I wouldn't assume that you can use an elementary school's playground. Not every school district/state allows schools to be used for the public outside of school hours.

Not far from wheeling, there is a cabela's... Large fish tank, pond, and stuffed animals everywhere.

Anonymous wrote:We have family in southern Ohio and have made this trip dozens of times with our now six year old. I don't like the play areas because they're germy and hardly clean, but I discovered walmarts which are abundant! We pull off, eat at the McDonald's or subway, whatever they have, and then walk through the store. I usually pick out a few things and let ds get a treat or a trinket. It works. There's also a mall in Cumberland with a chick fil a that we stop at. We walk the length of the mall (it's small) and back and that gets the jimmies out.

That is a great suggestion..

Plot all the Chuck E. Cheese's along the way. Bring a flask for yourself though.

If it's on a weekend, look for closed daycare centers. They don't always lock the gates (ahem...). Heck, anytime you see a playground, pull over.

If it's on a weekday, look for churches with playgrounds.

I found the McD's playplaces too much for my toddler. He was too small to climb on all the stuff. The only thing he was able to do was climb on the end of one of those tunnel/slides, but that just made him likely to get creamed by a bigger kid on his way down.

Haven't been to them in that part of the country, but else where almost every single Chick-fil-A has an indoor play area attached. Doesn't help on Sundays or if the religious bent of the owners makes you uncomfortable eating there, but if you're OK with those restrictions it really makes a great road trip stop.

We have family in southern Ohio and have made this trip dozens of times with our now six year old. I don't like the play areas because they're germy and hardly clean, but I discovered walmarts which are abundant! We pull off, eat at the McDonald's or subway, whatever they have, and then walk through the store. I usually pick out a few things and let ds get a treat or a trinket. It works. There's also a mall in Cumberland with a chick fil a that we stop at. We walk the length of the mall (it's small) and back and that gets the jimmies out.

OP here--thanks for all the fantastic ideas! Wish us luck!

And +1 about creating an app. Surely there must be something like that out there somewhere...

Not to derail the thread, where you ask for specific play areas along your route, but we/someone should compile these play areas into some kind of Google Map/App--my very active daughter NEEDS to run around every 40 minutes or so, and we drove to upstate New York and it was very difficult for her, and for us. Didn't think of searching for elementary schools--good idea.
I have no idea how to do this, but even the "Driving With Kids" or "Visiting XYZ with Kids" books and Web sites don't chronicle the little play areas or spaces to run along the routes, or a little off them. Obviously, things change, places close and open--that's why a Web site or app might be best. Heck, a farmers' market can save the day in a pinch, and has, on our way to beaches on the Jersey Shore.

To try to add something concrete to this thread: We really liked this play area, in Glen Burnie, MD: http://www.aacounty.org/recparks/parks/trails/bwitrailpark.cfm#.VJMsbGB0wW4
Please forgive me if that is nowhere near your route. Happy trails.

Don't worry too much. Our 2.5 year old, who is usually very active, does fine on a similar drive to Cincinnati as long as he can walk around a little bit at whatever fast food place we've stopped at. He likes it when I hold his hands and help him jump off of benches, which I think is fine as long as he isn't bothering anyone. He'll also "dance" to the restaurant music.

I hate getting everything in and out of the car, so we do it all in one day without stopping, and it's been fine.

Videos on our phones and small, new toys are key to a good trip. There's a Fischer-Price etch a sketch like thing for little kids that's very reasaonably priced ($5) that DS loves. And Melissa and Doug Water Wow coloring books.

Google for the travel centers or welcome centers for each state. MD has a great one on 70 with a playground, but unless you hit horrible traffic getting out of town it's not usually worth it to stop that close. There's a nice welcome center for WV that has a little play area with blocks, books, etc. (it's really little, so don't get too excited, but nice enough). I'm not sure what the hours are for the holidays though.

http://www.wvcommerce.org/travel/gettinghere/welcomecenters/default.aspx

http://www.dot.state.oh.us/Divisions/Facilities/Facilities/RestAreas/Pages/default.aspx

There's a McDonald's with play area in Hagerstown

I'd look up where a couple of elementary schools are along the way. They won't be in session, so she could run around on them for a bit to burn off the energy.

Fwiw, I worried about this with our at the time high energy nearly 2 year old on a 7 hour drive right around Christmas. We stopped at on McDonald's roughly 3 hours in and made 2 other stops for food and gas and bathroom breaks and she was fine. We were shocked, but we had stocked the car with tons of portable new toys, sticker books, regular books, and a dvd player.

We are taking our 2.5 yo daughter on her first long car trip to Ohio after Christmas. We usually take 70 to 68 to 79 back to 70, through MD, WV, and PA. It's a 9 hour drive plus stops. I am looking for places to stop along the route where she can get out and burn off some energy for the next leg--and we have enough flexibility to split the drive over two days if we need to. So far, I've located a single McDonald's (in Morgantown) that has an indoor play area, but expecting her to be happy in the car (she's very active) all the way to Morgantown is unrealistic. Does anyone know of other places we can stop? If it's warm enough, a rest area with a lot of green space will be OK, but the weather through the mountains this time of year is so unpredictable.