{Kids on the Road} Activities for Toddlers

– Little J was so excited about this one.  The Pom Pom Stuffer.  Basically, I took an old travel-size wipe container and drilled six 1/2″ holes in the back side with my spade bits.  Then I melted the sharp, plastic edges of the case with my woodburning tool so my boys wouldn’t get scratches.  Do the melting outside… it stinks and probably isn’t good for you to be breathing all that melty plastic crap anyway.  Then I got a bag of pom poms from the Dollar Tree and Little J went to town.  He loved stuffing them in the holes and then emptying the case and doing it all over again. We emptied them into the baking pan we used for the magnets to keep it sort of contained.

– Window markers are amazing!  We didn’t use these in the car because my kids couldn’t reach the windows of the sliding doors in the minivan we borrowed.  But, we did use them on the sliding glass door at our friend’s house.  My kids love window markers and for about $5, they have totally paid for themselves in peace and quiet. There are even different kids of markers now.

– At the suggestion of several of my Facebook fans, I wrapped some fun toys, books, and other activities (one of which was a paint by water set! Both my boys though that was SO COOL! I got them at the Dollar Tree). My boys LOVED this! When Big J was really starting to struggle we’d tell him that if he could be a good boy and not whine or cry for two minutes, he could open a surprise. Then I’d set the stop watch on my cell phone or tablet and he’d watch it count down. It was usually two minutes of much-needed peace. Little J got a present when his brother did, because he let us know in no uncertain terms just how unfair it was for him to not get a present too…

– And last, but not least, Sparkle Bottles.  When I found these they were called “calm down bottles” and “time out bottles”.  But that wasn’t my goal with them at all.  I didn’t need or want them to be a timer or a distraction, I just wanted them to be pretty and entertaining and keep my kids quiet in the car.  And they did.  You can see the full tutorial on the Sparkle Bottles right HERE.

Do you have any other amazing tricks for keeping your toddlers entertained in the car?