Picture Credit: https://pixabay.com/en/road-pavement-highway-street-14368/
About four years ago, my sister was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. As it had been quite a few years since my other sister and I had seen our oldest sister, we decided we would make the trip to see her. We also decided to surprise her and invited her older daughters and the one’s husband to accompany us. I have traveled with my two children before, but never on a trip that would take a day and a half to reach our destination. I began comprising a list of things to take with us to help keep them occupied since they were six and five at the time.
I had found an amazing idea on Pinterest to use a cookie sheet as a tray which they could use to eat on or to use as a desk for their activities, so I bought a couple of cheap ones at the dollar store. I made a list of the various activities that I would put in the car for them to do. The list ranged from toys to coloring books and any other small things that would occupy them easily.
I had a car organizer that I could sit between their car seats which would make it easier for them to reach their different activities when they wanted something to do. I put in coloring books each of them would like, books for them to read and ones that I could read to them while we were in the car, pads of paper for them to draw on, small toys such as cars, puzzles, and a bag of magnets since the cookie sheets were metal. They could use the magnets to play a game or spell words, whatever they wanted.
I needed to condense things in order to save on space and separate items so they would not have to fight over anything. I reused empty Parmesan cheese containers for their crayons and I labeled them with their names. They could use the larger part of the lid to dump out the crayons they wanted and put them back the same way. This worked out perfect since they had their own container of crayons and they did not have to fight over whose was whose which equaled less stress on the trip.
I also packed their tablets and hand-held game systems so that they would be able to play them during the trip, at least until the batteries died on them. At the time, I had a portable DVD player so I brought their movies along to watch if they wanted to. This was a hit with them and it would take up at least two hours of the long trip.
It took us a little over 30 hours to drive to our destination and my children did amazingly well. They were tired out by the time we arrived at the house we had rented but it was a good feeling to be able to see my sister and my youngest niece. This was the first time that my children had met their aunt and cousin and it turned out to be one of the best trips we have taken. It was hard to say good-bye to them when it was time to leave. Hopefully, one day we will make the trip to see them again.
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I hope that they can just sleep through the journey, and wake up for meals and toilet break only.
That will be a blessing for the parents.
We left at night @scheng1 so for the first 6-8 hours they slept very well and were very excited to see that we had made it somewhere different. They were refreshed and ready to continue the journey. The trip home was a little bit different since we had to leave in the daytime instead of at night so they did not sleep as well the first little bit. They were very good though and I was happy.
Oh my what a trip next time take a barf bag lol and don't forget the fun we had singing soldier. Greatest vacation ever
Yes it was the best vacation ever and a very emotional one. I will never forget that as there were a lot of "firsts" on that trip.
That's was a good idea to get them toys and stuff that could keep them busy. But if I can remember during our days when we didn't have things like tablets the best thing was to be disciplined. I don't remember my parents packing up stuff for us, the best thing was that we were travelling by road that in itself was an adventure and a half. We would have so many things to see by the roadside as we moved, lovely sceneries and there was also so much to learn from my mum would point out places for us because that was geography and history in the making. So we never got bored on the way, and if we did we were free to sleep for as long as we wanted how I miss those days. This is something I would definitely get my kids to enjoy someday
Children are blessings for parents and toys of travel and pass time on the long journey. While going in the car give the children such toys that they like more at homes as books, toys...to pass time thus they will disturb you and the journey.
Long road trips with kids aren't always fun fests. But they are doable, and at times even enjoyable.I think that Take your toddler's blanket and pillow if there's room. This is extra important if your road trip includes an overnight stay. Kids like their own stuff, particularly at bedtime in a strange place.
If your child is out of his car seat, he may nod off more easily if he puts the pillow against the window and rests his head against it.
Babies and toddlers drop, spill, and spit up. Keep a roll of paper towels and a box of wipes in the front seat for easy cleanups. Keep a garbage bag handy too.
A child can make a picture for the pilot, and we'll hang it up in the galley or the kitchen. Kids get excited about this. They know it's for the pilot and that we'll display it. So they really concentrate on making it, and that eats up a lot of time. Also, you can make hand puppets out of barf bags. Just draw faces