Toys for a five-year-old boy : road trip edition
March 11, 2016 3:09 PM Subscribe
We are moving across the country and will be driving for 7 days. We plan to give our son one "present" to open every morning, with the hope that he'll play with it that day and whine less. What are some things we can give him?
Things he likes: cars, trucks, trains, planes, Lego, animals, music, books (but can't read yet).
Things with small pieces that could get dropped/lost and lead to a meltdown, or things that need parental assistance, are a no-go.
Bonus: available from Amazon Prime!
Things he likes: cars, trucks, trains, planes, Lego, animals, music, books (but can't read yet).
Things with small pieces that could get dropped/lost and lead to a meltdown, or things that need parental assistance, are a no-go.
Bonus: available from Amazon Prime!
Is a tablet with a new app and/or movie each day on the table? I'm not a huge fan of just throwing screens at kids when they're inconvenient, but they can be godsends for long car trips.
The problem with physical toys is they can't really be played with in the car. I loved the magic pen activity books for long car trips, but I'm not sure your son is quite old enough for them yet.
posted by Candleman at 3:24 PM on March 11, 2016 [3 favorites]
The problem with physical toys is they can't really be played with in the car. I loved the magic pen activity books for long car trips, but I'm not sure your son is quite old enough for them yet.
posted by Candleman at 3:24 PM on March 11, 2016 [3 favorites]
Have you looked at Pinterest? There's a million ideas on it for that type of thing
A small whiteboard, with pen attahced on a rope, can be passed back and forth for Xs and Os.
The look and find books are great for this. You want ones that are slightly above his current ability.
Window markers for drawing on caar window
posted by Ftsqg at 3:24 PM on March 11, 2016
A small whiteboard, with pen attahced on a rope, can be passed back and forth for Xs and Os.
The look and find books are great for this. You want ones that are slightly above his current ability.
Window markers for drawing on caar window
posted by Ftsqg at 3:24 PM on March 11, 2016
Best answer: Magnadoodle, a two dollar clipboard with a stack of paper and a few pencils, and the auto bingo cards .
Yes they will be everywhere but we like jawbones. They do have small pieces but it not it's not like having a lego guy and you drop his sword (you NEED the sword). Just a bunch of random pieces. You'll leave a few across the country but we think it's worth it.
posted by ReluctantViking at 3:26 PM on March 11, 2016 [3 favorites]
Yes they will be everywhere but we like jawbones. They do have small pieces but it not it's not like having a lego guy and you drop his sword (you NEED the sword). Just a bunch of random pieces. You'll leave a few across the country but we think it's worth it.
posted by ReluctantViking at 3:26 PM on March 11, 2016 [3 favorites]
Adding Walter Wick is the series of I spy books I was thinking of
posted by Ftsqg at 3:28 PM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Ftsqg at 3:28 PM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Do not have unassembled Lego in a car. If you open a window, they will get sucked right out (ask me how I know).
When my daughter was that age, we had a restaurant bag full of goodies she could only use at restaurants, to keep her entertained so the mister and I could dine with friends. She liked that toy with the water inside where you press buttons to make little rings fit on poles. Coloring books and crayons.
What about a V-Tech camera? They're around $30 and he can take pictures of cool things he sees outside, which has the added benefit of keeping him looking out the window.
posted by Ruki at 3:54 PM on March 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
When my daughter was that age, we had a restaurant bag full of goodies she could only use at restaurants, to keep her entertained so the mister and I could dine with friends. She liked that toy with the water inside where you press buttons to make little rings fit on poles. Coloring books and crayons.
What about a V-Tech camera? They're around $30 and he can take pictures of cool things he sees outside, which has the added benefit of keeping him looking out the window.
posted by Ruki at 3:54 PM on March 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Playmobil people? Put the small bits in a plastic bag for the end of the road.
Coloring books. Rolls of colorful tape. lacing cards. this travel easel, which has stuff inside that could stretch the gift another day or two. (We got that for Christmas and it's been well-used.)
We've gotten incredible mileage out of Happy Meals toys (the kid thinks McDonald's is a magical place only available on highways.) The Playskool Heroes line is the closest thing to the popular Happy Meal toys we have gotten; they are action figures without a lot of small parts. Some of the new Transformers toys are very easy to transform and could provide a lot of entertainment reassembling.
posted by tchemgrrl at 3:58 PM on March 11, 2016
Coloring books. Rolls of colorful tape. lacing cards. this travel easel, which has stuff inside that could stretch the gift another day or two. (We got that for Christmas and it's been well-used.)
