If the trip is more of a family vacation type and will involve most of a day to complete, it may be nice for the childe to receive a “half way” present. This can be anything from a new book or new toy, dollar store items work well for this type of gift. The gift is not as much of a distraction from the car ride as the presentation is. Wrap it up with pretty paper and ribbons. Do not forget to praise the child for being well behaved while cooped up in the car. The child will be happy and occupied long enough to provide the parents with some much-needed quite time.
Make Ahead Activities
Some children need to be prepared for a change in routine, while some like to feel they are helpful in the preparation of such a wonderful trip. These types of children could benefit from making their won travel activities and games.
A great way for children to help with this is to use felt boards and felt pieces to make a scene that they can have adventures with. There is nothing else that is needed for this project. The felt with stick to itself without any other materials.
You will need:
1 Cookie sheet
Felt, in different colors
Cookie cutters or other shapes
Magnet tape or Velcro tape
First, let the child chose the theme of the board and pick out the colors of felt to be used. Cut a piece of felt to fit inside the cookie sheet. Attach this piece of felt to the cookie sheet using the magnet or Velcro tape. The next step is to cut simple shapes from the felt. The easiest way to do this is to trace cookie cutters onto the felt and then cut them out, this is a step the child can help with. Cookie cutters come in a variety of themes and sizes. Let the child decorate the shapes using markers.
The game is now ready to keep a child entertained for many, many miles in the car.
Some suggestions for this project are:
Tic-Tac-Toe
Paper dolls and accessories
Cars, Airplanes, Trucks, etc.
Checkers
Let the children have fun making this project and they will let you have quite time in return.