Fun ideas for traveling with kids
jmcseals SEALS
<<Like the mini desks
idea..>>
Tammy,
I found my lap desks at a resale shop. They were a hard top with a bean bag
type bottom. If you can't find any, or if they are too expensive, here are
some other ideas:
A small dry-erase board or chalkboard. Gives them something to do as well
as a hard surface for other things.
Homemade lap desks are easy with a few tools, I've made these for my kids.
I'd be happy to make them for anyone who wants one, too! (Shameless plug!)
Buy a piece of wood, cheap particle board works fine. With spray adhesive,
cover it on one side with wallpaper, wrapping paper, contact paper, fabric,
anything you have will work. If you want a soft side, cut out a piece or
pieces, depending on how thick you want it, of batting to cover the back,
cut a piece of fabric large enough to cover the batting and sides. Staple
the fabric in place around the baord edges and cover with trim. You can
either staple or glue the trim on, depending on how clean you want the edges
to look. For the hard side, you can also spray it with chalkboard paint if
you'd like. I've done this, too and it works out great!
The ideas are endless! We've used felt on one side for felt play....great
for car rides...and made homemade felt people and such before going out of
town. I've made them in secret and broken them out on the car ride for a
fun, new surprise.
One of the things I did on some of my boards was use an old tin can, veggie,
etc., and covered it in fabric to make it pretty. I cut out a hole in the
lap desks for a tight fit and stuck it in the hole, sunk in only about an
inch or two, depending on the back surface of my board, and glued it in
place. Usually you can get a tight fit without needing glue. In this we
placed their drawing supplies, etc.
A tape recorder can be fun if you don't mind the noise. My kids love taping
silly sounds and playing them back. Once, we sang songs onto the tape and
played it back to sing to ourselves in rounds. THAT was a LOT of fun! We
also sang silly made-up songs about things we saw on the way. It is fun to
go back and listen to those tapes of our trip to AK. Many of them have
running commentary of what we were seeing which is really neat. I secretly
taped a lot of our conversations and love going back and listening to
them...and how tiny they all sound!!! The kids think those tapes are really
neat!
We bought some Colorforms and I found some window decals on clearance and
the kids liked sticking those to the car windows and making scenes and such.
With so many kids, of course we had to stop and seat swap so everyone got
a turn but it worked out really well for us. Try the dollar stores as they
tend to have out of date things for really cheap.
We spent nearly an entire day before our trip cutting out pictures from
magazines and such and placed them in a recipe box. Obviously you would
have to find small pictures or cut larger ones up into small pieces. On the
trip, I gave the kids glue sticks and construction paper and they had a ball
pasting their pictures onto paper. By cutting out ahead of time, we
eliminated the need for scissors in the car.
We did bark and leaf rubbings in the car too. On our pitstops, we grabbed
various flowers, leaves, bark, etc and once back on the road, the kids did
rubbings with crayons. Haleigh, the only one really old enough at that
time, used a field guide to locate what she had found in nature and gave
each item a name in pretty letters.
Somewhere, I have a running list of great ideas we have tried and come up
with for things to do in the car. If I can find it, or if I come up with
anything else, I'll let you know!
OH! One last thing. Give everyone a backpack or something similar to store
their own things in. It's so much better for them each to have their own
things and a safe place to keep them! If each child has a seat in front of
them, you can hang a simple bag on the back of the seat in front of them or
even make a flat piece of canvas with various pockets to store things in.
If you can swing it in your behicle, this is the way to go! I've made
several of these and my kids adore them! Easy access and keeps the floor
and seats free of junk for extra space...a premium on a road trip!
Jennifer
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
idea..>>
Tammy,
I found my lap desks at a resale shop. They were a hard top with a bean bag
type bottom. If you can't find any, or if they are too expensive, here are
some other ideas:
A small dry-erase board or chalkboard. Gives them something to do as well
as a hard surface for other things.
Homemade lap desks are easy with a few tools, I've made these for my kids.
I'd be happy to make them for anyone who wants one, too! (Shameless plug!)
Buy a piece of wood, cheap particle board works fine. With spray adhesive,
cover it on one side with wallpaper, wrapping paper, contact paper, fabric,
anything you have will work. If you want a soft side, cut out a piece or
pieces, depending on how thick you want it, of batting to cover the back,
cut a piece of fabric large enough to cover the batting and sides. Staple
the fabric in place around the baord edges and cover with trim. You can
either staple or glue the trim on, depending on how clean you want the edges
to look. For the hard side, you can also spray it with chalkboard paint if
you'd like. I've done this, too and it works out great!
The ideas are endless! We've used felt on one side for felt play....great
for car rides...and made homemade felt people and such before going out of
town. I've made them in secret and broken them out on the car ride for a
fun, new surprise.