We've gotten incredible mileage out of Happy Meals toys (the kid thinks McDonald's is a magical place only available on highways.) The Playskool Heroes line is the closest thing to the popular Happy Meal toys we have gotten; they are action figures without a lot of small parts. Some of the new Transformers toys are very easy to transform and could provide a lot of entertainment reassembling.
posted by tchemgrrl at 3:58 PM on March 11, 2016
Best answer: Road Trip Bingo apparently hasn't changed in 30+ years -- I enjoyed this when I was a kid.
posted by radioamy at 4:03 PM on March 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by radioamy at 4:03 PM on March 11, 2016 [2 favorites]
I'm not one of those people who lets their kids put stickers all over their back window and interior door panel, but for a road trip ... maybe? Failing that, a sticker book with an assortment of vehicular scenes?
"Puzzle"-type books? My son loved Where Waldo books around age 5.
posted by misterbrandt at 4:19 PM on March 11, 2016
"Puzzle"-type books? My son loved Where Waldo books around age 5.
posted by misterbrandt at 4:19 PM on March 11, 2016
Best answer: Seconding the Playskool Heroes line of Transformers. My five year old son really like those, and the next step up in difficulty of Transformers is a little too complicated for him and he gets frustrated. (I still can't figure out how to transform one of them.)
posted by Liesl at 4:35 PM on March 11, 2016
posted by Liesl at 4:35 PM on March 11, 2016
Definitely a magnadoodle. If I recall correctly the writing tool is attached with string to the board already, or you could diy that.
A magnetic play book, the kind that has the backgrounds/scenes on magnetic pages and car etc magnets to move around so the child can make their own story. Like this.
If one of you could read to him in the car, an interactive book like Press Here, Tap the Magic Tree or http://www.chroniclebooks.com/titles/mix-it-up-tullet.html would be great. They're also great for the child to just look through by themselves.
Wooly Willy might keep him occupied for a bit.
Kinetic Sand. I know, it sounds like a horrible idea but this stuff is amazing! It's so fun to play with it'll keep him occupied, it cleans up really easily and if you give it to him in a large shallow tupperware type container the mess would really be contained. Comes in different colours and sets etc but you could just buy the basic and add some spoons and cups.
Find It game. Completely mess free.
Nthing the colouring books/paper on a clipboard ideas.
posted by Lay Off The Books at 5:03 PM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
A magnetic play book, the kind that has the backgrounds/scenes on magnetic pages and car etc magnets to move around so the child can make their own story. Like this.
If one of you could read to him in the car, an interactive book like Press Here, Tap the Magic Tree or http://www.chroniclebooks.com/titles/mix-it-up-tullet.html would be great. They're also great for the child to just look through by themselves.
Wooly Willy might keep him occupied for a bit.
Kinetic Sand. I know, it sounds like a horrible idea but this stuff is amazing! It's so fun to play with it'll keep him occupied, it cleans up really easily and if you give it to him in a large shallow tupperware type container the mess would really be contained. Comes in different colours and sets etc but you could just buy the basic and add some spoons and cups.
Find It game. Completely mess free.
Nthing the colouring books/paper on a clipboard ideas.
posted by Lay Off The Books at 5:03 PM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
My son LOVES those Lego-encyclopedia type books: ones that have every mini-figure ever made, 100 Star Wars scenes photographed in Lego, etc. He also really enjoys listening to audiobooks on an old iPod, which is great for car rides!
posted by rozee at 5:13 PM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by rozee at 5:13 PM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
Such good ideas! Some considerations.
- How's his attention span? Some kids with some activity can go all morning. But many kids that age are done with an activity in ten minutes. Consider starting the second day by working out a fixed order, with at least ten minutes before going to the next activity. Maybe use a timer. There should of course be a mix-it-up or wildcard interval, where he can apply playdough armor to action figures and invent something completely different.
- Many activities should complete with a quick cleanup.
- Motion sickness? Some people in some cars cannot read or maintain prolonged focus.
- Don't neglect participation activities. For example, there's "artist". On a pad draw some simple thing, like two circles. Pass the pad to another passenger, who adds something else to the picture, maybe pupils, may spokes for a wheel, maybe a cone to hold the two scoops of ice cream. Pass the pad back and forth elaborating the picture. One can do the same back-and-forth with story-telling, including mixing up two movies or TV shows.
- Audio books.
- Perhaps read or work on a favorite school topic, like dinosaurs or spelling, or something to do with upcoming waypoints, like explorers or interesting facts (thanks Wikipedia). Memorize states or planet order or ROYGBIV.
- Update a map with progress.
