Car Entertainment

Later this summer, our family is taking two road trips--one to Colorado and one to California. Having driven with kids for 9 years now, I have learned something that makes the trip easier for them and I thought I would pass the ideas along.

1. THIS website has great travel games you can print out. It is good to print out multiple copies and save some for the trip home.

2. Pipe cleaners are amazingly fun to help pass the time. We have made necklaces, flowers, cars, etc. with them. I am often amazed at my kids creativity with them and for around 70 cents a package, they are a cheap great way to help pass the time.

3. Crocodile Dentist is a great game for car travel. There are no parts to loose and kids can play it by themselves or with each other. Even toddlers/non readers who have a hard time with things like the license plate game or "find the letters in the alphabet" can have fun with this one. I purposely keep this game hidden and only bring it out for our car trips.

4. Info with the license plate game. From the momsminivan web site, I printed off the list of the 50 states for the kids to cross off as we find different license plates. I also purchased a book that has simple facts about each state and as we cross off the different states, I read out loud fun facts about the state.

5. Books on CD--I amazed at how just listening to a book on tape has captured my kids attention. We don't have an in- car video system or even a laptop for the kids to watch TV, so I check out from the library several books on tape each time we travel. Even my three year old listened intently to the first Harry Potter book on our last Colorado/Utah drive.

6. Those velvet coloring boards: These are great because if the car ride gets bumpy, they still stay within the lines thanks to the velvet.

7. A new CD: We don't have ipod access in our minivan but I always buy or create a new music CD for the trip that the kids nor my husband or I has listened to. We love music in our house and that is always fun. I remember one particularly fun car trip listening and ALL of us singing along to a Kelly Clarkson CD.

8. And for the adults, THIS is great for conversation starters. One trip down to California, we caravaned with my husband's family and we had Walkie Talkies in all of the cars. I would read a question from the book and then the discussions would begin. It made the trip through the HOT desert of Nevada really fun and engaging.

Anyway, do you have any other tried and true fun car time passers?