@ - car travel entertainment?

[meshaliuknits]

In a couple of weeks we're driving down to Bakersfield and then on to San Diego. The ride from San Diego back to Oakland is the one I expect to suck the most.

What can I do to make traveling in the car with a not quite 2yo suck less? Suggestions on things to keep her entertained and happy to decrease the number of stops we have to make?

[pixy0stix]

Magna doodle, bag of small toys she's never seen before (Zb is currently obsessed with mardi gras beads), portable snacks

[meshaliuknits]

Maga doodle is a fantastic idea! To the Target!

[hopecounts]

DD loves listening to her Laurie Berkner cd. She's 22 months.
The songs are unique enough that they don't drive us crazy but they keep her happy, plus a I usually grab some books from the library for her to "read" and that keeps her entertained looking at the pictures.

[meshaliuknits]

OK. Magna Doodle, new small toys, music...


Do they still make those viewer things with the pictures you hold up to your eyes? What are they called? Can a 2yo work those?

[ringstrue]

stickers and a sticker book has worked for us. Crayons and coloring booklets. Goldfish.

::makes note to pick up manga noodle on way home::

[caden]

My kids usually fall asleep in the car so that takes car of some of it. We just bring books and food for the rest. A dvd player too if we get desperate. We do all our really long drives at night though. I don't know how long your drive is. I'll definitely be looking into a magna doodle though!

[keh2oblue]

My DD LOVES her music, so we put all her CDs on an ipod and got one of these: www.amazon.com/iLuv-iSP110-Portable-Amplified-Speaker/dp/B002OH5DB8/ref=sr_1_14?s=mp3&ie=UTF8&qid=1340392310&sr=1-14

Then we don't have to listen for hours to her music. We started using at at about 1 1/2.

[pixy0stix]

I also have a bag that I tied one continuous line of scraps that she can pull out of a small opening (think magicians handkerchiefs). The only bad thing is restuffing, but it kept her entertained for an hour or so.

[Deleted]

Crayola has those new markers out now that only color on the paper. They come with a kit that has a flat containder that holds the coloring paper and markers that she could hold on her lap and color on. I always get one of these for road trips.

I also stop at the dollar store and get lots of smaller toys that I don't mind if they get broken or lost a rest stops, etc..

Lots of little books or magazines like the baby bug ones. These are perfect for travel and easy for little hands to turn.

[meshaliuknits]

Jun 22, 2012 14:01:14 GMT -5 asdfjkl said:

Jun 22, 2012 13:58:22 GMT -5 meshaliuknits said:

OK. Magna Doodle, new small toys, music...


Do they still make those viewer things with the pictures you hold up to your eyes? What are they called? Can a 2yo work those?

They do still make them, and they're even fancier these days.

How old exactly is she. Like 2 and 1 month, or 2 and a half.

These are pretty good for trips too.

www.melissaanddoug.com/product/0/3549/_/Best_Friends_Forever%21_Magnetic_Dress-Up_Set

She's 22 months.

I like the magnetic paper dolls!

[meshaliuknits]

Jun 22, 2012 14:22:00 GMT -5 pixy0stix said:

I also have a bag that I tied one continuous line of scraps that she can pull out of a small opening (think magicians handkerchiefs). The only bad thing is restuffing, but it kept her entertained for an hour or so.

This is excellent. She *loves* taking things out of other things and shoving them back in.

[overture]

Is it possible to just drive at night? I just drove from Sacramento to southern Orange County with a 4 year old, 14 month old, and 7 month old, and if I had to do it over, I'd leave at like 1 am and just drive all night.

Without kids, the drive normally takes about 7 hours. It took us 12. Even if the babies wouldn't have been able to sleep normally while being confined to a car seat, it couldn't have been worse.

[meshaliuknits]

The first leg is about 4hrs down 5. We're going to leave at the buttcrack of dawn, so I think she'll sleep. That should be OK. The 2nd leg is about 3hrs. Since we're leaving from my sister's, we won't get out the door nearly as early. I'm hoping to do that leg around nap time. Coming back home is an 8hr trip back up 5. That's where I'm worried.

H HATES driving at night, and since he's the only driver in the family we go with what he wants. My job is to keep he small child happy as possible.