Making board books "irresistible" to toddlers....an invitation to read.

This little one LOVES books, but I have a little trick up my sleeve to get her interested in books throughout the day.  Occasionally when I walk past her little basket of books, I'll grab a few out and take them to some spot in the house and set them open, on end.  This always grabs her attention and she sits down with them and "reads" through them for a few minutes.  It's a fun and simple book invitation and a little surprise that gives her joy!!

How to help a child that struggles with sleeping

We've been on the sleep road a long time now....since about the time our oldest (6.5 years old now...) turned 18 months old.  Do you know how crazy it is to have a toddler that can stay awake until midnight??!!  And not a fun crazy.  She also stopped napping at that point, so onset of sleeplessness caused major problems in her happiness factor.  And ours!!!

For her, she had an amazing ability to "keep herself awake."  The tireder she got, the more she would wind herself up and look for ways to stimulate herself (singing, climbing her furniture, playing, crying, dancing, etc.) so that her body would not slow down and transition into sleep.  We would find our 18 month old on the top of her book shelf (standing up, touching the ceiling), asleep on top of her high dresser, and once she actually moved her toybox/bookshelf combo across the room, tipped it against the wall and was asleep under it--our frantic babysitter called us, freaking out that our 2 year old had moved the furniture and worried about her safety.  She would tear up her room, kick her door, jump on her bed, sing at the top of her lungs, crawl into her window....you name it....all to avoid sleeping.  

Around the time she turned 6, we finally got a good, healthy, peaceful handle on the sleep issues on a consistent basis.  I've had so many people (who knew about our crazy sleep journey) ask questions as they struggle at one time or another with sleeplessness in their own kiddos, so I decided it was time to write my thoughts down.  We talked with her pediatrician about our sleep problems and did not feel that she took us very seriously--her recommendations were a warm bath and a routine.  By that point we were so far past those two things that it felt like she was giving us a band-aid to put on an amputated arm.  At this point I began to do my own research.....lots of reading about sleep/child development stages/sensory issues, lots of trial and error, and talking to our homeopath and her wonderful teachers at school.  

To begin with, we definitely encounter sleep issues in Quinn to varying intensities in phases.  She will have a couple of months where she is able to transition into sleep on her own and easily.  Then she will have weeks or even months with intense difficulty sleeping and will require more intense interventions from us (her parents) to sleep.  Quinn definitely has some sensory issues and seems to lack a filter with which to block out sensations from her environment that don't involve her.  She takes EVERYTHING into her little person....This might look like she is absolutely not able to mind her own business--she is tuned in to everyone and everything else in the room.....the sounds, the smells, the emotions, etc.  She gets very saturated in sensations and becomes over-stimulated and almost buzzes herself with all this absorbed energy.  It's during these seasons--when her filter is not blocking out anything--that she has most trouble sleeping.  Often we have observed that it seems to be connected to growth spurts for her--she is very affected by growth periods and they seem to influence her sleep most of all.  She is also very sensitive to changes in her routine or world--the beginning of a school year, a trip, a parent being gone, etc.  These temporary situations seem to "rock her world" and cause sleep problems, as well.

Knowing the above information about situations that make sleeping hard for her makes the whole "sleep thing" easier for me to work with as a parent--knowing that it isn't going to be horrible forever, and if we can get through this rough patch there will be smoother water ahead.....

So I would encourage parents with children that suffer with sleep issues to do some investigative and observational work to see if you can figure out what causes your child's sleep issues--are they connected to anything?  It might even help to keep a journal for a couple months regarding what is going on in your child's life and then how bedtime/sleeptime goes each night.  

