ROAD TRIP!!!

I don't know about you, but nothing strikes fear into my heart quite like taking my kids in the car.  Nooo, I'm not worried about the other maniacal drivers on the road.  I'm worried about the irritable, back-seat driving, adorable kids that like to argue with one another, cause fights, and ask incessantly "Are we there yet?"  You're laughing right now so you've either never experienced this (lucky you), or you totally get me (wine party my house Friday, 8pm).  So what do you do?

Well, I make it a habit to hit the local thrift store and look for look and find books.  I store them in easy reach of the kids and rotate them often.  Why do I rotate them?  Well if I leave them all out the kids make a big mess, don't really use them that much, and they take up a lot of room!!!  I'm pretty sure we've hit the end of the line with those books for awhile.  So here are a few other options:

• Maps.  I spent years on my neighbors porch with my best friend pretending to drive a car while we planned vacations using maps.  Put  marks on point A and point B, and let the kids natural curiosity take over.  You might have to ask a few questions to get them started like the names of rivers, weird city names, etc.
• Crayola wonder markers.  These amazing gizmos are clear until they come into contact with special Crayola paper.  We've used these for two Disney trips no with no problems, however one of the b-rats grabbed a fluorescent orange crayon and boy did that leave a mark on my vinyl.  UGH.
• Etch a sketch.  Who doesn't like an etch a sketch?  At one point Etch a sketch came up with maze sheets that you put over them and the kids found their way through maze after maze, repeatedly.  I'm not sure what ever happened with these sheets, but I am confident that you can make them again with permanent markers and some strong, clear plastic sheets that you cut down to size.  
• Magna Doodle.  Enough said.  But actually there are even more magnetic things, like Hair-do Harriet, Buddy Beagle, located at the Office Playground.
• Make your own look and find lists (yes I'm back on the scavenger hunt thing again haha).  It helps if you have knowledge about where you will be going.  But make a word/picture list of things the kids have to find.  They can check it off or hand you the card once it's found.  The winner gets a prize.
• Car puppets.  I wouldn't recommend the tiny finger puppets, nor would I suggest the full size ones at the store.  Simple ones that fit over your hand (maybe even home made sock puppets).
• Books and comic books are great also.  My kids really dig Weird But True Facts and the Ripley's books because they are not long and drawn out, and they can read them in any order (yep a few of you just cringed haha).
• Pamphlets.  Where are you going?  What will the kids see?  Any interesting historical info along the way?  Yeah this takes some advance notice because you have to either get these sent to you or kill your ink printing them up, but they're cool.
• Ball.  No not for inside the car, but if you have a long trip.  Grab or pack a lunch, pull into a picnic road side area and let them kill some energy.  
• Okay and lets not forget the electronics:  tablets, iPad, iPhone, smart phone, hand held games, DVD player, etc.

The list above gets my kids through about 26 hours or a bit more in a car for a trip.  The trick is this, NO SMALL PIECES, rotate car stuff on a regular basis, and make car stuff JUST FOR THE CAR, never to be seen or used elsewhere.  They're kids, and they aren't going to use it as much as you hope if they have constant access to it.  I know it sounds like a lot, but you can fit them into small containers easily.  I personally sell Thirty-One and so I use the following containers that can be found at my site Erica.  Here are a few of my favorite things; you can use any containers these are just my preferences:

FLIP TOP ORGANIZING BIN THE TOP ALSO BECOMES A TABLE

HANG UP ACTIVITY ORGANIZER/PACK AND PULL CADDY

LARGE UTILITY TOTE