Last Minute Travel Panic
May 1, 2008
Posted by CindyC in : Opinions & Thoughts , trackback
I started packing for our trip yesterday when I realized that I completely ignored the entertainment long car ride. Yikes! How are we going to keep our five year old entertained for 7 hours in the car?
In a panic, I made a quick dash to Target to find toys to keep her busy.
While at the store, I started to look things like plastic slinky, squishy ball and other small random toys. I stopped my senseless shopping when I almost put a small videogame in the cart. Looking at my shopping cart, I realized we already had a couple of the toys, perhaps just in different colors. What was I doing? Did I really need all this plastic junk and a $70 electronic toy to keep her occupied? Slowly, I put everything back and went home to look for my lost sanity and creativity.
Once home, I dug through my daughter’s toy bins for small forgotten toys like the squishy ball and slinky (that I almost bought again). I also found a small etch-a-sketch, magic doodle, paper dolls, magnetic puzzles, pipe cleaners (to make something), coloring books and stickers. I couldn’t believe the bounty of free stuff, all courtesy of the slew of birthday parties from just this year. Taking my mom’s advice, I wrapped a few of the toys in newspaper and put all of my finds in a bag. Although numerous, the items all fit into a book bag so it’s easy to carry and doesn’t violate Rule #5 from my travel list. I figure whenever my daughter gets bored, she can dig into the “treasure” bag for something “new” to play with.
My mom also reminded me that the best car games are ones that stimulate kids’ senses and requires no props. Old time favorites like I Spy, Find 100 (of something) and 20 Questions were all my childhood favorites.
Of course, when all else fails, we’ll just have to find some park and let my kid run off some energy.
By the way, thanks for all the well wishes. Despite the Disney princess frenzy, I’m pretty excited to spend a few days in a fantasy world.
CindyC at Organicpicks
If you enjoyed this entry, please subscribe to the Organic Picks Blog
Copyright 2007 Organicpicks
Find More Green Products & Reviews..
Comments»
We frequently drive 5 hours to VA to see my parents. With two toddlers…one must be prepared. I start sneaking toys out of their stuff and hiding them about a month before a trip. After a few weeks, they seem new again. The wrapping things is a great idea -haven’t tried that one yet. One thing we do is check out books on CD from the library or borrow some from friends. (Not worth buying unless it is a classic your kids will want to listen to for a long time. We have the complete collection of Frog and Toad and it has served us very well.) If you sew and have the time another cool car thing is a bean bag with a clear window made from an old clear bag. You could even use a doubled up ziplock I guess if you don’t sew. Inside the bean bag you can use lentils,rice, sand or any small uniform pellet like things and add little goodies like a penny, a button, small toys from those party bags, etc. Sew or seal up the bag. Then you ask them to find each object by smooshing the bag around. My kids love it. Hmmmm…I may have to blog about that one with much clearer instructions.
Oh, the bean bag thing is a GREAT idea. Never though of that. Thank you. Thank you. We sometimes play the alphabet game - we take turn to name an animal (or plant, or toy, or whatever) in alphabetical order. Our 5 year old loves it and 3 year old feels left out. Your bean bag idea is much better.
Cindy, I’m so glad that I’m not the only one being sucked in one last time before Kindergarten to the Disney dream/nightmare. We’re going next month before regular school gets out.
Good for you for finding all those little “treasures” and not buying the same crap all over again. We’re just back from about 14 hours in the car (long story but we ended up going to two separate vacations because our first destination was snowed in). We have a DVD player in the car that we haven’t used in eons. A couple times over those hours, my husband or I would look at each other and warn that we might have to put in a DVD. Lo and behold, we made it home without even pulling a DVD out of the sleeve - or even putting a CD on. True, I do have two kids instead of one but with a magnadoodle, etch-a-sketch, a couple thrift store books and several songs, the kids entertained themselves easily. I definitely attribute it to turning off the TV at home and chipping away at the loads of toys they have. They’ve tapped into their creativity and now access it easily.
Have a wonderful trip! I’m sure the treasure bag will work out great!
I read that Dave Barry was in Disney world and thought of you. He did finish the day with a magical drink…and hope it wasn’t as hellish for you. That drink does not look like it came from sustainable, organic sources.
The only long car ride game I remember from being a kid was the alphabet one. Each person had to work through the alphabet from A to Z, finding words that started with the current letter along the road. For instance, Q was always difficult so everyone memorized where the Dairy Queen sign was or hoped for a license plate that started with Q. Part of the challenge was that whoever shouted the letter out first, along with the word it came from, got it. So, if you hadn’t worked through the letters up to Q, or were slow to yell it out, you had to wait until another Q showed up.
I still play this, in my head, on long trips. It’s much easier now because there are far more semis with brand names on them than there were (mumble, mumble) years ago.