Traveling With Toddlers… Do I Have To?

Bundoo and pediatrician, Dr. Justin Morgan, have teamed up to help us out.

Let's face it, we can only sing Old MacDonald and play I-Spy so many times before we're ready to pull all our hair out.

With that in mind, here's a few more great ideas for entertaining the kids on long trips.

1. Sticker books. My daughter could place stickers for hours if we had an unlimited supply. The more the merrier.

What kid doesn't love stickers? I'm a big fan of the reusable sticker books from Melissa & Doug or Colorforms. They allow my son to have hours of fun with the same stickers.

2. Books. Either traditional or electronic (e.g. LeapFrog® LeapReader™ Jr. or VTech® V.Reader™). New stories are always a hit.

Along with some favorite picture books, I usually opt for loading new interactive books on the iPad to entertain our little guy. The interactive elements keep him occupied longer than traditional books would.

3. Movies. Within reason (less than 2 hours per day), an educational video or a new movie (and when in a pickle, there’s always Frozen) can provide that much-needed distraction. The iPad, Kindle, and various other tablets have opened up a world of educational games, such as Endless Reader or ABCmouse.com—Early Learning Academy. If all else fails, my daughter loves looking at photos and videos of our dog (usually barking or running hysterically) on one of our iPhones.

I'll admit that I was originally very skeptical about letting my son watch videos at any time. Then, my husband introduced him to YouTube for Kids. Not all of the videos are educational, but they are all age appropriate which I appreciate. That said, my son generally chooses the educational videos. He has learned a lot about letters, numbers, nursery rhymes, and even foreign languages from the videos. His favorites are informative dinosaur clips and cartoons from Russia which are actually teaching my toddler Russian!

4. Cheap, new toys. The dollar bin at Target always has lots of fun ideas for us. I’ve even heard of some parents wrapping up these cheap “gifts” and rewarding their child with a new one every couple of hours or when a certain landmark on the trek is reached. Every long trip, we manage to offer glow sticks, glow bracelets, and glow necklaces after the sun goes down. Your toddler will love watching the glow and enjoy the personal nightlight.

Two or three entertaining dollar toys have yielded excellent results for us not only on long road trips, but on airplanes and in church services. I'm a big fan of quiet dollar big novelties.

Need more tips? Check out the rest of Dr. Morgan's list at Bundoo and share your own tips in the comment section.