the long drive in the car w/kids

[STiVo]

Flying with kids can be extremely expensive so we decided to drive the 15 hours to Florida to catch our cruise. I'm looking for some traveling tips to help pass the time with kids in the car. I'm interested in ideas for all ages.

[camperhawk]

Firsts let me tell you it can be done but it will take a lot longer than 15 hours!:D http://www.momsminivan.com/

 

Hope this helps you out a bit!

[2Cruise4Ever]

We just drove from MD to St. Petersburg, FL a couple of weeks ago. Our kids (3 and 8) did remarkably well. We brought some easy games for them to play (magna-doodle, coloring books, GameBoy, etc.) and they each had his/her own DVD player. They used the DVD players the most. Spending 18 hours in a car with 2 kids and not hearing "Are we there yet?" every 15 minutes was more than worth the cost of the DVD players. :D

[jetskier]

I second the DVD player. The background noise is not as bad as having to listen to "she touched, hit, pinched, poked, looked at me".

Dave

[Nebr.cruiser]

DVD players! We just got back from a 1000 mile trip to Montana with grandkids 6,6 5 & 4, all done in one day, (yes, we are nuts!) and they got along very well, considering. We actually had only one DVD player, which they got along with fine by taking turns picking movies. We do this trip fairly often, however, so they are somewhat used to traveling.

 

Also, traveling at night is always a good idea with kids, if it works out in your schedule. That way they sleep most of the way.

 

The only downside I've noticed with the DVD player is that the kids actually sleep less.

[FPP777]

We have done Texas to either Florida or South Carolina for the last 3 years and South Carolina is coming up again in 2 weeks. The girls are 4 and 5 now. We have a built in DVD player and wireless headsets. Works very well as I/m sure a portable version would work fine. I think the headsets are a must. Plenty of good snacks and drinks. We pack a cooler and limit the amount of on the road food. We also have some reading time and also bring color books. We make it a fun time.

[crusinmama06]

I ONCE drove a 2 day trip to Miami to catch a cruise ship with my then 2 year old. She did soooo well. I, on the other hand, swore I would never drive that far away again.

 

But, we just did 10 hours to cape cod this past week with no problems. We had tons of snacks. A DVD player. Magna doodle. A game boy. And lots of little coloring books and other cheap toys to keep them occupied.

[abitaturbodog]

Must have a dvd player!

 

We also surprise our kids with a couple of new movies and new toys for the car ride. Every hour or so, let them open up a "present" and it will keep them busy.

 

Some ideas for toys are: Mad Libs, gameboy games, action figures/dolls, flashlight, magnetic checkers, lap-top table to play on.

[Onessa]

small plug-in refrigerated cooler (plugs into Aux power in vehicle) is nice in lots of ways - cooling for healthy snacks, a divider between the two seats, and ours provides two cup holders.

 

I have a 10YO Daughter - we usually travel with one of her friends or her 10YO girl cousin in tow. Klutz Press has some great titles that work "on the road" Their stuff is nicely packaged and has all of the pieces that the kids need for the activities. Last trip out west, DD and her cousin each had a Nintendo DS and a portable DVD player - they watched less than one movie and barely touched the handheld games because they were playing "String Games" the whole time (I had gotten them two different Klutz titles and they each came with two strings).

[Darcy03231]

Portable DVD player(s), gameboy or other handheld electronic games, ipods are all great on a long drive. We also buy new movies and/or games to help keep the children entertained. As others mentioned Madlibs or other car games can also keep them entertained. On a really long drive like that we try to break it down into a few days. Drive partway to somewhere that has something you want to see, spend the night, see an attraction and then resume your drive. We found the kids tend to travel better that way. Also, we start out late afternoon and drive well into the night, switching drivers every 4-6 hours.

[Arubalisa]

Depending on what your kid(s) are into, our dd was happily occupied with her Game Boy. She knows that it has a limited battery life so played until it was time to go to sleep. We left home at 4 pm and arrived at the hotel about 3 am. Dh and I both prefer to drive long distances at night and sleep occupies dd extremely well. Arriving at that time gave us all plenty of time for a little less than 7 hours sleep, a nice breakfast and check out before arriving at the ship about Noon time.

[justsea]

Before we start any trip we give the kids a roll of quarters each and tell them every time they ask are we there yet ,how much longer or any question that they might ask over and over, it will cost them a quarter.At the end of the trip they get to keep any money they have left over.They learn to work together taking turns asking and not asking to often.We also did the goody bag every hour they got to pick a small toy or treat if there was no fighting that hour.

[GORDONCHICK]

DVDs are great, but our DS also takes his Leapster with educational games as well as a car lapdesk. It has a dry erase board, markers and eraser, plus a flat place if he just wants to color in a book. He's only five, but we've been traveling since he was 2 1/2 for 10 hours or more every six months or so. He's also at a great age for reading out loud the license plates we see, which is great for number and letter recognition skills. Fortunately, he still naps great in the car as well.

[jae1969]

Having 4 kids we always drive. Every year for the last 8 years our vacations take us at least 18 hours or more to get to. Last year being the longest traveled yet at 28 hours. We always drive straight through and always leave at night. Even when the kids where young (now they are 14, 16, 17, and 20). They each get a new gameboy game the day we leave. I also go to boxoffice vidio and buy the previoulsy viewed vidio's. Our van has a vhs player. But for the past 4 years we have been taking playstation 2 with so that we can play DVD's also. Leaving at night the kids sleep all the way through until daylight (8 to 10 hours if your lucky). Then we stop for breakfast and they are good to go until lunch. I usally require more stops (bladder the size of a pea).

 

We never hear "Are we there yet?" or "How much longer?" That may because they have been traveling since they were very small. As soon as they were old enough to go to school we would give them an atlas to follow along with. We would give them jobs of finding out how far to the next rest area or how many miles to the next big town. They loved it and it made time pass faster. They are older now and tell us that the drive is part of the fun. The older kids take turns driving now which gives us time to rest.

 

So train them young and enjoy! :D