And now....drumroll.....Here are some of the interventions that have been helpful to Quinn and transitioning her to sleep.  At times we may use one of the interventions....at other times a couple in combination, and some weeks we pull out the whole shebang.  All of this takes time, so don't expect an instant result.  Trying anything new with children takes several exposures before things typically work the way you intended.  So don't get your hopes up or down (as to the successfulness) without giving things a week or two to level out.  Also, as a parent you are going to get to know your child's sleep best--so after a while you will be able to easily discern which interventions work best with what conditions.  Until you get to this point, try adding just one new intervention at a time, giving a couple of weeks between.....start slowly, but stick with it and be consistent.  Inconsistency may very well make things worse, so once you start something, keep with it unless you really feel it is having harmful results.  Also, don't let your child use these interventions turn bedtime into a giant production or more ways to procrastinate bedtime.  You will need to be firm about what is acceptable at bedtime.  Plan out (with your spouse) what interventions and what order they will be used ahead of bedtime and share this with your child, so that as you are beginning the bedtime wind-down, they don't start asking for everything under the sun.  It might help to have a little "meeting" before the bedtime routine even starts, with parents and child.  "What two things do you think would most help you sleep tonight?"  You might need to have a picture chart of some options for your child to choose from.  Obviously if you have a very young child, this won't be possible and you will make these decisions, but for an older child the goal is for them to transition into taking control over their own sleep situation, and giving them tools they can use on their own.  

1) No tv/media/tablet, and no excess sugar or caffiene for dinner and after

We don't let Quinn have any media most of the time, because there is black and white research out there that screens negatively affect sleep.  Most parents like to kinda ignore this because it's inconvenient....but it's proven.  So one of the first recommendations I'd make is to wean off screens, especially from noon on.  Don't tell your kids you are taking away screen time because they aren't sleeping well--this adds stress and negativity to the situation.  If they ask, just tell them "not today, we're going to do something else today!"  In the place of screens, try teaching your kids to listen to audiobooks or podcasts like sparklestories.com  or reading books, playing, going outside, etc.  The no excess sugar is something you have to pay attention to--there is tons of sugar in most yogurts, so we had to cut those out.  Keep your eye on what your kiddos eat and drink in the evenings.  Remember juice is super high in sugar.  

2) Set up a conducive sleep environment.  

We had to put a piece of foamboard under the blinds in Quinn's window to block out the light.  We also discovered she likes sleeping in a small space, so we set her adjustable toddler bed to the smallest size and she sleeps curled up in her little nest.  We don't allow her to make changes to her sleep environment once bedtime is underway--we say no to requests to sleeping on the floor, turning on her lamp, etc.  We keep the environment exactly the same every night, unless we've previously discussed it in a little "meeting" and we're all on board with this being a good decision.

3)Bedtime Routine

Our bedtime routine changes slightly between seasons--ie: in summer and on school nights, but we try as well as we can to keep to the same bedtime routine.  

For us it is generally a bath--we've found she needs to bathe by herself and not with her little brother, as this amped her up and was not calming.  After bath a parent gets in her bed with her to read.  We read by lamplight to start calming down the situation.  Usually we read 20-30 minutes.  During this time we also offer some calming cuddles and talk about anything she wants to talk about.  Sometimes she has things she needs to discuss, and getting them off her chest helps her ease into sleep better.  Having a time to just be together and talk if we need to has worked really well for us....so this means that bedtime cannot be rushed....and on nights when it is, we see a negative impact on her sleep.  We typically start for bed around 7pm with the goal of lights out at 8 or even before.  And while we like to let bedtime unfold calmly and slowly, also resist the temptation to let your child "derail" bedtime and start a series of stalling events.  Quinn is a mastermind of this and would love to add in all sorts of shenanigans: "I need to go hug my brother.  I want to show you something downstairs.  I need something to eat.,....."  We gently say no to anything not on our regular "sleep schedule" and offer that she is welcome to do whatever things she is thinking of in the morning.  "You can show me your drawing in the morning."  "You are already in bed.  You're welcome to hug your brother BEFORE bed tomorrow night.  I"ll remind you."  Because we have two (sometimes three...depends on the foster baby situation) kiddos, one parent works with Quinn and the other parent with the other kiddo/s.  We switch off so that both parents become adept at putting Quinn to bed and so that we can both bringing our unique observations and way of relating to her into the equation.  I'd really recommend considering that only one parent does bedtime with a struggling sleeper at night--two parent involvement tends to turn things into more of a production and may amp up your child.  Switch frequently and communicate so both parents are able to put the child to bed.

4) Massage

We've had great success with deep massage.  We've done joint compression with her with great success.  Here's a video (do them with your child laying down in bed, by lamplight....to keep things soothing.)

After that, we use lavender lotion to give her deep massage on her limbs and back.  We like the kind from Avalon Organics.  Sometimes she will ask for scratching on her back and we'll do that as well.   Often times whichever parent is reading to her will also do some massage while they are reading.  Typically we do the joint compression before we read aloud to her.

