Road Trip Activities for Toddlers

So, we are planning a 9 day cross country trip from NC to CA with myself, my husband, and my two little girls who are 1yr and 2yrs old. Sounds fun, right? Thankfully, the girls are good little travelers and I have planed the trip with lots of activities and stops that should entertain the babes.   I have confidence that it will go well. But, you never can be TOO prepared, right? Right? RIGHT? Right. 

So, I decided to start the search for good road trip activities. I realized that most things I found were not really geared towards the early-toddler aged kids (maybe because we are the only crazy parents willing to try a road trip with this young of kids). 

Anyway, I compiled some of my favorite ideas along with some of my own. They are super easy to make! They do take a little bit of time, but not much. Maybe two evenings sitting in front of the TV drinking wine...yeah, that should be enough time. :)

Here it is:

-The Box I originally started storing everything in an accordion folder. That didn't work out all that well because it was a bit to small (even though it was one of those monster folders!). So, my husband made a Wal*Mart run and bought me this. He is estimating that it cost him about $20...maybe $25.

-Supplies I filled the top with Crayons, Sticky Notes, a Sharpie, a whiteboard marker (white board inside) and Kleenex to wipe the board off...after all, who likes using their hands? All that blank gunk? Yuck.

-File Folders Inside, I used filing folders which I already had. I used sticky notes to create "Tabs"

-Flash Cards These are leap frog flash cards. They are the kind that you can use with the little green dog (whats his name? Scout? That's it)  I didn't want to bring the dog, it takes up to much space. So we just brought the flash cards.

-ABC/123 These are foam letters that I made. You can buy adhesive, pre-cut letters at Wal*Mart (or any craft store). I took the letters and stuck them to a piece of flat black foam board and cut around them. Then, I took adhesive magnets strips, cut them to size, and stuck them to the back. Voila! (The metal cookware is from the Dollar Tree)

-Pipe Cleaners from the Dollar Store. I don't recommend cutting them at all. The little wires poke out. Not good for the little ones.

-Books Books I already had. Little ones with pretty colors and fun pictures.

-Stickers These are stickers from the Dollar Tree. We kind of went all out and a little crazy, but oh well. I stuck them to foam board of various colors, cut them out, and stuck a magnet to the back. I separated sticker sets so I could keep the variety and not overwhelm the little ones with too many themes at once.

-String Shapes I cut of these shapes from foam board and used a single hole-punch to punch holes all around the shape. We got shoe string at the Dollar Tree, but John got excited when he saw the colorful fuzzy string and thought it may be more interesting for the girls to use as opposed to shoe string.

-Popsicle Sticks We got these colorful popsicle sticks at the Dollar Tree. Again- stuck on magnets and Voila!

-Fishing These were a bit of an adventure to make! We were limited on supplies since the packers are in the middle of boxing our stuff. I cute out these little fishies from foam board and labeled them 1-10 (not necessary, of course...but how much of this post is ACTUALLY necessary?!) Then, I found a straw in our bare cupboards, used some left over 550 cord (string will work fine, I just didn't have much available). I strung the string through the straw and tied a knot at the end to keep it in place. On the other end, I used Krazy Glue to glue the cord to a larger magnet. Each fish has small metal clips on them (my husband bought them at Wal*Mart, I think they were in the jewelry making section). I learned that you cannot use a magnet for the fish because they will stick to the pan and the game will be pointless. Sounds obvious, I know, but I still tried it.

-Balloons and Buggies Dollar Tree goodies. Little Balloon something-or-others. John got them. I wouldn't recommend them for toddlers because the solution is toxic. But, adult supervised would be fine. And we also have puff balls! Adrianna calls these "buggies".

-Coloring White board and coloring book.

-Necklaces The girls love these. We used to have some purple ones that they wouldn't go anywhere without.

-Glow Sticks These are the best! Got these from the Dollar Tree also! We cleared the rack. The girls call these "glows" and they adore them! Plenty for the trip.