Instead of dreading a long car trip with kids, why not make the drive a fun part of the vacation? Even teenagers, well mine anyway, like these little special efforts I make to have fun on the way to our destinations. It's an 8 1/2 hour drive from our house to Disneyland. That's not a terribly long trip, especially with ipods and dvd players, but it can still get a little boring. Boredom sets the stage for contention in the car. The pictures above are one fun thing I love to do for car trips. When the kids were little I would have several packages for them to open. I tried to have something for every hour or even 1/2 hour. Coloring books, crayons, treats, toys, etc. It helped keep them occupied and really made the time pass quickly as they waited to open the next little "gift." Now that they are older I don't think we need as many so I chose to do 3 for this trip. It seems like they are always looking for their ear buds, so that is one of the packages they will open. The other is a shuttle pen and the last is the treat. We will stagger them and open them as we stop for breakfast, lunch and gas.
These awesome neck pillows were sewn by my 13 year old daughter, Kaitlin. She drew her own pattern on newspaper and got busy! It took 3 prototypes before she got one she really liked, but then she sewed 8 of them. The fleece and stuffing brought each pillow to a cost of less than $1. Isn't that great? $1. I think she did a fabulous job! They are very comfortable and will be so much easier to use than the big bed pillows and blankies we used to have to take when they were younger.
We always bring games and activity books to play with. For one car trip I had a green container, like the one pictured, for each child. It held snacks and crayons and books and games and activities for each one and they could use the closed container as a desk on their laps. For this trip I decided that we didn't need a container for each child. Instead, I packed games and activities in one container and they can take things out as they want to use them. They all have chapter books and series' that they are reading right now that they will take with them, and everyone has an ipod, so I think the items in this one box will be enough to hold them over in between.
As soon as she finished the neck pillows, I got my seamstress started on another little project for me. These little drawstring bags are part of an incentive game during the drive to California. Each kid will start out with 30 points worth of red, white and blue chips in their bag. If they are causing distress to a sibling or annoying the driver, they will be asked to hand over a chip. The number on the chip they hand over will depend upon the severity of the infraction, as determined by the driver. If they are penalized and lose a chip, they will have the opportunity to earn it back with prolonged good behavior. I am pretty strict about keeping your hands to yourself and not pestering siblings so the possibility of losing chips is pretty high for some of my kids. Parker (12) has already told me, very matter of factly, that he expects to lose about 5 points before we reach the hotel. *sigh* He is one of the main reasons I am putting this game together in the first place. He is a good kid, but he is a brother and he loves to tease his sisters and he gets his little brother to go in on the action with him. Boys!
The chips will be used to "purchase" snacks and treats for the week. Each will cost 1 chip or 1 point.
I have a bag packed with the little portion cups from Costco (love these!) to fill with the unwrapped little treats and candy. These will fit perfectly into the fanny packs that everyone will wear in the parks. Hopefully these snacks and treats will motivate good behavior during the drive so the kids will want to keep their points/chips. I am confident it will! I have chosen some of their favorites.
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