Our proposed plan is to:
Dress, water and feed them and have them in the car by nine-ish a.m.
Drive awhile.
Get breakfast somewhere on the way
(Sigh. Probably the McDonalds with the Playground. But if it helps them burn off energy, great!)
Take Mopsy and Cottontail to the Discovery Centre. (Where B and I will have fun too.)
When we went to go play in H'fax we try to do something fun for the kids. Last summer we went on a Hopper tour -
very, very cool and very fun to go on with a four year old. Oh, and we saw Theodore Tugboat.
(RA, does Stella watch Theodore? I know it's still on KCTS out your way. Margaret? Josi?)
While I will try to make sure they don't sit in the car for over an hour and DO drink lots of water, is there anything anyone can tell me about traveling with two kids? Last time we took the Girl on a long trip she was still a baby and
This is only an hour and a half trip (or so - if I drive, we'll get there faster!) so I'm not expecting Armageddon, but any tips or tricks would be nice.
10 comments:
Lots of snacks in zip-locks.
Magna Doodles
Portable DVD player?
Loveys or babies
Small toys
Books
Blankie or comfort item
If they get out for breakfast and have a good run in the park, she may just surprise you and catnap. I still have our car seats set to 'snooze'; reclined waaaaaay back. They both will nap in the car for long rides.
We also broke down and got a portable DVD player for a long plane ride 2 years ago. It has been a lifesaver! It's a 5.5" screen Mintek - cheap and very hardy. Lighter plug-in, rechargeable battery, 2 headsets, 5-disc storage in the very padded carrying case.
Our rule is now a 2+ hour car ride, plane ride or waiting at another's sport, lesson and therapy appointment. While I READ! YAY!
Yes! Yes! Magna Doodle. Maybe a tape of stories being read aloud. I've never used a portable dvd player, though my kids are old enough now that I don't really need one. I see the appeal, but kids get enough "screen" stuff as it is.
i agree with the previous suggestions. My kids LOVE the dvd players. Snacks are always a good choice. lol
Have fun!
Vickee's done this before. I can't think of anything that she didn't list. Small toys are great -- my boys will sometimes play with one squishy ball for 30 minutes! Hope you have a great trip.
i haven't seen theodore tugboat... we don't watch much t.v. though. lately she's been into nemo so she watches that if the tube's on.
when i take the bug to see my MIL (an hour away) or my other MIL (5.5 hours away), i always take a basket with toys and set it next to her carseat. she dips in and out of there most of the time. HOWEVER, i also stock up on cheap travel toys (or small toys will work) that i can toss back there if needed. usually if they're new and she has to figure something out, it can distract her from her tantrum and then hold her attention for a good chunk of time.
SJP's also a little reader. she can sit with a board book and read it right side up, upside down, and sideways and kill a good 20 minutes in the process.
have fun!
Yes yes on the MagnaDoodle! And sticker books are good, if you don't mind all--er, a FEW of the stickers on various parts of the car. And the children.
the only thing I could possibly add to vickee's excellent list is CDs of kids songs - either as well as or - if you don't have one - instead of the DVD player.
My strategy is always to head to the $2 shop and stock up on little toys and colouring sets. Is the magna doodle the one with the sort of blunt pencil where you draw and wipe out the pic and draw again? Because we've got three big ones of those and they are absolutely worth their weight in gold.
Oh, I also have one girl child who is guaranteed to be car sick, and one who might be (the boy is unaffected) so we try not to let them do the drawing thing for too long without being interrupted - looking down is a great way to bring on travel spews!!
PLUS!! hit the internet and do a quick refresher course in all those driving games you can play with kids: or make up your own. Even little ones can have fun trying to be the first to see a red truck or a green car or playing "duck down" under tall roadside trees and "bottoms up" over bridges!
Plus Eye Spy, 20 questions, Old Macdonald songs...
Have fun!
I Spy is good. If the kids are still pre-reading are you change it to 'something the colour of ...'
Also, books on CD/story tape SAVED MY LIFE. And still do come to think of it. Now my kids are older (7-12) it's even more fun for us cos it's not Beatrix Potter and Enid Blyton so much, but Harry Potter, Rowan of Rin, The Hobbit, Watership Down. Brilliant stuff.
My kids would get car sick watching DVDs in a moving car, and we don't have that fancy hi tech stuff anyway. Just a rattly old tape deck.
that was meant to be "pre reading age".
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