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kathleenmom
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We're taking a 12 hr. car ride next week up to the DC area. We have a fairly generous travel budget from some Grandparents, so I can invest in some travel toys/games. The ages of my kiddos are 10, 8, 6, 3 and 17 mos. What are some of your favorites?
Kathleen
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JodieLyn
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My favorite is to let them mostly entertain themselves.. the more we've traveled the less we take.. anything that can fall on the floor can create more trouble than it solves.
We'll sing songs or play games (searching for the alphabet on signs, 20 questions is good too).. listen to books on tape sometimes.. more often we'll listen to fun music (veggietales!! or GoFish) that we can sing along with. Spend time in the quiet (especially since the kids are still young enough to nap after a time of being stuck) We tend to watch the scenery and talk about things like the houses or trees or animals we see.
anymore each child gets to pick a stuffed animal/doll to take.. we tend to splurge and get them happy meals (so a new toy!) and for real long trips special snacks.. any thing more just means that the kids feel like they're supposed to be entertained rather than working to entertain themselves.. and it makes for a less peaceful trip.
Oh and we also keep our stops as short as possible.. run everyone in and out of the bathrooms for those stops (only about every 2 hrs) and if we're feeling stiff we might run some races or such.. but we keep it short and get them back in the car asap.. otherwise it also seems to breed discontent and we start all over again with the adjusting to being in the car. 
I don't mean to sound heartless or such.. but really less is more for us on trips.. and we spend more time with each other rather than "being entertained".
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amyable
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Books on tape or CD are the all time favorite here. Also the Leappad, which only ever comes out for long car trips (earphones necessary or we all go crazy after 2 hours of "Hit it Maestro!" LOL). Magnadoodle. Real books with paper pages.  Food - normally we try not to eat in the car but make exceptions for trips - dh goes and gets "fun stuff" like Dora Gummi Snacks and single packs of other bad-for-you stuff.  New sketchbooks and pencils (crayons melt too easily  )
LOL, Jodie and I were posting at the same time, and had similar ideas.
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guitarnan
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Another vote for Magnadoodle and Leappad.
Sketch pads are good, with colored pencils - also very handy in restaurants.
We did a lot of trips with Adventures in Odyssey CD's, which play more like a radio episode than a book on CD. (Christian, too - even better.)
You might check at your library for the Pennywhistle book on road games. You can photocopy and laminate many of the pages and use them over and over.
Here's what's not so good:
Legos and Duplos, which get lost.
Crayons (melt) and markers (stain upholstery).
Anything resembling a ball or other thing you'd normally throw.
Anything with tiny parts (see Legos).
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PDyer
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Our bigggest hits are books on tape from the library. My children can read in the car (unlike me ), so we bring a stash of good books. My daughter likes to color, so paper and pencil and sometimes a new coloring or drawing book.
Magnadoodles when they were younger.
Hand-held electronic games like Yahtzee or Battleship from Target.
Atlas style road map for looking 'where are we?'
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Patty
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CrunchyMom
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Well, we do long trips regularly with both our families 12 and 16 hours away, and I love having a portable dvd player. We have one with two screens that tie to the back of a headrest and plug into the lighter outlet.
Now, we don't have them veg the whole time, but we keep that player for the complete meltdown time that often occurs about 45 minutes or so from where we are about to stop (though, for us, we take trips in 5-6 hour legs right now, and every time we consider trying for longer, that meltdown reminds us why we don't). We haven't had a problem with the begging for it the whole time or anything, we just keep it completely concealed until it is needed for "emergencies" (which, once we were stuck on the Pa turnpike at a complete standstill for 90 minutes or more and it really was a lifesaver!).
ETA: My kids don't get a lot of dvd time at home--so it is definitely something exciting and distracting for them.
Also, I have found that a new Usborne type book with lots of little pictures to study (my boys don't read, of course) are good as well.
For the baby, I would have a bag of interesting baby toys that you can send back (or have a sibling distribute) one at a time when they get fussy. Then, they get bored and throw it in the floor and you just have to pull a different one from your bag to hand them.
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Maddie
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We do books on tape too and each child gets a blank 5 cent 1 subject notebook from Walmart and can draw / write whatever they want. They seem to really like them, they write down licence tags, names of highways, cars they spot and like, draw funny pic of each other, play hangman and a million different things. Too much "stuff" seems to make my children needy for more "stuff", so I only give them a few things. We also love to bring movie soundtracks to sing-a-long to. We're the 15 passenger that pulls up with a bunch of kids singing "Bless your beautiful hide, wherever you may be..."
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kathleenmom
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Keep the ideas coming ladies....I appreciate it.
