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Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Traveling With Toddlers

When you live in the boonies you end up doing a lot of driving. When you are only two the hour or more drive to get anywhere seems like forever. So I’m always on the lookout for new ways to entertain Thomas in a car ride.

1.       Portable DVD Player – Thomas loves watching movies. I like to take one of the DVD cases that have three or more CD slots in it. Thomas loves being able to choose which one he wants to watch – and if I pick it he won’t watch it. So I pack his favorites and when he decided he wants to watch a movie I’ll let him choose from what I brought.

2.       Magnetic Drawing Boards – Thomas absolutely loves these. He has wore out two already.

3.       Vtech Innotab – He loves this thing. He will sit and play all the different games that I have downloaded onto it, or he will listen to the downloadable books.

4.       Books - I usually end up leaving the house with at least 3 different books in our bag of junk. Thomas loves looking at them, and I’ve got the most of them memorized by this point. And so does he. He has started “reading” them to me.

5.       White boards with dry erase markers or crayons – I usually just have the crayons in the car, but Thomas absolutely loves the markers.

6.       Wind up bathtub toys – Sure they won’t go anywhere but they have pullies and cranks that help make them make a different noise. And for kids that’s interesting, at least for Thomas it is.

7.       Old Camera – I don’t know if this s the same for all kids but Thomas loves taking pictures and looking at them. If he doesn’t take them on his Innotab, I’ve let him use my phone, but I’ve started carrying around an old digital camera of mine and let him play with it. He loves it. He also loves to look at the pictures.

8.       Listening to Music – Thomas loves listening to music. But I don’t drive around listening to children’s songs. He listens to adult songs that are appropriate for small ears. He loves the beats. He sits in his little chair and wiggles around as much as he can to “dance”. To date his favorite song is “Call Me Maybe”. But he also really likes music from about the 50s or 60s. Elvis is one of his favorites.

9.       iPhone apps – if you have an iphone or anything else that can download apps, there’s a lot of free children’s apps out there right now. Just Google it and download some.

10.   Snacks – make sure you have a bunch of snacks. Pack items that you know you child will like eating. And little treats that they don’t get on a regular basis. For Thomas its suckers or other little junk food type items that he doesn’t usually get. But I also take a bunch of snacks I know he will eat, and have a healthier base to them. Sometimes it’s hard to get him to eat when it’s time to eat.

11.   New toys – Go to the Dollar store or any dollar section in the usual stores like Target usually has toys for fairly cheap. Kids are always excited to have new toys.

12.   Favorite blanket and stuffed animal – You always have to hope for a nice nap in the car. I also have some neck pillows for him. I hate looking back there and seeing his neck in a funky position.

13.   Quit Books – I’ve seen these all over the internet lately. I haven’t made one for Thomas yet but I’ve been planning one. You can buy some on Esty if that’s the way you would rather go.

14.   A child mirror – I just let Thomas hold it and look at himself.

I like to pick out a bunch of Thomas’ toys that he likes to play with a couple of days in advance. I pack them in a bag and put them out in the car. That way when it comes time to travel he isn’t already board with playing with the toys that I packed. And remember breaks are ok. You need them to stretch legs, run off energy, and change diapers or use the bathroom. Relatively just take a break from the car and get a little bit of fresh air. And sometimes cracking the window helps improve a cranky mood. Anyone can start feeling carsick at anytime. Have a safe drive.

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