driving from upstate NY..entertainment ideas?

[mom2smjn]

We are driving from upstate Ny in Dec. and have never taken a long car trip with our 4 kids before. We don't have/can't afford a tv or laptop for the car, but I am deperate to think of ideas to keep complaints to a minimum!
My kids are ages 4,7,10,12.............to be honest I am more worried about the older 2 than the younger 2! My 12 yr old is already dreading being in the car that long. Also the little ones are more "self entertaing" with toys or coloring. I will take any and all suggestions that will make this a GREAT trip!!!!!

I am actually looking forward to it in a sick and demented way!
My kids rarely travel as we are farmers and I thought it would be cool to see the site(hmmmmm and maybe the ocean for the first time!)

 

[Jordan's MOM]

Family car trips can be a great bonding experence. We drive to WDW and we do enjoy the trip down. Here are some things I have done:

1. Madlibs- These are a stories that you have to fill in the blanks to create silly stories. Great for all ages. You can get them at book stores and sometimes discount places like Wal-mart.

2. Books on tapes. Look for them at your local library. Free and the selection can be quite good.

3. Read aloud to everyone. Choose a book that will enhance your trip. We choose Tom Saywer as we knew we would be on his island.(look for a modern edition!!!)

4.Play 50 states with car tags. Our record is 49.

5.Play quess what(fill in the blank) I am thinking of. Fun to play with Disney Characters.

6.Stop at a fastfood place with a playground to eat. Adults eat while the kids play. The kids can eat in the car when you are ready to go.

7.Pack a picnic or go through a drive through for fastfood and take it to a rest stop for a picnic lunch. Kids have some space to run!!

8.Pack gameboys, DC players with headphones, colored pencils and coloring books(crayons will melt!) favorite blankets to encourage naps, barbies, action figures.

9.Pack fun snacks that take a while to eat. Goldfish crackers, teddy grahams, rasins, cheese cubes, grapes.

10. Take some kind of spill proof cups for ALL the kids. Make sure everyone has a cup holder. You can buy them at aWal-mart.


Have a blast. You will be there before you know it.


Jordan's mom

 

[TigrLvsPooh]

I highly recommend a TV/VCR combo! It was a life saver for us this summer when we drove for 2 days to Hershey, PA. They have them at Target, and they aren't very expensive.

The hardest part would be getting all 4 kids to agree on the same video!

 

[luv2nascar]

how about a wrapped surprise every hour or two
you should pre wrap everything & let the kids pick
I have found some great items at the dollar store for this
plus kmart has some great thing for $1-2 lately

You could make up scavenger hunt lists before leaving & have a contest for which kid finds the items first
you could do one with a farm theme - find cow, horse, tractor, etc
other good ideas are police car, bicycle, fire truck, volkswagon beetle etc

another vote for the tv/vcr combo & gameboy etc
tv seems to make the time fly by

make up a list of songs to sing.
also this sounds stupid but take a roll of aluminum foil ( you could even get that at the dollar store) & give each person a piece and who can make the best thing out of theirs - interesting things happen here trust me.

bubble gum bubble blowing contest - if you brave enough with 4 kids.

tell jokes - you could take a kids joke book along to help
counting cows - count as many cows as you can if you pass a cemetery if someone yells your cows are buried whoever is on that side of cows loses their cows

count how many flags you can find

 

[Barb D]

I second the vote for books on tape. Our public library has tons of them. If your local library doesn't have many, maybe you could get them through inter-library loan, or rent them directly from Recorded Books International.

If you do Harry Potter, the books on tape are phenomenal. The narrator does all the accents perfectly. They can take a long time, too (especially book 4!)

My kids have also enjoyed anything by Elizabeth George Speare (The Bronze Bow, Calico Captive, etc.)

We just finished listening to The Shakespeare Stealer, about a boy who works at the Globe Theater in Shakespeare's England.