Jodie, I tend to be a minimalist when it comes to toys and "entertainment". We watch no TV and a very selective and limited number of videos. However, my children's temperaments and our teeny tiny van which has to squeeze 7 people in realllly necessitate some good old fashioned "entertainment", or the elbows may be flying. 
Kathleen
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missionfamily
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We have this bookand worn it out on road trips. The ideas are fun and are all things you can do on the road.
This site was written by a mom I was in playgroup with way back when I only had one child. It is a great resource.
I like those clipboards that have space for storage for each child. I can print enough coloring sheets, puzzles, and other activities to refresh it each day...I add stickers (which occasionally end up on the windows, but that's okay with me), little how to draw tutorials, and other things, plus a pack of colored pencils and lots of blank paper. I also put in blank notecards and encourage the kids to create their own postcards from our trip.
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mavmama
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When I traveled 1500 miles (alone!) with our four, I bought 3 rolls of cheap aluminum foil and tucked them under my seat. When they got crazy-bored, I pulled out a roll and gave everyone about 2 feet's worth. then I gave the assingment to make a crown; (or--make a house; make an animal,etc). All ages could take part, it was cheap, it was easy, and it took our minds off of the trip for a few more miles. HTH
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Dawnie
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We just got back from a trip to Louisiana and back and here's what we did:
Checked out lots of books on tape from the library--BIG HIT!
Borrowed Grandma and Grandpa's DVD player for the car--another BIG HIT!
Dh downloaded some Western radio shows on his Ipod--another BIG HIT (our kids LOVE Western/Cowboy stuff--if you have an IPod or IShuffle, there are tons of podcasts and other stuff out there to download)
They did bring some toys, but mostly listened to the books on tape or watched DVD's.
Have a great trip!
Dawn
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stacykay
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I second the "Adventures in Odyssey." My boys love them, and they really keep them entertained. "Glory Stories" are also good, for some Catholic Christian stories.
I always try to have two or more atlases for the boys, as whenever one is investigating something, that is when the next and next want one too. They are also great geography lessons. With no prompting from me, my two oldest learned their states and capitals by the time they were 7 or 8 simply from reading the atlases to and from FL each year.
I have also heard raves about leapster. Here is an old thread on it.
And I also recommend a journal for the older crew. We look back at our boys' journals from long ago trips and just crack up at what they wrote.
Have a fun time!
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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stacykay
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Wow! I just ran over to Elizabeth's blog and there was a search site on it! Here is her entry on a trip they took and the usefulness of the leapsters!
Sometimes technology is great!
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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crusermom
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Being an Army family, we have logged lots of hours in our van. When my husband was deployed, he told me to do whatever it took to stay sane. Well, that thing was a DVD player in the van. Pricey, but a lifesaver. And we have watched many, many educational things. Teaching company, the Ken Burns series, Signing Time, etc.
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Mary
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missionfamily
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Dawn--You came to Louisiana and didn't tell any of us!!!!! Oh well, next time we'll have to treat you to a little Cajun hospitality.
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Colleen
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Dawnie
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Colleen,
Well, we weren't exactly in Cajun country...we went to Shreveport and Ruston to visit my grandparents. :) I'm from Lafayette, though. :) It was such a jam-packed trip that I didn't think of trying to get together with anyone from 4Real--sorry! Maybe next time...
Dawn
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Becky Parker
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I didn't take the time to read all the replies but we just took a 13 hour trip and I'll tell you what worked well. We always listen to books on tape, but because the ages of our kids are so diverse, it's getting more difficult to find something they all will enjoy. So, I bought two inexpensive tape players (the old fashioned kind) and two cd players. I bought 4 sets of earphones. Then I went to the library and got a whole bunch of books on tape and picture books on tape. I put everything in a bin that sits on the floor of the back of the van. The kids chose a book and either a tape player or a cd player and they all got to listen to their choice of books. My oldest ds has an ipod so he had his own books downloaded. It was great. Of course, they didn't do this the whole time, but it was sure nice for the couple hours that the van was quiet!
I also found some activiy books at Sam's club. My kids enjoy the eye-spy type activities, mazes and plain paper for drawing.
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stacykay
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Becky Parker wrote:
| So, I bought two inexpensive tape players (the old fashioned kind) and two cd players. ......ipod so he had his own books downloaded. |
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Becky, where did you find tape players? I have been looking for some time. They would come in very handy with schoolwork!
Also, downloading on an ipod...I don't know how interested your oldest would be, but Fr. John Riccardo has all his talks on podcasts, and they are free to download! I am hoping for an ipod for Christmas to do this!  Here is Fr. John's page with the links to his podcasts, plus lots of other stuff.
God Bless,
Stacy in MI
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4Real Forums : Mothering and Family Life
Topic: How do you keep them happy in the car?
