Road Trip

My sister-in-law is getting married which means we get to take a little trip to join in all the fun. I originally told my husband there was no way I was going to drive 12+ hours with a two year old and a seven month old in our little car. But . . . when I did the math and found out how much cheaper it was going to be to drive I convinced myself that we could do it. I've been secretly hoping this whole time that we would find a last minute deal on airline tickets and be able to fly. And we just recently did. Yeah!! A two hour flight is going to be so much more manageable than a 12 hour drive (although I'm sure with two little kids it would have taken us at least 16). Anyhow -- for the last three months I've been compiling ideas and activities for what I thought was going to be a 12 hour trip. This is what I came up with:

First of all, because of our limited car space I decided all activities would have to fit in this small bag.

This handy dandy little cookie sheet from the $1 store is to use as a lap table for drawing and such. It's also magnetic so it can double as a magnetic play table. Magnetic toys are great for the car because they won't get dropped or lost as easily.

My mom gave these little lambs to my daughter. I think she just got them at a craft store. I put magnets on the bottom of them so they can be played with on the cookie sheet.

I found this little barn at Targets $1 spot. The farm animals are magnetic too.

Another magnetic activity. I just love magnets.

Finger puppets

Lacing cards

Pipe cleaners. To see what I had in mind for these look here and here.

Coloring book and crayons. I let my daughter pick out whatever coloring book she wanted from the dollar store.

Five Little Monkey finger puppet craft. I found it here.

Hidden picture puzzles. You can print your own here.

Puzzles

My daughter has a recent love for The Backyardigans. I thought she would like this. And it has a mess free marker so I love it.

Notebook for drawing, scissors, tape and lots of stickers.

Story books on CD


Now of course that we're flying I'm going to have to pick and choose between all these (not that I'm complaining).

What have been some of your successful travel ideas to keep kids busy in the car/airplane?