tips for long car trip with two year old and four year old?

[Anonymous]

hello! we're going on a long trip (12+ hours) in the car. i have a four year old and a two year old. i got a bunch of new toys, art supplies, etc. to keep them busy, and we purchased portable DVD players for when we get really desperate. they enjoy listening to music and singing, so we'll do that. does anyone have suggestions for other things (either items or activities) that worked well with kids these ages when you were on a long car trip? thank you!

[Anonymous]

Lollipop for when they're driving you crazy

[Anonymous]

iPad, or drive at night (when they normally sleep).

[Anonymous]

ITA with driving at night. We do a 10+ hour trip several times a year with our now almost 3 year old and leave just after giving him dinner around 5pm. DH and I trade off sleeping and it works out really well.

[Anonymous]

Stickers. We bought each kid a blank book, and they just put the stickers in them. takes a while, they tell stories about the stickers, trade stickers etc.

[Anonymous]

Color Wonder

[Anonymous]

When my kids were that age, we stopped every two to three hours on long trips. We'd go to the bathroom, run around (literally), eat a snack or meal, go to the bathroom again, and get back in the car. I think the running around part was really helpful. Sometimes we'd just run in circles around a roadside Wendy's or whatever, if that was our only option. (The kids thought it was a funny game when we did that!)

Driving at night never worked for us, though. My kids stayed awake with all the excitement, and everyone was cranky the next day.

[Anonymous]

Lots of snacks -- get stuff they don't normally eat so there's some novelty involved.

[Anonymous]

Pop in that DVD when they get cranky.

[Anonymous]

Huts let them watch the DVD the whole time and bring lots of snacks. My kids know they get movies in the car for long trips only so they are generally well behaved bc they are so excited about movies in the car.