Long Road Trip - Aurora,IL

Stop and let them play! I too took a long trip to Florida and the success to the trip was allowing them to stop, stretch, play and relax from the car to take the stress away from the ride. Children will get car sick and then comes the throw-up and the nagging cry. After the play time, they will sleep like charms and happy trails!!!!!! Good luck

Y.,
How about coloring books, puzzles, toys, or games they can play with? Music tapes and cds. If I was you I would live a little later maybe after you have guys eat; so that way they'll fall asleep quicker. We do this trip often from New Jersey. It took us a while to find out that it was best to live the house at around 7pm. We have three children, the oldest and middle one are 20 months apart and the middle one and the youngest are 18 months apart. So we made sure that they had toys and games for them to play with. Then again, my kids love movies, so that helped a lot. Let them pick their favorite toys to take, not too many so they won't get lost in the trip, but a few that will keep them busy. Enjoy!!
Blessings
PS. Have enough snacks at hand :)

As you are driving through the night then luckily they will sleep for a big chunk of the journey , I would suggest making scheduled stops up to what would be "bedtime" , somewhere they can run around for a little bit. For example a McDonalds with a play area and let them have 30 mins to burn off some energy , and even though they are not interested in DVD's , when sat in a car strapped in a seat you may find it actually engages them for a while , so I would stick with that idea aswell. That and a few treats of the food kind , a cookie , some goldfish , or anything they like that is considered a "treat" for them.

Good luck

hi Y.,

this is such a great thing to do! we have done this very drive several times, and are actually taking a four week long road trip across the country in june! we have four kids - 6, 4 1/2, 2 1/2, and 4 months and we are taking a month-long road trip! crazy, i know!

other than the basic crayons and coloring book, here is what i am planning to do:

1) make workbooks for the two oldest. i am going to print these booklets out and they will have a bunch of things, like coloring pages, and clip art of pictures of things they will see on the drive. (for example: you would put 10 palm trees on a page. when they see the palm tree they can check a box, cross out the picture or color it in. you can do this with picnic tables, road signs, certain animals, or cracker barrel billboards... anything really!)

2) make a road trip mix. this is a fun way to introduce new music, teach about classic musicians or expose them to (appropriate) songs that you loved when you were younger. beach boys songs can be fun, for example... but what makes this fun is your kids seeing you sing along to the lyrics. they will too in no time... the twins will LOVE this! they get excited if you are excited!

3) keep a family trip journal. write down each kid's favorite thing about each stop. take pictures of those things, and for christmas this year... make scrapbooks for the kids w/ pictures and quotes of their favorite things. seeing their memories in their own words is a great way for them to remember (and re-enjoy) the trip for years.

4) pack healthy snacks. i don't usually use food to entertain my kids, but on a long road trip, sometimes a healthy snack buys you time when you need it. when my kids seem to be teetering on the edge of their breaking point, saying "snack time!" seems to "reset" their mood. make sure theses are healthy snacks and not treats. sugary treats will only wind them up and make them more restless. (i like crispbreads - they are like huge, high-fiber crackers that are pretty crunchy so they take some time to chomp on. celery and carrots are good for the same reason.) these will also prevent that inevitable "gut-rot" that comes from road trip food.

5) use movies as rewards, not as a last resource. if you make a movie something to EARN, your kids will focus on their behavior more. if you wait for them to go nuts, and say "fine, watch a movie!" then the novelty will wear off quickly... i say, tell your kids if they can get along and behave properly, they will get to choose a show... then it becomes a reward for good behavior and patience.

6) eat IN the car. kids will NOT want to get back in the car when you take pit stops. when we are trying to keep a good pace, we stop at a rest stop and do the usual potty break. but, then we say ok, we are going to race around the building three times! this will tire them out, be fun and a good way to stretch their little legs. we don't like to eat at a restaurant bc it takes FOREVER. we order food to go, or eat food we have brought w/ us in a cooler. eating on the road is a great time saver, and is really helpful to get the kids back in the car. saying "ok, let's get back in for some lunch" is a little more appealing than "let's drive for another year kids..." which is how it will feel if they don't have something to pass the time. meals on the road will help do that.

good luck and try to enjoy every moment! one thing i am learning about road trips w/ little ones is this: act like each day is the WHOLE point of the trip. that way you will focus on making it an adventure, and making it fun for them. if you just plow until you get to florida, it might be a little miserable. if you take a little time to prepare to make the driving portion fun, it can be as memorable and fun as florida! (k, that is probably an overstatement... but at the very least, the drive doesn't have to be miserable!)

good luck and have fun! and remember, if it is going horrible... you can think of us on the road for 4 WEEKS! ahhh! L.

