Long vacation activites

[Monica]

This weekend we are taking a 10-12 hour road trip and I wondered if anyone had any tips on what kind of activites I should bring for my 2 1/2 year old. She is potty trained so I was thinking a potty in case I have to stop on the side of the road b/c she will not go in her pullup. We also have a portable DVD player so any other ideas are welcome, thanks!

[marnie]

Portable potty is a good idea. Rest stop bathrooms are disgusting.

Pack plenty of small, healthy snacks. Because boredom does play a factor. Try to keep the sugar content low or she'll be bouncing out of that car seat.

If you can, try to schedule some stops so she can run around and burn off some of that toddler energy.

It helps if someone can sit in the back seat with her. She probably has a 10-15 minute attention span, so providing crayons, dolls, stuffed animals can help divert her attention. My mom travels with a treasure bag that she packs with various stuff from the dollar stores. It has inexpensive stuff that keeps kids going.

Best of luck.

[Kris]

Been there done that! It probably won't be all that bad.

Here are my tried and true super fun car trip ideas
-- Music Cd's and Books on tape are especially good, Barnes and Nobles has them but we love borrowing them from
the library, John Lithgow has some cute ones "The RunAway Pancake", "I'm a Manatee". My kids are a
bit older and we have recently discoved the "Skippy John Jones" books on Cd. Blasco also has an Arlo
Guthrey Cd with lots of great stories on it like "the Gingerbread boy", " the Little Red Hen" those sorts.
I would also pack a lullaby cd just be careful the driver doesn't nodd off :) For some reason my kids seem
to be more entranced by the story Cd's than a DVD maybe because they have to pay more attention.

--Gift Wrap Either buy new things from the dollar store or wrap up some favorites, and at the top of the hour, let her
pick what gift she want's to unwrap. I"ve gone so far as wrapping up the snacks too.

--- Cookie Sheets These can be your best friend, Magnets can stick to them, they can be a lap desk for coloring and if
you use a jelly roll pan or something with sides, items don't roll off on to the floor. plus when you don't
need it just store it safely away. ( do be careful of loose items that can turn into projectiles during a crash)

----Stickers Large Quantities and try to find some that have uniform edges so she can peel them off without them
ripping. My son was quiet for an entire HOUR during one trip when he was this age, Granted it took a half
hour to peel all the stickers off of him but heck that was entertainment too.
-----Family Photos I think it's fun to take picture of the family, especially if you are traveling to be with out of town
relatives, and stick them in a cheap, soft album and let the kids flip through them and reaquaint
themselves with great aunt hilda. Plus kids Love to look at pictures of themselves, from when they were
itty bitty to great big 2 year olds.

--Bubbles for the super desparate only!! since you probably don't want your car all sticky, but for the rest stops or for
heading off tantrums, bubbles are magic.


Do you know the trick of lining the potty with a plastic bag so you can just tie it up and toss it away instead of cleaning out the potty everytime??

There is also the idea of doing most of the driving overnight while she sleeps.

That's all i've got, I hope your Family has a Wonderful time and a very Peaceful Drive!!