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Kid's travel boredom buster kit???


jtdlmc

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My 9-year-old son hates travelling - cars, planes, etc. We will be doing a lot of "travelling" to get to our final destination - the cruise port! I am trying to come up with new ideas of what to put together to give him in a boredom buster travel backpack. He has a DSi so I will probably buy a new game or two for that. He likes to draw, so I'll include some paper and pencil crayons, maybe a couple reading books and a journal to record his adventures in. But what else? Any ideas out there?

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Snacks are always good!

 

Oh yes, almost forgot about snacks!!!

 

 

My son loves to listen to music or watch a movie on my iPhone.

 

We just finished a 14 hour car trip with three children. An iTouch or iPod can be a lifesaver. They were all listening to music, watching TV shows, or playing games. Not one fight the entire trip.

 

Both kids have portable DVD players, DD is older and not so hard to please during travelling, so I will take those - maybe buy a couple new movies that they haven't seen yet. No iphones or ipods though.

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Is he interested in photography? There are quite a few nice, not too expensive digital cameras available. Then he could take photos to go along with a journal.

 

Great idea! My daughter is getting a Canon D10 for Christmas so maybe she will give him her other digital camera. He is always wanting to take pics with my camera, so I'm sure he would love that.

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We have a 14 hour van trip for our cruise. I also have an 11,7, and 4 y/o. I have movies for the DVD player, and I also have a book on tape to listen to that I think they will really enjoy. We also have some portable games. Every parent should own the game Rush hour, even adults love it, and we have the travel version. We are also bringing music to get us in the mood that we can sing together. But the most important thing is that I refuse to drive straight through. That is just too long for anyone to be in a vehicle in my opinion and I found a hotel with an indoor pool for them to play and burn energy before bed. But if I didn't go in that direction I would fnd one with a playground at least. Plus we use the rest stops to let them run around a bit every so often. I think it will be a pain, but I am trying to get them in the mood for the ride.

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NYQUIL :p

 

LOL. He hates traveling so much that I actually tried Children's Gravol at the onset of one long drive when we left at 4 am thinking he would sleep through most of the drive - no such luck and even the Gravol did not put him out. Myself, I take a 1/2 a Gravol and I'm down for the count.

 

We don't have one long drive this time, just 1.5 hours to the airport, than we are staying in a hotel right in the airport and I requested a runway view room, so hopefully that will keep him entertained for the evening. The next morning we have a 3.5 hour plane ride. Then we rent a car and drive another hour to an attaction and then back to hotel. Then the next day is the cruise.

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What about a deck of cards? My kids have enjoyed learning various card games, and as an added bonus, it helps their math skills. You can also introduce solitaire games before you go.

 

My DS loves taking pictures with the my old digital camera, but would often be a bit too snap happy. Take the biggest memory card that you can and some extra batteries.

 

It doesn't seem to matter how old kids are, they all like a little surprise part way through a long trip to help break up the monotony. Keep a couple of treats and or toys as a surprise for when they start to get bored.

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Our DD always liked trivia and mind type games -- Klutz press publishes a couple of "on the road" books. Silly putty, Playdoh, and/or a few of the portable mini games are a nice diversion from the electronics and books.

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I was going to say camera too. If you do not want to get him an actual one, or DD will not give up her old one, the funsavers would be an idea too.

Travel Bingo cards are easy to make - there are templates on line that you can choose what you want to have in the squares. I stash little treats - snacks etc in my own bag and when my kids get a line or whatever on the bingo card, we break out some new pack of stickers or whatever it is.

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I made our kids (DD 11 and DS 8) a travel journal for them. They also have laptops to watch movies on and DS' to play games. They both have cameras, so I am hoping that will keep them occupied for our 4 hour drive to port.

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