5) Essential Oils
I sometimes use a few drops of vetiver oil (grounding properties) in her bath water.  We've had even more success rubbing lavender oil onto her feet and then putting socks over them.  I don't dilute it for her feet, just rub a couple drops on, give some massage, and then cover her feet with socks.  She usually takes the socks off in the night, and that's fine.  Don't put straight lavender oil onto a child's body unless it's their feet, though, as it is strong and can burn or sting eyes and skin.  We actually think the oil on the feet is one of our best interventions, probably in combination to the feet massage. You can also put the Avalon Organics Lavender lotion on their feet.

6) Audiobooks
We started out using soothing music with Quinn at bedtime.  I'd strongly recommend the CD "Cool Bananas," It has music set to a soothing beat that begins more quickly and slows as the cd continues to help lead the child into a calm state.  It seemed to work well for us and my kids loved it.  Now, however, Quinn listens to audiobooks at bedtime.  For her, we found that if we could get her to stay in her bed and remain somewhat still, she could fall asleep.  Audiobooks were the ticket for this.  She will lay mostly still so that she can listen to the story, and this transitions her into sleep.  Obviously it took some time for her to learn to listen and build up her listening comprehenion for audiobooks.  I'd encourage you to begin using these a lot....in the car as you drive, during snack times, and especially at bedtime.  I have a couple lists of recommended books on my blog.  You can also check out your library, audible.com, and I'd really recommend a podcast called Sparkle Stories.  You can stream the stories for free.  They also have a subscription service where you can buy audiobooks or individual stories.  One series is called Sparkle Sleepytime and it is written to help children sleep.  ALL of their stories are beautifully crafted, written by people who have a very solid knowledge of child development and highly entertaining.  I cannot strongly enough recommend them!!  Here's a link to their Sleepytime Series.  We turn on her audiobook as we leave her room and say goodnight.  This also seems to help curb her freakouts of us leaving her room--she's excited to start listening to her story, so she says goodnight to us easily.  At this point we go to the library at least once, maybe twice a week to supply her audiobook habit!  She is excited about it and gets to choose the books she listens to (with Mama okaying that they are appropriate and on her level) so she's highly motivated to listen to her audiobooks.  If you are new to audiobooks and are a little unsure, I'd recommend starting with the SparkleStories audio.  ALL of their stuff is appropriate for ages 3 and up and there is nothing inappropriate, scary, or morally offensive.  Just beautiful stories that you will fall in love with, too!

We even take audiobooks with us to bedtime away from home.  We have a discman and headphones she uses at hotels, etc.  All her grandparents are awesome and keep a cd player in her bedroom because they know she falls asleep listening to her stories.  I also keep a couple of sparkle stories saved on my phone to use in an emergency.  :)

7) Heatpacks
I made several hotpacks.  Basically I sewed flannel squares or rectangles into little pockets, added some hulled barley (or rice) and some dried lavender flowers (all bought at the whole foods section of our local grocery store).  We heat them in the microwave before bed and put them on her--usually one behind her neck and the largest one across her torso.  The weight of the packs helps with her proprioception system--to calm things down and ground her body--and the heat and scent is soothing.  HERE is an article that discusses this in greater detail.  They actually recommend weighted blankets for the same purpose--but the weight of a rice pack achieves the same goal.  We do make a rule that we only heat up hotpacks once a night, so she has learned she needs to get right into bed and may down if she wants them to still be hot.  Often if we are using heatpacks in conjunction with massage, joint compression, etc., we get everything completed (all the other interventions) to the point of being ready to leave her room and the other parent runs downstairs and heats her packs and brings it in, so she receives them just as we leave her room--to have the longest amount of "warm time."  However, as noted, even when they are no longer warm, the weight of them is still beneficial.  Here's a link on making them, and you can also buy them places.  Often health food stores and probably etsy.  If you know me personally I'd happily make you one if you purchase the supplies.  They aren't hard to do!  In the summer, we sometimes skip the heating part and she just uses the packs for the weight upon her torso--as it is relaxing to her nervous system.