I made a bunch of cheerio necklaces for my son when he was 2.5 and we drove 12 hours to GA... I also went to the dollar store and bought about 5-8 different little presents, wrapped them, and everytime he started getting antsy I would give him another little present. That would hold him over for about 30-40 minutes playing with the new present (for a dollar).. I bought new dvd's but he wasn't as interested in that..

We always stopped every couple of hours, whether the kids asked to or not, and had them run around for 10 minutes or so. After they fall asleep for the night you won't have to do that, but pull over when the 5 yr old wakes up and if they are not in diapers have the twins go potty, too, all at the same time. You too! It's really the main thing!
Enjoy!
Mama S.

My longest trip so far with twins + 1 was about 15 hours. We left at 6:30 AM and have no DVD player in the van...just not really interested. My twins are now 4 and their big sis is 8, but the first time we did this my twins were 2...so I can relate a bit :) Your trip is a little further than ours, though. We left early, by the way, because the last time we drove through the night we felt like we needed 2 full days to recover our own sleep and it was not fun with kids when they had energy & we were crabby! We packed a lunch in a cooler and stopped and had a picnic because the weather was nice. If a rest area had a park, we played for 10-15 minutes tops. I bring the kitchen timer...there's no arguing with a timer when it beeps! I also bring dollar store bubbles & beach balls to play with at rest areas since only a few have actual parks at them. At every stop, I introduce something they've not seen before (usually dollar store junk we don't have to keep after the trip). We make at least one road-trip meal be at a cheap sit down restaurant or buffet. We MapQuest the route for towns and then looked up their parks online...that was where we'd have a fast food picnic. We kept a plastic potty in the back of the van (lined with plastic bags) just in case we needed to stop along the road for anyone. At Target, I found these great art cases for about $6. They're by RoseArt and they're colorful plastic clipboards with crayons & markers & paper stored inside. We brought copy paper so we wouldn't run out and clipped the paper on their boards for them to color. We also brought those Magna Doodle drawing boards, the travel size and the big size. We put plastic cups in their cup holders to hold crayons, etc. My husband and I took turns sitting in the back with the kids to read books while the other was driving. We also checked out a couple of books on CD at the library. We didn't bring the actual books with to follow along (for fear of damage or loss), but we listened to the stories on CD. My older one enjoyed that the most, but the talking seemed to lull my twins to sleep (never a bad thing!). Basically, we stopped if we had to and we knew it would be a longer trip than MapQuest told us it would be, but we made decent time without much fuss. Each kid also got a small bag to bring whatever toys they wanted. I actually LOVE road trips with my kids. I took them alone to a friend's (from IL to MN) house and they were so fantastic, I think I love them best while on road trips!! My secret weapon to get us through the really tough time was M&Ms in dixie cups. The way home on the long trips has always been a little harder for us, but I tend to stop more frequently and let them get out & move. We often blow bubbles and toss or kick a beach ball around at rest areas or even large empty parking lots. Sidewalk chalk is also a hit at stops. A mom traveling alone with kids once came over to us at a stop and said what a good idea it was to play like that because her kids were killing her in the car...so we invited them to play with us! It ended up being a 30 minute stop, but it was fun!! I always try to have surprises, and they think it's more of an adventure then. My 8 year old is actually already begging for a summer road trip! Good luck!

We love road trips and don't have the dvd player (actually will be car shopping soon and refuse to have on in the car we buy) Check out the local library for books on tape. Ours has a fabulous selection. Also stop at rest stops vs. towns. We pack a cooler and while I am making sandwiches my husband is "getting the wiggles out" with the kids. Rest stops have the grass for the kids to run around--though we have been know to play tag on the plot of grass near the gas station.

Also we learned at technique from 1-2-3 Magic to pay them for good behavior in the car. (This may help the 5 year old). My kids get 25 cents for every fifteen minutes they ALL behave in the car. This then becomes their spending money for the trip. It is amazing how the trinkety stuff is less appealing when they have to spend their own money. They get paid at rest breaks. And we have never needed to pay them for the return trip.

I also have the car stocked with a ton of activities the kids can do, color wonder is great, threading cards, stickers, etc. Each child also has their own activity kit with paper, crayons, glue stick, etc. At rest stops we restock if needed. A craft store has lots of things you can use, craft sticks with slots in them, pipe cleaners, etc. It is amazing what a child can recreate in the back seat of a car.

