Road Trip Entertainment {For Kids}

Back in July I posted some fun ideas for keeping your kiddos busy on a road trip (here and here ). Well, we’re going on an even longer (like 3 or 4 times longer) road trip, so of course I have some more ideas to share! Let’s get started shall, we?

 

Behavior Clip/Prizes

I think I mentioned in one of the previous posts that I was planning on wrapping up little “presents” to give my little guy periodically. That was possibly THE BEST idea that we used. He loved getting those little presents.

This time, we’re going to try to pair the presents (or prizes in this case) with what’s called a behavior clip. The idea comes from Random Thoughts of a Super Mom, and the basic idea is that you put up the clip and keep it up as long as the little one behaves. If the clip is still up at the next stop (or appointed time), the kiddo gets a prize.

For the clip: I just cut out a train from some scrapbooking paper I had and then glued it to different colors of paper to get the layers/borders around it. Then, I glued it to a clothespin.

For the prizes: Dollar store, dollar store, dollar store! Books, toy dinosaurs, cars…you get the idea. I also made some crayon rolls (similar to these) that I’ll be sharing with you next week.

Glow Sticks

You can get them at the dollar store (a 15 pack even). Simple entertainment that my little guy loves, so I figured they’d be great if we’re driving in the dark at all.

Color Sticker Matching

I saw this idea here.

The idea is this: you create a grid with a section for each color and label it. The child then puts stickers in the correct section. Learning and fun! Now that’s my kind of activity! Oh, and my little guy loves stickers (what kids doesn’t, right?). Perfect.

The original was simply handwritten, but I created a template to print (you know I couldn’t have crooked/wavy lines). It’s available here to download. Lovely, right?

Magnetic Paper Dolls

Okay, I know many people probably think more about girls for paper dolls than boys, but I thought they’d be fun. I went searching for free “boy” paper dolls and found this post which then led me to this post. There are lots of options (not just for boys either!).

You can print them on magnetic paper sheets or glue them to magnets and then use a small cookie sheet (like the one in the Magnetic Activity Board) to play with them.

Since I’m a hoarder of magnets, I happen to have several that I glued my paper doll’s clothes to (you know the kind you find on phone books). I didn’t make the actual “doll” magnetic but opted to have him in the center of a piece of paper we can fasten to our cookie sheet.

Cute, right? I think I’ll play with him even if my little guy doesn’t.

Pom Pom Activities

Another thing my little guy loves—pom poms. I don’t know why but he’s fascinated with them. This post from Sew Fantastic led me to all kinds of fun printables for pom pom activities.

Glue some magnets on your pom poms to use with your little cookie sheet and you’re set!

Button Snake Errr Ribbon

I’m sure most of you have seen these. You sew a button to the end of a piece of ribbon, cut pieces of felt with slits in them, and your little one “threads” the felt onto the ribbon.

My only problem? My son has this thing about snakes that I may or may not have accidentally passed on to him. I HATE  them. That’s right bold, italics, capitals HATE them! They scare me. They give me the creeps. I’m sorry if you like them. Really I am, but I will never, ever, never like or even tolerate them. Yuck. Yeah, so we’ll have to call it something else, so he doesn’t think it’s an actual snake of some sort. I’m sort of sorry about passing on my feelings about them, sort of. I’m sure he’ll grow out of it and scare me with one at some point or another.

Well, now that I have that off my chest...back to that road trip entertainment!

Some more ideas…

• New coloring books or coloring pages. I printed lots and lots of coloring pages (mostly Disney/Pixar ones of course). Just do a Google image search or you can find some here and here.
• Color Car Bingo I decided my little guy wouldn’t quite get the concept of this one, but it would be fun for kids that are a little older. The concept is just as it sounds. You play Bingo and the “numbers” called out are colors of cars you see driving.
• Paper Bag Puppets? I’m hoping this one will work. I cut out all the pieces and am bringing glue to put them together in the car. We’ll see. Even if it doesn’t work out in the car, this website has some really great ideas that you could do at home.
• Books are always a good option. If you have a Kindle or something similar, you can even load them on there, so they don’t take up as much room. Check to see if your library loans out e-books and you can even find free kids’ books on Amazon.
• Apps. If you’re opposed to too much screen time with your kids them may not be an option, but there are some fun kids’ apps out there that may keep them entertained for a while.
• If you absolutely, positively have to…movies. I remember watching movies all the way to Disneyland when I was little and it really passed them time for us kids.

Do you have any fun road trip ideas? Leave me a comment...I’d love to hear them!

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