8) Weighted or tight blankets and tight pj's
We haven't invested in "official" weighted blankets.  However we do have several crocheted afghans that are fairly heavy--much heavier than a standard throw or quilt or blanket.  We use these with Quinn when we want a weighted blanket intervention.  We also put her in the tightest pj's we have--usually leggings that are tight and a tight top, for the same purpose as the weighted blanket.  Q tends to be a hot sleeper, so sometimes we get a good deal of resistance about anything that adds more heat (except hot packs--she loves those!) so a blanket isn't always an option. but tight pj's can help.

9) Melotonin
Finally, when we really need extra assistance, we use a few drops of liquid melatonin.  Initially I would recommend buying THIS ONE so you get the little dropper, which makes it easier to distribute and to transport.  Then I would buy THIS once your glass bottle runs out, and use it to refill the glass bottle, as it's way cheaper per dose, but the large bottle isn't real user friendly.  Or you can buy the same item, different brand from Amazon, or if you are local they have it in the natural supplements (in the sleeping aids) at HEB--that's where we buy ours.  We have never used as high of a dosage as recommended on the back.  When Quinn was very young, we could literally give her two drops and it would work.  Now we give her a dropper full.  I recommend starting with very little and increasing as needed.  You will have to read and research for yourself if you feel comfortable giving melatonin to your child, but we feel very good about it, have the recommendation of our homeopath and my husband talked about it with his pharmocology professer (an expert in the field) when he was in school and we feel it is very safe.  When she was 18 months and stopped sleeping we needed to use the melatonin every night.  However, as we've built up more of an arsenal of other tools, we find we don't have to use the melatonin very much and the other interventions often do the trick.  We do sometimes give her the melatonin right off the bat if we know she NEEDS to get right to sleep to do well the next day--if we have an unusually early morning or she is having a really bad night, etc.  Again, it goes back to knowing your kid.  We give the melatonin during bathtime, as it takes a bit of time to kick in.  It dosn't make the child at all groggy and you can't see any effects of it working until they are in the dark--which stimulates the melatonin process (way too much science that my husband could explain and I totally can not...).  We also use it for Quinn when we are sleeping somewhere other than our own beds--camping trips, vacations, etc.  She really struggles with new environments, so melatonin is helpful for this.  Now that she is almost 7, we rarely give her the melatonin initially.  She occasionally gets up out of bed an hour or so after we've kissed her goodnight and shared in her bedtime routine, and at that point we give her permission to go take some melatonin.  We're beginning to put some of the responsibility for sleeping onto her

10. Dry Brushing
We came across drybrushing as a tactile defensiveness reducer from Quinn's OT, but we found a great bedtime help from it, too.  Drybrushing involves using a surgical brush--the one they use at the hospital to scrub newborn baby's heads when they get their first baths!  You basically stroke (using a pretty strong amount of pressure) down the limbs and down the feet (if the child isn't tickled by this).  The goal at bedtime is relaxation.  For Quinn, if we brush downward on her legs (we do her arms first--the top of her arm about 20 time and then the bottom of that same arm, then switch to other side) and then legs (top of leg, bottom of leg, then switch sides) and even her back.  Don't brush tummies, as it can interfere with digestion.  Quinn loves this and it is really calming to her.  I often do this instead of massage (I give her the choice) while I read to her (I brush with one hand and hold the book with the other or let her hold the book) and she loves it and gets rag-doll limp and relaxed.  For some kids, drybrushing excites their nervous systems, so you need to try it and see what response you get from your child.  You can also buy "official dry brushes" used for health purposes from the internet, like HERE on Amazon....I don't think it matters that much what brush you use.  You can get the surgical/sensory brush from Amazon HERE.    For skin purposes, you brush toward your heart (to move the lymph fluids), but for relaxation purposes you want to go with the direction of the hair follicles (which would be from top to bottom of limbs).

I hope that these interventions can help other struggling sleepers....and their parents, too, as it is such a yucky road to travel down when your child cannot sleep and you want to help but don't know how.   Don't get discouraged....there are so many seasons to childhood and this one will likely not last forever...and if it does, as a family you can gather more tools to work together at this!

One more thing, a great resource--
The Sensory Side of Sleeping

Activities for travel and road trips with toddlers and preschoolers....my advice!

