Unfortunately, most kids aren’t like these two. More than likely, they won’t be sleeping the whole trip.
Did you know there are only four weeks until Thanksgiving and only seven Fridays until Christmas? Ah! With the holidays just around the corner, it’s safe to say you’ll be doing some sort of traveling in the next few months. Whether you’ll be in the car for a couple days or just a couple hours, the holidays always call for some form of travel. Anyone who rides in a car with a child for more than five minutes knows that they aren’t easily entertained by the passing scenery. They need more stimulation than that!
But you also don’t want to give your child a brand new toy just to keep them content on their way to get another brand new toy on Christmas! Instead, set aside some time to put together some of these Do-It-Yourself toys and activities to occupy your child on a long road trip.
DIY Toys To Keep in the Car
Car Bingo
If you scour the Internet, you can find printable Bingo cards that are made for car trips. Then, you just need some chips to mark the spaces. To keep the pieces together, buy a small tray or cookie sheet from a dollar store and make some magnetic chips. You can find various Bingo cards from major car brands to things you would see on the side of the road and more. Don’t forget treats for the winners, of course!
Finger Puppets
Finger puppets are an entertaining activity for your child in the car and bring out their creative side. But they can also be a creative activity if you let your children make their own puppets. You can get the supplies to make them from the dollar store, and set aside one day of putting together finger puppets. Then pack them up to entertain your children on the road!
Pocket Size Magnetic Fishing Set
Do you have an aspiring fisherman in the family? There is a great tutorial on how to make this mini fishing game at Doodle Craft Blog. You just need an Altoids tin, colorful felt, magnets, washers, string, a wooden stick, and some string! These are also just great goodie bag or Christmas gifts for all the youngsters in your family!
Dry Erase Board
This is great to keep on board, as long as your kids are a little older and know not to draw on themselves! Your kids can use the board to play Tic-Tac-Toe, Hangman, or other fun games. They can also use the board as a hard surface to write or color in coloring books on. It’s an adaptable source of entertainment. And okay, you don’t necessarily make this one yourself, but your kids can make up games to play on it, so it still counts!
Portable Lego Kit
Do your kids love Legos? If you think the pieces are too small to travel with, you may be right. But if you create a portable Lego kit in a an old metal lunchbox, you might not lose as many pieces. We can’t guarantee you won’t lose any. All you have to do is get a Lego building plate, cut it to fit the lunchbox, and adhere it to the top of the lunch box with mounting squares. You’re welcome to use any adhesive, but the mounting squares aren’t toxic. Then fill the deeper side of the lunch box with as many Lego pieces as it will hold. You can find the full tutorial for the Portable Lego Kit here. Viola!
Bonus Activity: If you’ve never played the Alphabet game in the car, you have to do it on your next trip! Everyone starts with the letter “A” and has to find that letter on a billboard, sign, license plate, or even written on the side of a tractor trailer!
Once someone finds their letter on a sign, etc. then no one else can use that same source for their own letter. For example, if there’s a sign that says “Welcome to North Carolina” and you’re on the letter “A.” You can call “A on the ‘Welcome to North Carolina’ sign!” And then if someone else is already on “C” they cannot use that same sign to find their letter.
Once you find an “A” you move on to “B” and go through the whole alphabet until someone wins or everyone gets too frustrated to keep going! Trust me, once you get to “X” you’re depending on license plates only and it can get irritating, but still entertaining, of course!
Go get these toys together now so you’re ready in plenty of time for the holiday season! Once you’ve got an arsenal of toys together, you should have no problem occupying your children for a long road trip. And instead of stressing about how you’ll make it through the trip, you can enjoy the holidays!
Have a secret to keep your kids entertained on a long trip?
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Leave your tips in the comments below and we may feature them in a future blog post!
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