Have fun and look forward to it. Your attitude for the journey is key to the success of the trip.

Traveling with kids? You are so LUCKY! I LOVE traveling with my daughters. It is uninterrupted US time! We moved from Canada to Los Angeles when the girls were just 5 and 2…that trip was a little bit more than 20 hours LOL! Then 3 years later, we traveled for 10 months from Western Canada, to CA across the south to FL, then back to western Canada.
THEN, just last year we drove from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to Miami, Florida for a 4 month vacation.

I have spent “some” time in the car with my daughters. Plan correctly and before you know it, you will be there.

Here are the things we do:

1. We play ARE WE THERE YET? I use poker chips. They get 1 for every 30 mins we will be travelling. I set a timer (so I don’t forget – got both the timer and the poker chips at the dollar store) and each time it rings they give me a chip and we change activities. Two things happen, 1, they don’t keep asking are we there yet and 2. I know how many activities to plan out.
**I usually have a book of jokes and I read a few each time the timer goes off...just something else to look forward to.

2. Name that tune. We play their CDs, but just until we know the name of the song. That way “elmo” doesn’t make mommy crazy. **Throw some of your fav songs in there, it is a great way to introduce them to the kids. (I make a mixed CD before we lave home.

3. For sure give them their own backpack travel bag. A few of their special things, teddy bear, coloring book, things for a few minutes of their own quiet time. They also keep their own HEALTHY snacks.

4. 20 Questions. Remember, they can only ask yes or no questions to guess who you are thinking of…animals, people you know etc.

5. Play the colour game, letter game or number game. Cut up pieces of colored paper, make small pieces of the numbers 0-9 and the letters A-Z. You can put them in different bags or all in the same one. Everyone picks one. When they find it they put their piece of paper in their own bag and pick another one. When they are all gone you all blow kisses to the winner the person who has the most pieces of paper. **for the younger ones, you will have to adapt. She picks a colour a=and maybe uses one of their books to find it. For number, you help her count, for letter have her find the letter in one of her books

6. Treasure Bottle – Great for all ages - I use a plastic food container with a really tight lid for this one. Fill it no more than 2/3 full with uncooked rice or birdseed. Then put in about 20-25 small objects (safety pin, plastic bugs, button, M&M, nut, bolt, paper clip, penny, bead, piece of macaroni, tiny lego, and other misc. toy pieces or stuff that is probably rolling around in your kitchen junk drawer.) Keep a count of the items and write down the number of items on the outside of the bottle.

7. I Spy – an oldie but a goodie.

8. The rhyming game. Find a one or two syllable object and ask your kids to think of words that rhyme with it

9. Storybook--Begin with "Once Upon a Time..." and have everyone take turns adding something to the story. The characters and plot can go in very interesting directions. This game really lets your child's creative juices flow!

10. Snacks: PLEASE KEEP IT HEALTHY. Stay away from prepackaged snacks, they are sugary, and full of sodium, they are just empty calories that are more likely to make your kids fidgety then calm. HEALTHY CHOICES ARE: nuts, sunflowerseeds, dry organic cereal, fruit (grapes, apples, pears - something that can't get squished), granola, trail mix, fruit, WATER – no juice or soda, etc. NOT GOOD: cookies, fruit roll ups, dried fruit, chips, etc. The kids will find it "cool" to order something from the flight attendants, but please know that other than water there is nothing on that cart a child should have. You can pre-arrange with the flight crew to give them a special treat for your kids (you provide it of course) and when they come around they make a big deal of "something special" for the kids. That way everyone wins (and you get to keep it healthy)

Enjoy the time you have with the kids. It is rare that you get uninterrupted time with them.

The biggest thing is DON’T RUSH IT!

On our trip from CA to FL, we had just left Galveston Texas, our GPS said turn, but up ahead, about a mile or so we saw this enormous bridge. We just had to drive over it. So we did. DETOUR daddy yelled! It was amazing. On the other side of the bridge was this huge wooden park. I am talking HUGE. It was some sort of fort theme it was open, free and about ¼ of a acre in size. We played for almost 2 hours. Yes, it set us back in our schedule, but who cares. That was 2 years ago and the girls are still talking about it.

Be flexible. It is so much more fun.

B.
Family Success Coach

We have an online site on community travel www.bigbluetrunk.com. Here are some tips for road trips.
http://www.bigbluetrunk.com/ourcorner/689