Because our friends and family are a bit spread out across thus US of A, we take at least one loooong roadtrip a year.  Usually more than one.  By long I mean more than 8 hours in the car in one setting.  I have spent lots of time planning our roadtrip time to make it as joyful as possible with two little ones....initially with infants and toddlers, then preschoolers, and now with a kindergartener!  I thought since the busy season for holiday travel is coming up, I'd share a few tips that work well for us across the ages.  Also, these are great to bring in restaurants, hotels, etc. as you are on your trip and find yourselves having to wait and fill the time!!  

First off, we are a mostly screen-free family.  My kiddos don't do digital games/tv/movies during the week and very little on the weekends.  As a result, neither of them has had much of an attention span for watching movies, so that has never been a huge option for road trips.  In the past couple of years since Quinn has been 5 and 6 we have started letting her have a new movie to watch on Daddy's tablet each time we take a big trip--oldies like Mary Poppins and Sound of Music, of course!  Beck (3 years) will still not watch more than 15 minutes or so before he gets bored.  Because of this, and the fact I don't love my kids movie-ing-out the whole roadtrip, I've worked hard to use the materials we have on hand to make some fun play kits for the car.  Also, I feel like when my kids spend a lot of the roadtrip time in front of a screen, they arrive at our destination cranky and bored.  We've had much better success giving them some hands-on activities to use during the trip!  Plus they are learning and being creative, which is a great use of 8 hours, if you ask me!!

Of course all of these ideas won't fit your family and you won't have all the same materials, but I encourage you to be creative and think outside the box and maybe find ways to adapt some of the ideas for your kids and your materials available.  Think of it as a challenge!  A fun one!

Also, don't go out and buy all these things!!  Shop your house--what do you already have that you can adapt to work out for your kids?  Be creative!!  

My kids are barely entering the age where they can work independently on craft projects or listen to audio stories for extended periods of time, so that makes roadtrips easier.  However, there were many trips and many roadtrips where they were too little to do much independently so I could drive or help navigate, so below are the items I found very helpful with little kiddos!

Here are the items that often accompany us on roadtrips:

(the logistics)

I have transported our car items different ways, depending on the age of my kiddos.  We have a car, so the two kids are in the backseat.  I often use a large tub that fits between their carseats and pack the items in that.  It makes for easy transport into a hotel room or someone's house when we arrive, as well.  Also the kids can put things in and out on their own easily, as bags sometimes fold in and make this difficult.  The tub also raises the items a little higher, more in-reach for arms strapped into carseats.

In the below picture we have a tub filled with items and then an additional bag of books.  We ALWAYS bring a big bag/picnic hamper of library or our personal books on every trip.  

We have found the "I SPY" books to be great in the car.  There are board books for little ones and regular, large-sized books for older kids.  My kids have loved them at many ages.  

For toddlers and preschoolers, I also bring these little books that go along with cheerios and raisins, and of course the corresponding snacks!  

These days, since my kids are older, we do sometimes pack items into a reusable shopping tote and that works fine, too.  It fits well in the middle between them.  

I ALWAYS bring a metal cookie sheet for each kid.  We call if their "art tray."  This serves so many purposes.  A hard surface for writing on, sides to contain items from rolling away, a "table" for eating snacks on the go across their lap, and magnets stick great to it, too!  

Below are my suggestions....And these are from a lot of different road trips, so I don't bring ALL the items mentioned on every trip, of course!  We try not to bring tooooo much stuff!  However I do try to hit the general categories and bring a couple from each.  General categories are listed below in italics, with specifics listed under each.  

(stationary/drawing/writing items)

*Stickers!  Whenever we get some new ones (in the mail or in kids meals, etc.) I often put them in the cabinet to save for a road trip.  My kids LOVE the little coding dot stickers, especially the white ones to color and still all over the place.  Our rule is only on their body or on paper, so we don't end up with sticky residue all over carseats and the car.  My older infants (old enough not to eat em) loved pulling these off the paper and sticking them all over their feet and legs.  Even my big kiddos still love to play with them!  We recently showed Q how to write one letter on each sticker and then put them together to make words.  

These Melissa and Doug sticker pads are great because they have scenes the kids can put the stickers onto.  I find them at a great price at Half Price Books.  Also the stickers are reusable, so you can peel them off and move them.  If you live near Half Price Books, they have a whole section of sticker books in the kids areas for different ages, and of course, some boy stickers!!

