Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion Need ideas for things to take on a trip

Hi, I was hoping some of you could give me some ideas. We are going to the Netherlands soon for a few weeks. Dh will be working (setting up a branch of his company) and DS and I will probably have a LOT of downtime. I don't know if we will have much internet connection. The only trick is it has to be small things because we will have to bring so much already. I will have things to do because I am furnishing the company's house but, mostly it will seem like housework (putting up curtains etc.) to him. I would love to also come up with some things he can do without me.

DS is 4y9m and is reading well, maybe 2nd-3rd grade. He isn't too advanced on math but, I say that and he will probably prove me wrong tomorrow, ha ha. He loves technology stuff, games and art, mostly collage type stuff he hates coloring/coloring books.

What I have so far.
-UNO/go fish other card games (2 player)
-a small abacus (I am planning on making one)
-put some movies on our iphone/laptop
-some art supplies/possibly some watercolor crayons or chalk something he hasn't used before
-maybe a paper airplane book or something and some paper

I don't know I can't think of anything else. Help please! 8)

I'm glad your son hates coloring books-- I think everyone should. Art supplies are a great idea. Sculpey clay is great, since it doesn't dry out and if he makes something you'd like to keep, you can harden it in the oven. You can also get a Plasticine set with a bunch of different colors, tools, and a mat for cheap. You could bring some colored toothpicks and glue, or get it when you get there, etc.

He might really like some ThinkFun-type solitaire games. We have enjoyed many, including Clever Castle, Rush Hour Jr., and Hot Spot.

Someone else mentioned Choose Your Own Adventure books in a separate thread, and they now even have an early-reader line.

For the laptop, there are a lot of games he might like. My son loves Zoo Tycoon and similar simulation games. If he's interested in space and it's in your budget, you could get a space simulator-- that could occupy him for quite some time.

You could get him one or more models to put together, or puzzles.

Thanks so much for the ideas, they are great!!!


I forgot to mention he also loves geography, anatomy, and animals if that jogs any one's brain.

I could use some ideas for my 4-year-old too, as we're driving cross-country in a few days. Other than art supplies, a few chapter books, and a felt book (we have this one) for pretend play, we plan on doing a lot of talking, singing, and word games (mad libs, anyone?). It's going to be a long, long trip.

No5n05, I was the "entertainment committee" in the back seat through 2 kids. Here are a few things that were good for us:

- Baggies of snacks that were little things that took a while to eat. We made "gorp" of Cheerios, raisins, and I threw in a few M&Ms or chocolate chips or small marshmallows to make it interesting for them. I put in a baggie for each day.
- Our kids liked Colorforms.
- One of our kids had a set of small stuffed animals she liked to "groom". We put them in a little bag with a hairbrush, comb, and some scrunchies. She spent a lot of time working on them.
- Books on tape, the whole family listened to those. Harry Potter was our favorite (of course), even with the four year old.
- I read chapter books aloud (but you can only do so much of that).
- We played their tapes (Raffi, etc.) sometimes on the car stereo system (Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea...).
- We got a book of games to play in the car from the library. So stuff like the one where you are packing your trunk, and you put in...
- Maze books are fun for a lot of kids, or color by number, or dot-to-dot for littler ones.

I kept the stuff in a bag by me so they couldn't see everything at once. Every half hour or so I would bring out something new. So they didn't dig through in the first five minutes and then have nothing new to think about.

We've had great success with pipe cleaners and beads. Target has them in the same craft section - large beads that fit on pipe cleaners. DS made loads of bracelets and little critters. A small doodlepro is always nice too.

My son loves many of the travel tin toys made by Haba - they are great and all the pieces fit into small tins...or many of the Haba small box games are a great size and can be played over and over....if you do an internet search for Haba tin toys or Haba games you will see a ton of links come up. We purchased a bunch of them because we are planning a trip to New Zealand from Florida and we can fit a ton of them into one backpack.

IMO a small magnadoodle is one of the best travel toys EVER

I second pipe cleaners & beads. Pieces of cut lanyard and beads are good too. My girls even like those basic twistie ties. Every time we're in the supermarket, they grab handful in the produce aisle and enterain themselves for the rest of the shopping trip and then some.

Does he have a leapster or ds?

I've seen a magnetic tangram set that some kids enjoy.
Yes, rush hour or rush hour jr is great. just a warning that the rush hour Jr is too easy for some kids, so you may want to test it out before you bring it along.

Small games like jax or chalk for sidewalk games like hop scotch. If he's into imaginary play, a small set of play animals may be fun. I know some kids can spend lots of time with those. Throw in a small tub of playdoh and the animals can leave footprints where they walk or ds can make them landscape, accessories, whatever.

My dd doesn't like coloring much, but she will cut and paste for hours coloring the pieces she cuts, so maybe pack a small pair of kids scissors and some glue sticks. You can buy paper or carstock there so you don't have to lug a bunch over.

Klutz makes a line of books for the younger kids called Chicken Socks. I'll bet you can find one that suits your ds's interests. Dd has one with different colored rolls of skinny tape that you cut to size and use to decorate the pages of the book, some pages are pre-printed with designs and pictures and some pages without. Again, the cutting & sticking is lots of fun.

what about a sticker atlas? Usborne makes one. He'll be in another country so perhaps he'd enjoy learning more about geography.

This may sound bizarre and simple but we traveled OFTEN when the kids were little and one of their favorites was tape - scotch or masking. They made pictures with it on various surfaces, taped various body parts, hung up art work and on and on. Plus it had the added bonus of being the only time they could play with the tape without being scolded for wasting it making it even more alluring.

I agree with all the previous posters. We even bought masking tape in all different colors - they put it on paper, on furniture, on themselves and it's so easy to clean up!

We also have "paper bag surprises" on trips. I put something entertaining in each paper bag and periodically give each child a bag with the same item in it. We have used pipe cleaners with beads, tape, magnetic paper dolls (I have girls), a "build your own straw" kit, sticker books, etc. They love that it's like a present.

Good luck. What an adventure - I'm jealous!