Saturday, December 21, 2013

What toy can I buy to keep my 2 year old boy occupied in the back of my car?

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Tony


Really struggling to think of something for him to play with while we're out and about, ideas?


Answer
Books:
You could get picture books(ones that he only uses in the car). Get a few books and rotate them so they seem new. I like the large board books that are basically a bunch of pictures of objects.

Another idea is books on tape. You child is a bit too young to follow along with the book, but he may enjoy listening to the story.

Portable DVD
A portable dvd and a favorite video will keep some children occupied while they are in the car. While I often do not advocate tv, if this is the only time he watches, it will defiantly keep his attention

Magnadoodle/Etch-a-sketch
These a great since they allow drawing without the mess of crayons or markers. There is also an aquadoodle travel, which is also good for mess free drawing.

Magnets and board
Get a box of magnets, and a magnetic board. Your son can stick the magnets to the board. Be sure you get enough magnets so if some are dropped, he still has many left.

Puzzles
There are some great puzzles that have doors to open, or pieces to move. Puzzles such as this http://www.target.com/Educo-Mighty-Motors/dp/B000GYSYCQ/sr=1-6/qid=1243736486/ref=sr_1_6/182-7501416-0677319?ie=UTF8&frombrowse=0&rh=k%3Atravel-toys-car&page=1 and http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-383-Latches-Board/dp/B000062SP5/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1243736991&sr=1-4 are great for traveling in the car.

Does anyone have any good tips for surviving a road trip with two young boys this summer?




caillet


We are driving from Michigan to North Carolina for a vacation this summer. We are taking two days to drive there and two days to drive back, stopping halfway in Pennsylvania both times. My boys are 5 and 8 and have never experienced a major road trip like this before. I'm looking for tips on entertainment, car sickness remedies, games, must-pack items, thing like that.


Answer
My biggest tip is to make sure the hotel you stay at in Penn has a pool! The second is to invest in a portable DVD player that takes 2 headsets. We frequently take long trips with our kids, and those two have been major life savers.

Food tips: Make sure you have a lot of non-sticky, not too salty treats to munch on. You will be cleaning them up from the car, so non-sticky is obvious. Not too salty is because salt makes them thirsty and you will end up having to stop to pee too often. Limit liquids somewhat, just let them drink water and they won't drink more than they need (like they would with juice boxes). Also, it won't be a sticky spill. Stop for lunch at somewhere with a play place, and let them run crazy for an hour. It pays off to get that energy out! And for dinner, one parent can take the kids in the pool while the other goes to pick up a take out dinner to eat in the hotel room. The kids will get worn out and go to bed much easier. My husband swims with the kids while I get dinner. I return and we both help get everyone dried off to eat and the kids take turns showering. Then everyone gets ready for bed. It is pretty much dinner then straight to bed, but if they swam for a while, they are worn out.

Toys: Besides the obvious electronics (Nintendo DS, the DVD player, Ipods) some other fun things to take along are small reward toys. Many larger toys are also available in small versions or even on key chains. We would purchase a few and pull them out as gift rewards for behaving for legs of the trip. Examples are mini-etch a sketch's, marble mazes (those little blocks with small metal beads you need to get through a maze), those finger paint pages that only work with the paint that looks clear till you use it on the special paper, coloring books with metallic crayons, black paper with gel pens, find it while you travel flash cards, small books with flaps (for 5 year old), small Lego sets... Go to your local toy store and look around. I put a few we liked below. We wrapped the toys, and put them in a basket for each child. They got to see the wrapped gifts and we explained that when we caught them being good for a while (usually a time of 2-3 hours), they would get to choose a gift. This was the incentive we used to get bad behavior to stop easily instead of getting worse. Also, the new toys will help occupy them for a while. Many fun things can be found at the cheapy dollar stores, or even in the grocery store toy aisle.

And finally, mostly be patient and willing to stop. If you are driving along and see a neat park or store or whatever, be willing to stop and take a look. Let everyone stretch their legs. If you arrive a little later, so be it. Having the trip be more relaxing will make it much more worth it than the hour or so you save by pushing tired kids beyond their limit. Also, we didn't rush out in the morning. We let the kids get in a morning swim first thing, then took off. They started the day off with less wiggles, and were excited to get up and moving in the morning.

Good luck and have fun!




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