*New notebooks and a pencil box full of new writing implements

I don't even go out and buy new ones, usually.  I just raid my pen cup or our marker drawer and find some they haven't used in a while that are new to them.  A fun sidenote on ink pens (the click kind) is that older kids can learn to take them apart and put them back together during a car trip!  I also round up some notebooks or pads of paper that are new to the kids.  I've even been known to make some from stapled paper.  It's all about novelty on roadtrips!  I like using a plastic pencil box to corral drawing items on a road trip.  For little ones, I don't love markers because the lids are always disappearing.  Crayons are fine, as long as the car won't be getting too hot on the trip and melt them, because you know some will fall down along the seat or on the floor.  Often the gel pens that you click (no lid) work well with preschoolers.  Or colored pencils!  Make sure your child knows that they only write on paper!!  

*envelopes, sticky notes, card stock, blank greeting cards, coloring books, activity pads, sketch pads, sticky notes  (they love drawing on sticky notes and putting them all over the window!)

*Crayon or marker rolls

I sew these myself (tutorials all over the internet) or you could buy them from etsy or make one with a placemat folded over and hot glue.  I love these because they display the items so beautifully and keep them from rolling all over the place during travel.  I keep that little marker roll in my purse at all times for emergency drawing purposes (times we have to wait unexpectedly).  You can always commission me to make you some, if you are inclined.  :)

*Scissors and tape

For kids old enough to handle it--blunt scissors, little pieces of cardstock to cut, and a roll of masking or painter's tape.  You would be amazed how much fun any age of child can have with a roll of tape.  Pulling it off the roll, tearing it into little pieces, taping stuff up......It is a magic item, believe me!  Especially that blue painter's tape that tears so easily.  Great fine motor practice for them, as well!  I have also started including a roll of scotch tape for my older daughter, as she knows how to use it.  We don't bring glue in the car, so tape works well for adhering things that need adhering!!  WASHI TAPE is also a really fun item!  Besides using it for taping, you can also make designs on paper with it, wrap it around sticks you found outside on a potty break, etc.  

 

*Dry erase markers and board (WASHABLE ONLY!!)

I have had different types of these over the years, but dry erase sets are fun.  Just make sure they don't smell super strongly (some types are BAD!) and that they are washable.  In my experience markers always seem to get dropped on the floor or in the carseat, then sat upon, so washability is a must for us in the car!  Also bring an eraser or old cloth.  

(tactile objects)

For toddlers and younger preschoolers, especially, their hands need things to touch and explore on a car trip.  I have a VERY active older daughter, and when she was 2-3, she needed a variety of objects to touch and manipulate in the car.  

*Bristle Blocks (or magnetic blocks or some type of blocks that fit together....legos.....)

I NEVER take the whole set of any of these items.  I take about a dozen pieces in a smaller ziplock or tupperware container.  They are all eventually going to end up on the floor of the car, so having a manageable amount is so much easier.  It is also better for the child to work with a smaller amount.  

These have been a hit across several ages for Beck.  

 

*Rubberbands

They have lots of purposes.  A package of rubberbands can be strung across the cookie sheet to make an instrument.  They can be placed around a waterbottle--younger kids love putting them off and on, they can even be put on little arms and legs as bracelets, Quinn's favorite task at 2 years old!  

I also happened to have this geoboard from my math teacher days, and my kids love playing with it using the rubberbands.  You can purchase one of these very cheaply at a teacher supply store or online, I am sure.  

 *Magnets
I round up all our magnets in a little tub for road trips.  The kids love putting them all over their trays.  Toddlers, especially love this!  Older preschoolers love exploring other items WITH the magnets--seeing what items can be attracted to the magnet.  Great science exploration!  You can also fill a tupperware container with different objects of all different materials so your child can explore and see which are attracted to magnets and which are not.

 

This type of set of magnets (this came from Half Price Books) would be great for exploring.  Just put the magnets in a little container to keep them all together!  

For older kids you can expand the magnets to letter magnets.  This is a fishing tacklebox and 4 sets of magnet letters (from the dollar store).  We sort them by letter (write the letter in sharpee on the bottom of each compartment).  Kids can make words on their tray, sort letters, trace the letters onto paper.......