One of the things I did on some of my boards was use an old tin can, veggie,
etc., and covered it in fabric to make it pretty. I cut out a hole in the
lap desks for a tight fit and stuck it in the hole, sunk in only about an
inch or two, depending on the back surface of my board, and glued it in
place. Usually you can get a tight fit without needing glue. In this we
placed their drawing supplies, etc.
A tape recorder can be fun if you don't mind the noise. My kids love taping
silly sounds and playing them back. Once, we sang songs onto the tape and
played it back to sing to ourselves in rounds. THAT was a LOT of fun! We
also sang silly made-up songs about things we saw on the way. It is fun to
go back and listen to those tapes of our trip to AK. Many of them have
running commentary of what we were seeing which is really neat. I secretly
taped a lot of our conversations and love going back and listening to
them...and how tiny they all sound!!! The kids think those tapes are really
neat!
We bought some Colorforms and I found some window decals on clearance and
the kids liked sticking those to the car windows and making scenes and such.
With so many kids, of course we had to stop and seat swap so everyone got
a turn but it worked out really well for us. Try the dollar stores as they
tend to have out of date things for really cheap.
We spent nearly an entire day before our trip cutting out pictures from
magazines and such and placed them in a recipe box. Obviously you would
have to find small pictures or cut larger ones up into small pieces. On the
trip, I gave the kids glue sticks and construction paper and they had a ball
pasting their pictures onto paper. By cutting out ahead of time, we
eliminated the need for scissors in the car.
We did bark and leaf rubbings in the car too. On our pitstops, we grabbed
various flowers, leaves, bark, etc and once back on the road, the kids did
rubbings with crayons. Haleigh, the only one really old enough at that
time, used a field guide to locate what she had found in nature and gave
each item a name in pretty letters.
Somewhere, I have a running list of great ideas we have tried and come up
with for things to do in the car. If I can find it, or if I come up with
anything else, I'll let you know!
OH! One last thing. Give everyone a backpack or something similar to store
their own things in. It's so much better for them each to have their own
things and a safe place to keep them! If each child has a seat in front of
them, you can hang a simple bag on the back of the seat in front of them or
even make a flat piece of canvas with various pockets to store things in.
If you can swing it in your behicle, this is the way to go! I've made
several of these and my kids adore them! Easy access and keeps the floor
and seats free of junk for extra space...a premium on a road trip!
Jennifer
_________________________________________________________________
Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
juliesolich
--- In [email protected], "jmcseals SEALS"
<jmcseals@m...> wrote:
Julie
<jmcseals@m...> wrote:
> <<Like the mini desksto store
> idea..>>
>
> >
> OH! One last thing. Give everyone a backpack or something similar
> their own things in. It's so much better for them each to havetheir own
> things and a safe place to keep them! If each child has a seat infront of
> them, you can hang a simple bag on the back of the seat in front ofthem or
> even make a flat piece of canvas with various pockets to storethings in.
> If you can swing it in your behicle, this is the way to go! I'vemade
> several of these and my kids adore them! Easy access and keeps thefloor
> and seats free of junk for extra space...a premium on a road trip!What an awesome mum you must be! What a great post!
>
> Jennifer
Julie
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online
> http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
jmcseals SEALS
<<If you can swing it in your behicle>>
Can you tell I've been hanging around my kids??
Behicle? LOL
Jennifer
_________________________________________________________________
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Can you tell I've been hanging around my kids??
Behicle? LOL
Jennifer
_________________________________________________________________
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http://join.msn.com/?page=features/featuredemail
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Tammy Thompson
thanks! neat, I've actually got some board I can use to make some. These
are great ideas Jennifer.
Tammy
-------Original Message-------
Tammy,
I found my lap desks at a resale shop. .. fine. With spray adhesive,
cover it on one side with wallpaper, wrapping paper, contact paper, fabric,
anything you have will work. If you want a soft side, cut out a piece or
pieces, depending on...rounds. THAT was a LOT of fun! We
also sang silly made-up songs about things we saw on the way. ...windows and
making scenes and such...ideas we have tried and come up
with for things to do in the car. If I can find it, or if I come up with
anything ...a premium on a road trip!
Jennifer
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
are great ideas Jennifer.
Tammy
-------Original Message-------
Tammy,
I found my lap desks at a resale shop. .. fine. With spray adhesive,
cover it on one side with wallpaper, wrapping paper, contact paper, fabric,
anything you have will work. If you want a soft side, cut out a piece or
pieces, depending on...rounds. THAT was a LOT of fun! We
also sang silly made-up songs about things we saw on the way. ...windows and
making scenes and such...ideas we have tried and come up
with for things to do in the car. If I can find it, or if I come up with
anything ...a premium on a road trip!
Jennifer
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]