours as the trip progressed. Good luck!

I just packed:

a "train stations of great Brittain" colouring book
Madlibs
magnetic tic-tac-toe and checkers
Mazes
a pile of books

I'm going to be watching for more replies. My kids are aweseme on planes and trains, but Carseats are hell on wheels. (literally)

Man, these sound good! Not getting any hits on Amazon for Baku or Boku mazes, though. We do have Mad Libs and DD will surely draw and read plenty. Ds is the one who's likely to be a problem, really--the issue is going to be keeping him from annoying the $%&$&@! out of DD, who'd probably be content to mostly zone out in a book. I'm racking my brains trying to come out with an audiobook they can both enjoy that isn't scary (DS hates scary) or sad (DD hates sad) and that she hasn't already read (she's fairly resistant to rereading)and that he's got the attention span for (he's not ready for high-level stuff yet and has little to no school experience, which does rule a lot of stuff out, I find. Thinking there might be a Dahl she missed...hoping...maybe Mrs. Piggle Wiggle??)

oh, and about a dozzen sticker books, and a new sticker keeper book

The alphabet game! (find a word on a sign or car beginning with "A" then "B" etc). Actually, my dd would always fall asleep in the car after 10-15 minutes and generally sleep through most car trips, something about the motion and noise...we use to drive around the block a few times just to put her out on really difficult nights!

I don't think they're gonna sleep for 9 hours! (I know some people drive at night--we don't like to do this.) We do do the alphabet game, and 20 questions.

Klutz books - tons to choose from - all time favorite for the little guy - eye find - although that's under their chicken socks imprint.

Pod casts - we are into science Fridays, but you can find tons which don't require long term commitment like an audio book!

DeHe

Can your DS4 listen to a chapter length audiobook? I read my DD and DS their first novel length book when DD was 4. We read "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing" and they were both spellbound. It's about a mischievous little boy and very funny so your DS might be interested. Also I would suggest Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books. The chapters are stand alone vignettes and also pretty funny and entertaining.

If you have time you could buy audiobooks on a CD but if you don't there is a website called Audiobook.com that offers downloads. Not sure how it works (where does it go? what can play it? etc) but this could be done immediately.

If your kids love to have books read to them this could be a great solution. Last summer we listened to 3/4 of "Fellowship of the Ring" on a 15 hour drive and had almost no whining or bickering.

My children have become fans of some classic rock, partly through exposure in the car. On the Crosby, Stills & Nash greatest hits album they sing along to Suite Judy Blue Eyes, Southern Cross, Teach Your Children Well etc. They can see CSN perform on YouTube
and also view versions of the videos with lyrics.

Use long car rides to expose children to good music, whether they initially like it or not .

I highly recommend any of the Hank the Cowdog audio books. They're hilarious and well told, and they'll entertain the entire family from you all to your kids.

We took two- day road trips when our kids were small, and this was the one thing we all enjoyed together. My adult kids still quote lines from the stories.

I found my kids liked their own, familiar toys over new things - action figures, Hot Wheels, etc. I let my kids pack their own back pack that sat at their feet with the things they chose to bring.

I credit hundreds of hours of road trips from Washington to California when I was young, for my vast musical knowledge. It was pre-DVD and iPad and we would play name that tune for HOURS!

We drive a lot now, and my DS9, likes audio books best. His favorites when he was a little younger were the Ramona books and Harry Potter. The reader for Harry Potter is fabulous! If your library allows, you can check out e-audiobooks using Overdrive and put them on an iPod or other mp3 player.

We have a portable DVD but on an 8 hour trip, he might only watch one movie, depending on daylight. When he was 4-6 though, he would watch for several hours at a time. Now he'd prefer a new book.

I usually buy some random new junk from the Dollar Tree to dole out over the trip. We also take advantage of spoiling him on the road. We aren't a family of candy and junk but we love to stop at a gas station on a long trip and buy one junky thing! My son had his first Slurpee just a few days ago on a 3 hour trip. Sometimes we will stop and have lunch at a roadside attraction place or just eat a picnic on the way.