 *Puzzles 
Depending on my kids' age and interest.....when Quinn was an age she loved puzzles I bought a plastic folder (accordian folder) with many compartments and put one flat puzzle in each slot, so we could take about 6 puzzles on a trip and keep all the pieces sorted correctly.  Beck loved his fishing puzzles on roadtrips when he was around a year old.  For older kids doing puzzles not on a frame, the cookie sheet works great for a table and keeping pieces from falling on the floor.  Just make sure the finished puzzle fits on the cookie sheet!

 *Pom Poms and tongs and zippered pouches
A hit with older toddlers.  First they get to zip and unzip...and zip and unzip....and zip...and....you get the picture....the pouch.  Then they can take out the pompoms and put them back in.  Then they can try to pick them up with the tongs!  Lots of fun and lots of fine motor!

 *Squeezie toys
Quinn went through a stage where these worked really well with her (2 years-ish).  She loved having items to squish and squeeze while in the car.

 *Lacing and sewing work
We started out with these.  Now I bring a piece of craft felt, a needle and some embroidery floss for Quinn to "sew" on trips.  Depending on the age of the kiddo, but sewing/lacing is always good for the car!  You can make your own sewing cards with cardboard and a hole punch!

 *etch a sketch 
This was a hit with toddlers.  They loved drawing and erasing.

*Little animals (or cars....or any small object) and a compartmentalized tray

My older toddlers and preschoolers loved to sort items.  I would bring this plastic tray (from a box of candy) or an ice cube tray and an assortment of small items (Beads, flat marbles, tiny cars, etc.) for them to play with.  

 *Calculator
Another "hit at every age" item.  Toddlers love pushing the buttons.  Older kids love looking at the numbers and doing actual math with it.

 *Busy books
We have homemade versions and store bought versions.  These are wonderful for road trips, especially in the toddler days.  Round up any books you have that have tactile features (flaps, movable pieces, feely textures, etc.)

 

*Play sets 

This is a magnetic doll dress up set.  We have a bear one that velcros, as well--you put the clothes on the bear.  I always bring one of our little play sets along.  

 *Paperclips
They can be fastened together to make a long chain.  They can be clipped all over pieces of paper.  They can be bent to make shapes and objects.  They can be wrapped in washi tape to make decorations and bracelets, they can be strung onto pipecleaners.......

*Stringing work and pipecleaners

I always bring some kind of string/beading work.  For really young children, a shoelace and super large wooden beads or spools are great (make sure the shoelace has a hard end so they can use it to thread).  This picture below is some plastic cording and letter beads.  I also love pipecleaners and pony beads.  Pipecleaners are a wonderful car item, as well.  They can be used to string beads on, or bent and made into objects of every kind, or twisted together to make a long stick.  

You can also give them a small container of fruitloops and a string or pipecleaner!  

 *Personal items
My kids love having access to their own personal items, varying depending on their age.  Flashlights or headlamps are great, chapstick, hand sanitizer (not for kids who might drink it!), tissues, gum, etc.

*cards

My kids love flashcards on trips.  We have a couple different sets--one of dinosaurs and one of animals.  Quinn also has a couple little sets of bug cards she loves to bring and look through (with a very intense concentration!) on road trips.  

Cards to punch out and make into stuff:

*Travel Games:

My kids don't play these games correctly, they just like taking out the pegs and putting them back in.  We have the t's that have been cut off, so they aren't sharp on the bottoms.  

*One soft doll or animal

 *silks or scarves
Often used more at our destination to make tents, capes, etc.  Also useful to block sunlight in a car window!

(books and music) 

My kids love music and they love (and always have!) loved books on cd or mp3.  

We adore the website sparklestories.com and their beautiful stories for all ages.  We never have a cartrip without some sparklestories (and they have travel stories you can get, too)!  Usually we bring a portable discman.  My kids love the power of choosing their own cd (from a little book of cd's) and playing it themselves.  We also bring an mp3 player for the other child with a variety of songs and stories.  We love the tiger headphones--they seem to hold up better than others we have had and they also have a little volume control the child can operate.  **note, instead of discman or mp3 player, now we bring our old smartphones, which can download audiobooks from our library's site while on wifi, and then serve as mp3 players for the kids to plug in headphones and listen to their stories!  

