We're taking an 11 hr road trip on Thanksgiving day, so I'm looking for toy suggestions for a 19 month old. I think I'll get him some Hot Wheels because he's really in to the few he has, and a magnetic drawing board, but after that, I'm at a loss. Does your toddler have a favorite car toy?
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Some things that I brought to a beach vacation when my son was that age:
Buckle Toy: http://www.buckletoy.com/
Board books with cards:
http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Little-Scholastic-Salina-Yoon/dp/0545150728/ref=la_B001ITX4Y6_1_41?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1383566956&sr=1-41Plan Toys Nuts and Bolts: http://www.amazon.com/Plan-Toy-Nuts-and-Bolts/dp/B0001VUF9E
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Don't forget about snacks. Little things that take a while to eat.
Also maybe stickers?
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We just came back from a 8.5 hr road trip. We brought tons of her favorite snacks and a few of her favorite toys. Lift the flap books, felt fruit, paper and pencil to draw. The paper and pencil occupied her the longest; almost 30 minutes! I had a new electronic book reader I saved for when she freaks out. That was my secret weapon! And finally a smart phone for videos on YouTube. LOL
We like to drive at night so most of the time she is sleeping.
Good luck! -
@looch: Oooh, I love the nuts and bolts toy! The buckle toy would just piss him off, I fear. He's like his mama...gets frustrated and melts down quickly.
@T.H.O.U.: There will definetly be snacking!!
@locavore_mama: Ha, I think our secret weapon will be lots of old school Mickey Mouse videos. He thinks they're hilarious. I'm just hoping to avoid it some by using toys. We actually don't have many toys (especially small enough for travel) that are age appropriate, as we're waiting on Christmas to stock back up, so I'm not too upset about getting new items. He needs a few anyways.
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Some of our current favorite road trip toys are Mr. Potato Head, Mr. Pen (a reading supplement toy), balls, Matchbox cars, cloth books, and magnetic dress up dolls (we have a Melissa and Doug set). When we road trip, I fill up a reusable grocery bag with toys and put it on the seat next to them, so the kids can just pull stuff out as they want.
Eta: Oh and puppets! My kids love puppets on long road trips!
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We are driving 15 hours for Thanksgiving, and our kiddos are the same age. We are driving at night so I am REALLY hoping that she will sleep most of the time, but if not, I am bringing a portable DVD player with a couple of DVDs, might grab a magnadoodle thing, and books. She loooooves books. But, there will be 3 adults in the car with her, so I am hoping we can just talk to her and sing if things get really crazy.
Oh, and lots and lots of animal crackers and goldfish. Girl could eat those all day long if I let her.
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Unfortunately the best thing that works for us is 'her' ipod touch. We downloaded lots of apps for her to play with. We have been battling a bad teething phase right now and she threw it across the truck and smashed the screen
it still works but we are on the lookout for a cheapo tablet for her. We tried toys, books, you name it and finally gave in to the electronics.
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@Lindsay05: Just an FYI, we thought we could get away with letting DD use husbands nook as a tablet (its a color tablet). It is so slow and there aren't many good apps for it. She gets so frustrated with it compared to the ipad/iphone.
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Mr. Potato head?
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@bpcmarj: It seems a lot of people drive over night, but I don't understand when you get to sleep. I can't sleep in a car (or a plane), so I would literally be up all night and day. And my son is not exactly the most flexible off of his schedule, so we're thinking it's probably best to let him get a full night's sleep the night before, and just head out early the next morning.
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@T.H.O.U.: thats good advice! I am worried about some of the cheap tablets out there for this same reason. I cant imagine buying an ipad just for her.
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@BananaPancakes: DH drives the whole time, and I sleep (on and off). We did it last Thanksgiving when she was 6 months old. She slept almost the whole night (which she was NOT doing at that point). She did wake up a few times, and one of them was for an hour around the time we drove through NYC. She was quiet and a little dream the whole time. I was still BFing a lot, so I sat in back with her and would lean over the carseat to nurse her back to sleep (not recommended). I actually suspect that this year will be smoother.
DH is used to not getting much sleep though because he is a fisherman, and he will either nap when we get there or around the last leg of the trip (4ish hours), I will drive while he sleeps. This year my sister will be with us, too, so I am hoping that having more drivers will work to our advantage.
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Oh man, that was a really hard age for us. Our secret weapon was the iPad and we had to pull it out quite a bit.
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We have good luck with colorforms:
http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Habitats-Reusable-Sticker/dp/B004PBN9BC/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1383595156&sr=8-2-fkmr0&keywords=melissa+and+doug+colorformsAlso, removable office stickers and pads of paper and washable crayons:
http://www.amazon.com/Avery-See-Through-Removable-0-75-Inch-Diameter/dp/B00007LVF3/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1383595225&sr=8-2&keywords=circle+stickers
She sticks them on paper, on her face, on the car seat, but they peel off so super easily.Lift the flap books are always popular.
Oh and pom poms: http://www.amazon.com/Pepperell-Assorted-Poms-Colors-Package/dp/B004HJ2GJI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1383595283&sr=8-2&keywords=pom+poms
DH drives and I sit in the back. She doesn't try to eat things any more, but I think all of my suggestions should only be used with good supervision.
Snacks worry me because I get concerned about chocking should we suddenly swerve or something. Am I crazy? We only give her puree pouches when driving....
it still works but we are on the lookout for a cheapo tablet for her. We tried toys, books, you name it and finally gave in to the electronics.
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