A long time ago, I read on someone’s blog about this great idea of using a cookie sheet somehow for car trips. I don’t remember whose blog or how exactly it was used, but we came up with our own version for the Chicago trip. I’d “bought” Tommy a magnetic Tangoes Jr. game with diaper rewards points, and since Elizabeth wants to do everything big brother does, I made her a similar “game” by sticking some cheap magnets (that I didn’t mind losing along the way) to a cookie sheet. I thought they might even use it as a tray for coloring, but we didn’t even pull out the coloring books this time around. Any other good car trip ideas? We have a lot of time in the car coming up this summer…
Oh my goodness! What a great idea.
A mom friend told me that bandaids are a great time consumer for kids in the car. It takes a while to open each one, and then you can play all sorts of fun “where can I stick a bandaid” games. We did it when we went to OK and Sam’s favorite place to put them was on his nose. So we both covered our noses in bandaids. You can get them really cheap at the dollar store.
Some things I remember from Mom’s special travel-toy stash:
Wikki Stix (we would make little sculptures or stick them to the windows, but they would work for “drawing” on a cookie sheet too)
Modeling beeswax
Sewing cards
Nailboard for making designs with rubber bands (googling says they’re called “geoboards.”)
Invisible ink books (do they still make these?)
Re-usable sticker paper dolls
Mariel had a spirograph that B & I were completely jealous of. We also listened to A LOT of Adventures in Odyssey tapes. When we were a little bit older, we would always have our cross-stitching projects along.