LINK HERE

I check out books on cd from the library before every roadtrip!  

Now that my kids are older they spend the majority of roadtrip time listening to audio stories.  I love it!!  Often we all listen to stories on the car cd player together.  

Other ideas:

-box of bandaids--let the child open them and stick them all over their body! (have a plastic sack reachable for them to put trash in)

-give them a couple baby wipes and see how clean they can get their carseat and area around themselves (this is a GREAT idea toward the end of the trip!!  If you spin it right, they will get really into it and clean that seat up lickity split!!)

-lollipops are always my "trick up my sleeve."  I keep several ready to go for every road trip and pass them out when we need em....to make it that last hour or to quiet some squabbling.  For some reason having a lollipop in the mouth quiets and calms little travelers!!  

 For older preschoolers and elementary kiddos, lots of handwork items are wonderful for roadtrips.  I have a category on my sidebar for handwork, if you want to check out some of my favorite projects with my kiddos!

And jumping back onto this post after our most recent 2000+ mile roadtrip with an essential--these little battery LED lights were perfect for the trip!  I brought two per kid and passed them out once it got dark.  They aren't bright enough to read by, but they could totally see enough to switch cd's in the discman or find a dropped item, eat a snack, play with small toys, etc., and they didn't bother me driving like flashlights or the interior car lights do.  Plus they served as a great nightlight for them to fall asleep in the hotel room/our relative's house!  Just the cheapy ones from Walmart are what I have.

 Also this book has some great car ideas:

Hope this helped get your brain spinning and planning for your next roadtrip!!  Be creative and spend an hour or so getting a fun box ready for your kiddos....it will add so much joy to your trip!

My two favorite places to shop for any travel items (I ALWAYS shop my house first, but usually bring a couple new items on each trip) are Half Price Books (they have a ton of non-book kid items that are great!!) and Dollar Tree.  I have made great travel scores at both places!

Also remember that the first time young kids are introduced to an item, they may not have interest in it for very long.  That's okay....Let them explore it as long as they want, and then put it away and get it out again later in your trip.  They might use stickers for 2 minutes then move on to the next thing until they have tried everything in your trip box.  Young kiddos are developmentally designed to get the "lay of the land" when they come to a new experience, so this is normal and good.  Just be patient and perhaps later in your trip model how that particular item could be used.  Usually just playing with it in front of them is a good way to peak their interest!

Also, HERE is another post I wrote on travel items...and you can click the "travel" tab on the right hand sidebar and it will show you all my travel posts, tagged as such!

Crash and Bump

One activity we do many mornings is "Crash and Bump."  It's basically a little obstacle course around our living room, and you've probably seen my posts about it before.  The goal is to provide a structured outlet for some physical energy, promote gross motor development, vestibular development , proprioceptive development, direction-following, and just plain fun!

We change out our obstacles each week, but we keep pretty much the same TYPE of objective at each obstacle.  I have the kids sit on the couch while I set up--they can look at books but not get off couch--and it takes me 5-7 min to get set up.  I usually have a pretty good idea of what I'll set up planned in my head, and lots of obstacles are the same, or mostly the same with just a little tweak, each week.  

For this obstacle, Q was jumping over the "river."  Ie: a rug that she had to jump across.

 Balance beam (table leaf spread across two chairs)

 Trampoline (piece of Q's mattress with baby gate to hold onto to facilitate bouncing)

 Pillow pit (all the couch pillows with a down comforter thrown on top)

 Crawly tube and in the background is the road--a piece of black felt with lines of yellow felt hotglued down it--initially made for Beck's cars, but also works well for this!

 This is the sommersault afghan.  Beck does more of a roll--they go from one end to the other.

 Uhhh-ohhh, doggy road block!

We also usually put out or rocking horse for riding and some rocker boards either to rock on or to walk across like a bridge.  I put on some fun, fast-tempoed kids music and we have fun!  There's no passing allowed, so if you catch up with the person ahead of you, choose to redo the past station or march in place...or just wait patiently!  I usually help Beck with some of the obstacles such as the "balance beam."  Sometimes I just line up chairs with no table leaf for them to walk across.  Nothing fancy, but they have great fun and I know we're working on those little body systems that are forming pathways in the minds and bodies of little people!!!