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Natalia
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| Posted: July 03 2006 at 7:36am | IP Logged
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We are going to travel from LA to IN. This is the longest trip we have ever taken with the kids. We have a supply of books on tape on hand. What other things do you take in the car? What about snacks, what kind?
Thanks,
natalia
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stefoodie
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| Posted: July 03 2006 at 7:48am | IP Logged
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i don't know what ages your kids are, natalia, but (non-digital) hand-held games, like magnetic chess or battleship, work well. also have ready ideas for when the kids get bored, i.e., games that you can play (counting all the red cars, etc.), songs to sing, etc. the kids also bring one or two toys to play with in their seats (lots of fantasy play there, that can last hours, though sometimes it can disintegrate to battle scenes, THEN fighting, unless nipped in the bud).
for snacks we bring a variety of chips, fresh fruit, sushi rolls; when we weren't allergic i brought homemade cookies and/or brownies, bread and cold cuts, juice, lots of water. kinda like having a picnic in the car:D
there was a book suggestion years ago (on CCM?) about a "workbook" that kids could work on as you go from state to state... can't remember the title though...
my kids love going to the travel centers as you enter/exit each state, they have TONS of brochures and my kids get them for future reference (or for a brief stopover). often there are kids' coloring books (free) with state information, etc.
More Ideas at RoadTripAmerica
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stef
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Natalia
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Thanks Stef! I love the website
Natalia
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teachingmyown
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Natalia,
We try to limit drinks as my dh hates to stop! But we bring along some juice boxes and water bottles.For snacks, we try not to get too messy, usually things like granola bars, beef jerkey, and chips. Things that are easily vacuumed! I do usually have an emergency stash of some kind of candy if someone (usually a 2 yr old) gets so cranky and starts trying to get out of her seat.
I have heard moms suggest for a toddler to bring something like a box of band-aids that they can amuse themselves opening and sticking to themselves. I haven't tried it yet.
We usually bring various picture books, coloring books and electronic games like Leap Pads and GeoSafari Laptops. The boys keep pretty happy with a handful of plastic soldiers. Magna Doodles are another hit.
We also play games together, like I Spy and another one using the alphabet that goes something like this:
My name is Anne, my husband is Adam, I live in Alabama and I eat Apples.
Then the next person follows the same format with the next letter and so on.
We also play guess the movie by giving quotes from favorite movies. Even the little ones can come up with something and the older ones can enjoy it too.
Good luck!
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Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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ShawnaB
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My kids love their MagnaDoodles.
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Shawna, wife of Jacob, mom to Abraham 8 Amelia 5 and Jillian & Jonathan age 3 years http://www.psalm121family.com
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Servant2theKing
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A bucket filled with Seabands, Dramamine, plastic bags, wipes, paper towels and Oxy Cleaner....Can you tell some of us suffer from carsickness? Seriosuly, we've learned the hard way that it really pays to be prepared...just in case! Add a well-stocked first aid kit and you're ready for any mishaps!
Have a wonderful trip!
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Natalia
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Servant,
We read once that Tomie de Paola used to take plain popcorn on car rides when he was a kid. He will eat them one at a time to combat car sickness. Since then my dd would not leave for a long trip without popcorn :-)
Natalia
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Jamberry77
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Natalia,
You may want to offer water only as juice is sticky and passes through the system quickly as kids drink more b/c it's sweet. They'll drink less water. I've also heard to limit salty snacks due to increased water consumption. We like to bring cereal that's a bit sweet but mostly healty...there's a rectangular kind w/ a hole in the middle that's good and not sticky (oat somethings). We also bring granola bars, and any finger foods that are not greasy/too crumbly/sticky. You might want to pack fruit cups for consumption out of vehicle (in restaurant or in hotel). Rely on lunch and supper for proteins and vegetables.
You may disagree, but I recommend buying or borrowing a tv for the car. We allow very little tv at our house (they watch maybe one day a week, one show) but on long car trips, that's what we use and they are content and watch only the good shows I have chosen. Ditto on carsickness preparation. The bucket would be good for emergency elimination, too (you never know when an accident ahead of you will cause you to be trapped on the interstate, between exits, for hours). Avoid toys with lots of little parts as some will drop and get lost and tears follow. If possible, stop at one or two Cracker Barrel restaurants as their gifts shop have all types of neat things for kids, in all price ranges. We once found a Curious George doll there who is well-loved now.
Post-It notes are also fun for kids who usually aren't allowed to "waste" a whole stack of them. My fault is always bringing too many toys; our boys like the tv so much they rarely play with the toys. They did like plastic, very stretchy lizards we got one year. Books on tape are a great idea but in our car, we have a hard time hearing them over the noise of the interstate.
In the past we've driven 14-18 hours, each way, twice a year to visit family. Due to different circumstances, this year we are flying and we'll be bringing far fewer diversions! Older DS likes chess now so I have a $4.50 magnetic chess game that we can play.
I hope you have a great trip.
Love,
Kelly in NC
mom to two sons, 8 and 4
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Servant2theKing
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Natalia,
Thank you! We'll try the popcorn next time we get ready to travel...as it is my son always runs for the Seabands whenever we get ready to leave the driveway!
Chewing gum also seems to help quell the rumbly tumbly!
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Topic: What do you take on a long car ride?
