Long Drive + 8 Year Old Child = Bored?

[krts]

Hey everyone!

For those who drive. What do you do to keep the kids occupied? We've got a 24 hour drive ahead of us and this is her longest drive in a car by far.

Also, her birthday is in October and we are going to Disney in December. What would you suggest for a birthday present that would help keep her occupied during our drive?

iPod? Nintendo DS? These are things I'm considering. What other sorts of things/tricks do you guys do to keep the kids from dying from boredom?

Thanks!!

 

[PotteryGal]

All of these ideas are awesome. We are driving down to WDW with a 9 year old and 4 year old. We have the portable DVD thing, and plan to give our oldest a Nintendo DS lite as an early Christmas present. Our youngest will probably have a Leapster or Vtech (pocket version) as well.
I purchased two denim totes from JoAnn's and decorated them with the kids' names and various Disney stickers. I plan to fill them with items from our local dollar store (about $20/ child) and pull out a new item every 100 miles to hopefully squelch any complaints.
We also are planning to split the drive into 2 - 2 1/2 days. If my oldest had her way, we'd live in a hotel :lol:. As anxious as you are to get to the World, a stop on the way may be better overall for your peace of mind.
Just my 2 cents! :wave:

 

[erinuga]

Another thing we used to do when our kids were younger was just to wrap up some little surprises for them to open up along the way. Sometimes it would be when we crossed a state line, they'd get a new "present" - sometimes it would be a reward for patience - sometimes just something to celebrate going! It needn't be anything major - just a little something to make it special!

My mom did this for us on long car trips to wdw- it was something like every 90 miles or 120 (whatever was determined at the beginning) and we would follow along on the AAA trip-tik- so we would know "how much longer" without having to ask (and we learned map skills!)

My family also had a great time with trivia questions- we used a BrainQuest which is available for different ages and subjects. I appreciate everyone who has mentioned Leapster and other educational games- and interaction with the family while in the car-- I think a movie or two on a 24 hour drive is probably necessary- but try to keep the brain moving also

 

[dwayneswife]

Our DD was 8 years old her first trip to WDW last year. We took a portable DVD player as well as coloring books and ColorWonder paper and markers. We also found some magnet sets. I'll try to describe them. The metal boxes are similar to a book. They open and inside is different scenery and magnets to make pictures with the scenery. We have a set for horses, a farm, a circus, and something else I can't remember. We bought these for about $5 a piece. She played with the magnet sets the whole trip! She would watch the DVD player for about 30 minutes, stop it, and go back to playing with the magnets. When we went back in October, we saved space by only taking the magnets. Not once did we ever hear "I'm bored" or "Are we there yet" like I kept saying.

 

[3fordisney]

We have driven down with our son when he at the ages of 2 and 3. We have the dvd player in our vehicle and it has its own wireless headphones. Its wonderful!! My sister uses a portable one that you can use with headphones. I bring all his favorite Disney movies. It keeps him occupied, especially since we leave before the sun is up.

Also, pack alot of snacks and drinks with you. We stop a lot along the way to make sure we all get a chance to stretch out our legs and backs. We could probably make it there sooner than we do, but we figure its best to stop and stretch than get there fussy. We also make sure we eat at our regular meal times along the way.

We also stop at the Welcome centers, especially the Florida one. You can pick up great info on the Orlando area, including the WDW park maps. Your child could get some and plan what they would like to do once you get there.

Since yours is older, a game system like gameboy or an mp3 player would be great. We just got an Ipod Nano and love it. You can download all kinds of stuff to it, but the screen is small.

Hope this helps!! Enjoy your trip!!

 

[Trishnh]

I would suggest many of the things others have said-gameboy, dvd player. We also like to play the Disney ABC game where you each have to name a character with the letters of the alphabet. I made a bunch of Disney-themed crossword and wordfind puzzles, word scrambles (mess up the letters of characters/rides and have them unscramble them) and trivia-the kids really love those. Just tell him to keep looking at the 'prize' at the end of the ride!!:sohappy:

 

[krts]

This is great!

If I do go for the Nintendo does anyone have any suggestions for games? My daughter gets frustrated with games fairly quickly and I'd hate to get a game she didn't like or couldn't figure out.

Nintendogs? She likes animals! That's why we are staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge!

 

[Senderella]

If she likes being read to, books on tape/CD are also another way to pass time. If you pick a book that is adult friendly like Harry Potter then you can all listen as you drive, which will cut down on the adult boredom as well.

Keep in mind though, Jim Dale's voice is very soothing and usually puts me & dh to sleep LOL.

 

[orangewarrior]

We do a lot Disney (DVD's, CD's, books, puzzles, coloring) on our trip which is 14-16 hours via Car. Most of it has been mentioned here. We have a lap desk which gives our daughter the ability to write, color and have a flat surface in front of her for books and other stuff.

We also have a "Are we there yet" cup. It costs our daughter a dollar to ask, how much further. She saves up her money all year, and she doesn't like to lose it. In three trips, I think she has asked once. But we also do a good job of telling her our expected arrival time, delays or if we are ahead of schedule, when we will be stopping, etc. It seems to work pretty well.

The drive has never been a problem of us. Best of luck and good luck.

 

[minnie2000]

This is great!

If I do go for the Nintendo does anyone have any suggestions for games? My daughter gets frustrated with games fairly quickly and I'd hate to get a game she didn't like or couldn't figure out.

Nintendogs? She likes animals! That's why we are staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge!

We have a 9 year old daughter, and she has a nintendo. The games she likes the best are nintendogs and animal crossing-wild world.

These aren't just simple games though, so she may need some help getting started. For example, with nintendogs, she has to choose a puppy, name it and train it, and I found the training part to be quite tedious (yes - I admit it - I play all the games even more than the children!) Once you have reached a certain stage, you can walk the dog, feed and bathe it, then start training it for competitions. It would probably be easier to do it at home with her first, and then she can just get straight into the fun part on the trip.

I find the game boy advance games to be much simpler, and they work on the nintendo too. We have the shamu game, Barbie and the magic of Pegasus, strawberry shortcake ice cream riding camp, and Disney princess. I would recommend all of these. We also have a hello kitty game, but the girls didn't enjoy that much.

The Disney princess game would be really good, as there are games for each princess - Snow White, Cinderella, Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Belle and Jasmine, all with different levels - it would keep her busy for hours! Its quite simple too - just turn it on, and its pretty easy to get straight into the game.

Hope this is of help to you! Have a great time!:wave:

 

[tink81]

Try to spot cars with license plates from all 50 states. Start from the moment you leave your driveway to the time you return. We always did this!

Also, play the car alphabet game! Start out with the letter "A" and look for signs with that letter, then on to "B" and so on. It passes the time like you wouldn't believe!

 

[Dwarful]

In 2004 we had one heck of a trip...3 adults and 4 children in a minivan (don't ask what we were thinking...the other 5 flew down). squishy pillows, a light fleece blanket,then everything else in a small clear tote w/lid to keep it all together. you might want/need things like dramamine, childrens tylenol, books on tape(cd), color wonder books/markers, a few dvd movies..although like someone else said we wanted the kids to appreciate where we were....however the first 6-8 hours of our trip are DULL....southern Illinois isn't exactly dramatic in the midst of winter....don't forget handiwipes, kleenex and some plastic bags for trash.