I love going new places with my husband and son. What I don’t like is getting there. It’s not easy to travel in the car with toddlers, who would rather be anywhere than strapped in a car seat. My son especially does not like it—he screams instead of naps and seems to resent being stuck in the back by himself (one of us usually ends up sitting next to him). So, over the course of his short life I’ve come up with a plethora of ways to keep him entertained. Here are some of the tricks that work for us.
A new toy. Breaking out a never-before-seen toy at any point during the car ride is a sure way to generate some excitement and keep your child occupied. I recently surprised my son with a toy cell phone, and opening and closing it and pressing all the buttons held his attention for at least half an hour.
Stickers. When a child is bound to their seat, something like playing with stickers is a simple activity that keeps them busy. Buy a sticker book with a theme like Sesame Street, or just bring along some plain old file stickers that might be lying around your office. I took these on a recent trip (as a last resort if he rejected all his other toys) and pulling them off one at a time kept our son mesmerized.
A container and something to fill it with. Of all the things my son likes to do, the most popular seems to be filling and emptying things. At home this might translate into loading and unloading a wagon with blocks, but the car calls for a scaled-down version. On our last trip I brought along an empty plastic squeeze bottle and a handful of magnetic alphabet letters from off our fridge. My son played with this for an hour and a half, removing the top from the water bottle, filling it with the letters, and putting the top back on and shaking the whole thing to make some noise…empty and repeat. I’ll definitely be bringing this captivating assortment of objects along with us on our next trip.
Music. Make sure to load up your child’s favorite songs on your iPod before a long car ride. When nothing else calms our son, a song he loves usually will. Ask your child to clap their hands, sing along, etc. You can also sing your own songs…”The Wheels On The Bus,” “Row, Row, Row Your Boat,” and “Heads, Shoulders Knees and Toes,” are perennial favorites!
Roll the windows down. It’s so simple, but if it’s a relatively nice day and you have thus far had the windows up, putting them down is a quick way to change things up and distract a fussy child. My son thinks it’s fun to feel the breeze and having the windows down makes it easier to see what’s going on outside.
Snacks. This is the surest, easiest way to get through a car ride (if you’re not against having your child eat in the car, which I’m not). For me it is key to give snacks that take a long time to eat. Filling one of these snack traps with Cheerios or puffs, to be eaten one-by-one, can fill up a good half hour. When my son was a little younger and we were just beginning to give him a little juice diluted with water, rather than put it in a sippy cup I’d use a baby bottle, because it took him much longer to drink it.
Stop for breaks. It can be key to stop every couple of hours and let your child out of the car. 10 or 15 minutes of outdoor time during which your child can run around and play with a ball or a toy helps settle him for the rest of the ride. Try to stop somewhere where there’ s a grassy area or some picnic tables and it’s safe for your child to roam about.
