Creative Letter Games for Toddlers?

Well next time you're at the dollar store, get a pack of circular metal Stove covers. Then you can take your magnetic letters and help him make words and sounds. The magnetic letters will stick to the circular stove covers.

If you bring him a dvd player, buy the movies from preschoolprepco (avail at amazon.com or preschoolprepco.com). They have "meet the letters" which is probably too boring/basic for him. "Meet the numbers" "Meet the sight words 1, 2, and 3" are all great. You can watch previews on youtube before you buy. Go to youtube and search "Meet the letters preschool prep co".

Get a pack of alphabet stickers. Let him peel the stickers off the paper (good practice) and stick them to a piece of paper (50 cent spiral notebook?) Then you and him come up with a word that matches that letter. ie: He gets a "p" Color it purple. Draw a picture of a pig. Draw a food with p - Pizza, peas, pickles....

Felt letters w/velcro on the back on felt (you can make these)

Small chalkboard w/diff colored chalk

Erase board w/dry erase pens

Take an electronic one he can use once you're at your destination. They are terrific. YOu can find them cheap, too.

I was going to suggest the Leapfrog Scribble and Write too. I bought this for my son for Christmas and he loved it. I was surprised he liked it as much as he did. He was never that into letters and writing but this kept him busy (and quiet) for longs periods of time. He has a Leapster which he likes too but I know at 3 he still needed help getting set up and working through some of the games. The Scribble and Write is very easy to use and they can work it independently.

If you have an iPhone, there are some fun free toddler apps you can download.

I bought a laminator at costco for <$20... comes with sheets. I printed letters and laminated them. My child is older so we use them for reading. May not be too early for sounding out. I bought a magnetic board from a local teachers store for about $7 (You can probably use a metal tin too) and some peel and stick magnet dots.

I was surprised how much my son ( who turns 3 tomorrow) liked the Leapfrog Scribble and Write. He knew his letters, but wasn't really into coloring, so I wasn't sure how he would react to it. But he loves it and will stick with it for long spans of time. I've seen it other places for cheaper, but I'm including a link from Toys R Us since they have the most thorough description and a little demo video. (The video demos 3 different products, the one we have is the 2nd shown.)
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=350845...

Also, if you'll be in the back seat too, he'll probably like an alphabet book. Jerry Palotta has written some on many different topics. The illustrations are fantastic and the books are actually interesting for parents too. You really learn something when you read them. My son loves anything transportation, so our favorite is The Construction Alphabet book. Definitely check out the descriptions on Amazon for this author! Many of the reviewers start out by saying that they thought the books would be too advanced, but their preschoolers loved them. I've just purchased the boat one for our upcoming vacation drive!

Leapster makes this letter game thing. Its like $20 at walmart. It lets you guess letters as the screen draws them, and practice writting them, or you can just press letter and here the name. My son (who will also be three in August.) loves his. Oh and it does have a volume button, my son knows how to work it and has no problem when I tell him to turn it down. He also loves paging through books like Chica Chica Boom Boom.