long road trips with a 6yo

Sahra - posted on 07/29/2010

Coloring books, travel games, car bingo, legos work well and DVDs. We take along a special "going home" book, game, toy or similar that they don't see until we are on our way home. Snacks and pillows. My son falls asleep on car rides so it's less complaining than I expect :) Let them travel in comfy clothes like pj's and slippers.

Jennifer - posted on 07/29/2010

If movies and games get old too quickly, try playing car games, such as, "How many red cars can you count?", or I Spy. We also bring coloring/activity books with us. Stop often to stretch your legs. I am sure she'll be fine.

Ursula - posted on 07/29/2010

Im not sure if it was mentioned yet bt ive found creative reading working well. example: mom starts with a sentence then each one gets a turn to continue with the story by adding there own sentence. its interesting what they come up with! you can continue like this until u want to stop..its fun. music is also another method. take along there favorite cd or just sing along. enjoy the trip. =D

Stephanie - posted on 07/28/2010

Go prepared. It's a great idea to have DVD's and nintendo but also pack up other suplies. I carry reading books, coloring books, small snacks, favorite toy. I'll even have prepared games to play together. I spy, we work on word problems, spelling, sing songs, brain work outs I call them. I hope this helps. And hope you trip goes well.

Barb - posted on 07/28/2010

All I can say is don't be afraid to pull over on the side of the road for pee breaks. We make an 18 hr trip a couple times of year and that's the one thing I have to constantly tell myself to relax about. Little ones will have to pee and it will be an emergency.
Also picking up a couple new movies makes it really exciting try the leapster learning movies... they are awesome.

Jen - posted on 07/28/2010

Get a few new little toys for her to play with. All the other suggestions are great too. We just did a 24hr+ drive with our 7 and 8 yr olds. We survived it too! Give her some incentive to work towards - a reward for good behavior.

Candy - posted on 07/28/2010

I always do a specail goodie bag. Half way through the trip they get it. It is full of fun little new toys,coloring books,books to look at,snacks,anything else I can throw in it. they love things like polly pockets and littlest pet shop.A new one of those and the fun begins. Plus they love to go through the bag just as much as they love what is in it.

Racheal - posted on 07/27/2010

if she can read you could alway try the mile marker sign game or the a-z game with the license plates...my parents took me on road trips ALL the time, mainly to out door world and stuff, you could also try who can spot the RV first..well thats the one we did you could also do a red car or blue truck or something...make her interested in the different locations and such...GOOD LUCK, oh also a great idea and i do this on ALL of my road trips with my kids is leave in the middle of the night!!!!

J - posted on 07/27/2010

Love the cloud game idea,maybe she'll actually see some cool stuff outside of the car! and saving video games for "last resort" , great ideas! Thanks

Kirsten - posted on 07/27/2010

CDs - ones which you don't mind listening to too.
Alone play things (colouring, etc.)
Games to play with you - I Spy, etc.

We take longer journeys regularly, as does my sister (4-10 hours). DVDs and Nintendo stuff is saved as a last resort by her and we don't have any of it for our daughter.
She gives her kids a good selection of books,colouring things and a couple of toys, plus the CDs which she doesn't mind listening to either.

Next week we're doing a 14 hour drive, plus 2 hours on a ferry - our little one gets a couple of favourite toys, a magic writing / drawing board, our attention and 4-5 CDs.

Vicki - posted on 07/26/2010

1. My son & I like to play " I SPY" games as we go down the road.
2. Crayola "color wonder" markers/drawing pad travel well too! (no mess because the markers don't color on anything but the special paper.....cool!)
3. You can try the 4 quarters game. (not sure about your daughters perception of money but we've been playing this game with my son for a couple of years).....She gets 4 quarters at the start of the drive. Every time she asks "Are we there yet?" she loses a quarter. You'll be surprised how exciting it is to keep those coins. (a reward could be....when you get to your destination, she gets to spend what she has!) =)

Angie - posted on 07/26/2010

Coloring books
Seek a word puzzles
Play the "what does that cloud look like" game
Books on tape (you can get these at the library or from Cracker Barrel Restaurants)

Brand new movies that she's never seen before. Consider making stops at Red Box to let her pick out a movie from time to time.