On the road again

"On the road again, I just can't wait to get on the road again. Seeing places I might never see again and I can't wait to get on the road again." It seems like when you the family of a Marine( or any other service member) you are always moving. Some times its a short distance from one base in Ca to another. Some times its a 3000 mile move acrossed country and 9 times out of 10 you drive during this move. How on earth do you entertain yourself on the long trip and what do you do when you get there and everything you have is in a box. You've spent hours in the car staring at the window and torturing you sister... your about ready to lose your mind and you can't find your favorite doll! What do you do??? Well hopefully this page will help.

Plan Ahead

Take some of you favorite toys in the car with you. That way you can play with them on the trip and they are at the house with you when you get there. Not at the bottom of some box! Some ideas of what to pack are:your favorite doll or stuffed animal, 2 or 3 coloring books and a small baggie of crayons, 5 of your favorite story books, some music tapes and a walkman (a tip for parents on long trips walkmans and story/music tapes can be a wonderful tv replacement for 3/4 yr olds and with walkmans you don't have to listen!)and a handful of small toys (ex. cars, happy meal toys, little disney figures) This will all fit into a back pack that can be kept at your feet during the trip!

BINGO

Make your own car bingo...it isnt hard and it gives you something to do while mommy and daddy are running around packing! With mommy's help make 3 or 4 Bingo cards (mommy knows what they look like) with as many spots as you like (i suggest for younger kids 4 squares by 4 squares but you can make them bigger) you can use poker chips to cover your spaces when you play. Now in each square draw 1 picture of something you'll see on your drive. Some ideas are cows, big rigs, Mc Donalds,Taco Bell,Exxon,speed limit signs,a flag,a school, a supermarket, 7-11, anything. You can color these pictures in for mommy and daddy. Ask mommy and daddy to laminate them. When the trip begins you are ready to play. Lay the card on your lap and start playing.... call out the things as you see them and mark off your card. The first one to get 4 in a row wins! (just like regular bingo)

Tell a Story

Even younger kids like to tell stories. I know of a 2 yr old little boy who runs around telling his mommy a story of Wolverine and batman getting in a fight and his Daddy comes in and beats both of them! We love to tell stories. So why not make on up on your trip! Everybody takes a turn.... Your mommy or daddy starts telling a story. They tell it for 3 minutes and then it is the next persons turn to continue the story where they left off. Smaller kids can do this too if you use a little patience! Imagine the funny stories you'll come up with!

GO FISH

If you don't have the big sized cards for go fish go get them...they are cheap and its a game all kids love. To make it playable in the car this is what you do. Get those lunch paper bags and get enough of them for each game player and one for the go fish pond (maybe bring some extras incase they rip). What you do is this... deal the cards like a normal game of go fish except instead of a go fish pile you have a go fish pond(the extra cards in a paper bag so they don't go flying if the car turns.Instead of laying out your pairs when you get them, you put them in your special bag....every player gets one so that you can see who wins in the end. Thats the only differnce!

Tell a friend about this site!

Click the ball if you have any ideas about home to make long drives more bearable!