Putting together a kids activity pack.

esmf73

Don't forget blank plain paper (my kids always prefer this); I have to use crayons not pens!! Perhaps some goodies in the car for when they've been good for a while. Some tissues / wetwipes. Love the MP3 idea with audio book or CD on. If you want them looking out of the window to minimise travel sickness, then think of things like I spy, drawing a line on the dots when they've seen a red car for example, seeing if they can see a whale on the ferry!!!

All things to keep them amused.

melorablack

Why don't you let them pick what they want to take? Then if they're bored they only have themselves to blame

sillyvixen

mrcow wrote: »

Also - if it doesn't drive you completely nuts - what about an audio book for everyone listen to (make it one you could all bear?).

years and years ago my dad taped the lord of the rings off the radio - and every family holiday we listened to it on the car stereo, i grew up with those tapes and every year i discovered areas of the stories that had not been apparent the year before!

later on those tapes compelled me to read the books - my parents still listen to the tapes on their holidays!

Silaqui

This might come in useful too, if they are listening to the same thing (unlikely I know, but just in case)... saves leaning over to share headphones

http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?hl=en&q=headphone+jack+splitter&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=17932531668718841425&ei=xivdS7XTNZT80wTm3JDEBw&sa=X&oi=product_catalog_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBAQ8wIwAA#ps-sellers

mandragora_2

The old fail-safes for any long car journey (for my lads, anyway)
a new book from the library
a bottle of water
a football (for when you stop at the services every couple of hours)

We went bleedin' miles on this simple combination!! I also remember taking them to the library with me, and getting them to choose story tapes we could listen to together - Martin Jarvis reading 'Jennings', Alan Bennett reading 'Winnie the Pooh'.

What fun we had.... We would sometimes go and look after a French friend's house while she was away in the summer - once stayed for 5 weeks, on a very limited budget. The library let us take books out on an extended loan, and we took out as many as their tickets would allow. I don't remember them being bored, they just sort of got on with it.

onlyroz

When I was a kid we used to go on a lot of caravanning holidays and my brother and I used to enjoy designing our own campsites - needless to say, the biggest thing in the site was always the play area, including assault course and stunt-bike track. Maybe your kids could do a similar type of project?

Other things I remember doing on the journey was counting cars of particular colours - so you could do similar counting games. Looking out the window is also less likely to induce car-sickness than staring at the small screen of a hand-held game for hours on end...

Nenen

This bbc website has lots of good ideas for travel games:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A397398

When my three children were young I bought them a small plastic tool box (one with lift up lid containing lots of small compartments eg this one from Wilkinsons for £2.29): http://www.wilkinsonplus.com/Hand-Tools/Utility-Tool-Box-125in/invt/0193596

I then wrapped lots of small cheap stationery items including: scissors, glue stick, pens, pencils, sharpener (one that collects the bits so no mess) hole punch, stapler, paper clips, date stamp, stickers, coloured paper, bits of card, ring reinforcers, butterfly clips, rubbers, notepads, envelopes, elastic bands, sellotape, post-it-notes... and anything else I could find on special offer! I think that nowdays you can buy packs of crafty materials in the Poundshop or ELC fairly cheaply too. At various points in the journey I would give them a few gifts to unwrap and arrange in their tool boxes, starting with stickers to decorate them with. By the time we got to our destination they had a full set of things they could use on rainy days. They really loved having their own boxes of things and kept them for years. They always took them to grandparents for example (who would often give them something to put in). They made up all sorts of games with the bits and bobs. I remember they took immense pleasure out of owning their own roll of sellotape and not having to borrow mine!

storminabuttercup

In regards to the travel sickness - this is going to sound crazy - but when i was younger i suffered terrible with it - until one day my granddad gave me two 'tuppences' one for each hand - i held them all the way to the seaside and wasnt sick - its maybe a mind over matter thing - big deal made out of this miriacle cure!

a game we used to play was yellow car punch - spot a yellow car and punch the person sat next to you - parents did not approve! :-)

katglasgow

donnamm3 wrote: »

a game we used to play was yellow car punch - spot a yellow car and punch the person sat next to you - parents did not approve! :-)

Love it!!! :rotfl:

Millie2008_2

Bit OT, but do you give your daughter travel sickness pills as a precaution? I was terribly travel sick without them in the shortest journey, but I am sure that there was a psychological component to it too as occasionally Mum used to give me sweets when she ran out (telling me they were travel pills) and this worked.

Also (check the recommended age limits for these) but I have had some success with the sea band wrist things)