ready for the car trip {kid activities}

The big family wedding is coming up in just a few days.  And while I am really looking forward to the wedding, I was getting pretty nervous about the 8.5/9 hour drive.  My kids have driven to Chicago, but that’s about it for long road trips.  So along with wedding crafts, I’ve been busy making lots of little things to hopefully entertain them along the way. 

I found many of these ideas here.  She has 6 or so pages packed full of awesome ideas for car rides.  I wish I had found this page earlier so I could have made more.  I made all of these with things lying around the house, from my old teaching stash, or from the I.D.E.A. store here in town.

Travel pillows/trays

I bought super cheap travel pillows and cookie sheets at Wal-Mart.  I used sticky velcro and attached a strip to the pan and the pillow.  Now the kids have little lap trays for all the games I’m bringing and their snack.  Then, take the tray off and flip pillow over for nap time! Matching pole – I made several of these.  One with pictures, one with letters, and one with numbers.  Not sure he’ll be able to do it, but worth a shot!Clothespin match – I grabbed a few paint swatches at Wal-mart.  I cut off a small edge of them and glued them to clothespins.  I stuck to matching 2 shades, light and dark.Matching Nuts and Bolts -   Love this one!  I simply raided William’s stash of nuts, bolts, and washers.  I pushed the bolts up through a piece of cardboard.  Under the white paper is a magnet so the washers stay put.  I put another piece of cardboard under it to hold everything together and duct taped around it.  That’s Ellie’s hand modeling it in use.Threading Can – he has to put the right color of pipe cleaner in the correct hole. Geoboards – he can make shapes with the rubber bands.  I have shape cards, but not sure he’s ready for that yet.Animal matching  - I took these adorable animal flashcards and created a velcro matching game.I grabbed a ton of old VHS cases at the IDEA store for $.05 each and have them stashed with blocks, crayons, etc.  They make great traveling cases. I found these lacing cards at TJ Maxx.We also have a huge stash of DVD’s from Grandma and the library, tons of books, favorite cars, new toys, and awesome snacks.  We can do this. . .right?!  And thank to Kimberly who sent my kids tons of little toys all wrapped up for the ride!