- One of my young passengers collected Indian-sounding place names from all over the map, and funny-sounding names like Osh-Kosh or Dent.
posted by gregoreo at 5:39 PM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
- How's his attention span? Some kids with some activity can go all morning. But many kids that age are done with an activity in ten minutes. Consider starting the second day by working out a fixed order, with at least ten minutes before going to the next activity. Maybe use a timer. There should of course be a mix-it-up or wildcard interval, where he can apply playdough armor to action figures and invent something completely different.
- Many activities should complete with a quick cleanup.
- Motion sickness? Some people in some cars cannot read or maintain prolonged focus.
- Don't neglect participation activities. For example, there's "artist". On a pad draw some simple thing, like two circles. Pass the pad to another passenger, who adds something else to the picture, maybe pupils, may spokes for a wheel, maybe a cone to hold the two scoops of ice cream. Pass the pad back and forth elaborating the picture. One can do the same back-and-forth with story-telling, including mixing up two movies or TV shows.
- Audio books.
- Perhaps read or work on a favorite school topic, like dinosaurs or spelling, or something to do with upcoming waypoints, like explorers or interesting facts (thanks Wikipedia). Memorize states or planet order or ROYGBIV.
- Update a map with progress.
- One of my young passengers collected Indian-sounding place names from all over the map, and funny-sounding names like Osh-Kosh or Dent.
posted by gregoreo at 5:39 PM on March 11, 2016 [1 favorite]
Headphones + audio books?
posted by Year of meteors at 6:36 PM on March 11, 2016
posted by Year of meteors at 6:36 PM on March 11, 2016
My 6 year old will play forever with Legos-no sets for a trip, just a ziploc bag full and a base in a tray or Tupperware container-and "guys": things like a few plastic animals or dinosaurs or spaceships or little people with something to pretend with, like something he built out of Legos the day before. I wouldn't worry about a few pieces getting lost-small price to pay for peace. A dry erase board or those dry erase learning placements and some good quality dry erase markers would be fun, too. He also really loved an activity kit he got that featured crafts to make with the (included) pipe cleaners-he had a hard time making the animals in the book but he really loved just making creations with them and they are zero mess.
posted by purenitrous at 7:22 PM on March 11, 2016
posted by purenitrous at 7:22 PM on March 11, 2016
A tablet that you can pay the extra $10 a month (for one month) to have wifi on, a map app, and a paper map for your travel day. Every day give him a new paper map for the travel day. Encourage him to find where you are on the app and on the paper map.
The tablet can also be used to take pictures. On day two, give him a few photo apps and help him play with the pictures that he took on day one.
By day three you will be far enough away from home that the landscape will be totally different. Days three, four, and five gifts should be items that reflect that area's history or culture, so that he knows where he is and isn't just passing through. If you are going through Texas, get him a cowboy hat. Or if you are going through Pa., get him some Hershey's chocolate. By helping him focus on where he is in the world, it should lesson his feelings of being stuck in the car.
posted by myselfasme at 6:42 AM on March 12, 2016
The tablet can also be used to take pictures. On day two, give him a few photo apps and help him play with the pictures that he took on day one.
By day three you will be far enough away from home that the landscape will be totally different. Days three, four, and five gifts should be items that reflect that area's history or culture, so that he knows where he is and isn't just passing through. If you are going through Texas, get him a cowboy hat. Or if you are going through Pa., get him some Hershey's chocolate. By helping him focus on where he is in the world, it should lesson his feelings of being stuck in the car.
posted by myselfasme at 6:42 AM on March 12, 2016
Best answer: I used to fly with my girls a lot, and I always had a bag of tricks:
Rainbow Colors Scratch Paper
Mini Magna doodles
Sticker books
Magnetic Playscene Boards or something like this
Mr. Smelly Markers
Where is Waldo types of books.
I also always had good snacks and drinks available to break up the time.
posted by momochan at 8:50 AM on March 12, 2016
Rainbow Colors Scratch Paper
Mini Magna doodles
Sticker books
Magnetic Playscene Boards or something like this
Mr. Smelly Markers
Where is Waldo types of books.
I also always had good snacks and drinks available to break up the time.
posted by momochan at 8:50 AM on March 12, 2016
Response by poster: Thanks, guys. I ordered one toy for every day from Amazon, including a Vtech camera, magnetic playscene, auto bingo cards, lacing cards, and window crayons (those will be for the last day).
posted by rabbitrabbit at 8:47 AM on March 14, 2016
posted by rabbitrabbit at 8:47 AM on March 14, 2016
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by zippy at 3:15 PM on March 11, 2016 [4 favorites]