~This article is a work in progress, I will keep adding to it~

As we get ready for our long drive to Vegas, I have been searching all over the web for the best sites to help me put together my traveling folder and things for the kids to do.  I've compiled my favorite sites and ideas and wanted to share them with you.  My folder will be something that will remain in our van, for future trips!  That will be so handy.  So a lot of work is going into it now but I know it will pay off for many years of road trips to come! 

My Travel Folder Contains:
* Kids songs - as many as I could find and print off
* Travel games, ideas, and rules
* Card game rules
* Theme Ideas

I created a travel journal for each child.  I wrote prompting questions through out the journal to give the kids ideas on what to record.  Since I have little ones that can't read, I will sit down with them nightly and record their answers.  The journals include maps to each destination as well. 

I have also been putting together goody bags that will be given out as the trip progresses.  They may include a snack, a toy, and/or a craft or project.  I used brown paper bags, wrote their names on them, punched holes in the top to thread yarn through, and wrote what was in them on the bottom.  I plan to number them and have a master list that tells me what is in them so I can hand out the appropriate goody bags on our trip, easily.  Chad is helping me with this project as it's fairly large with 4 kids and for such a long trip.  A suggestion on a site I saw said to give them out every so many miles; 50, 75, or 100.  I'm not sure yet how we'll work this. 

Keeping The Kids Busy on the Trip:

Games:
* The Color Game - pick a color and have everyone try to find something in that color. 
* I-Spy
* Name that tune - start singing a tune and have everyone guess what song it is
* Silly story game - start a story and let everyone contribute to it
* "Tic Tac Toe
* Hangman
* Rock, paper, scissors
* Name Game - someone says a name and the next person has to say a name that begins with the last letter of the name.  ie: Chad, David, Don, Nora, Amanda
* Twenty Questions
* Name that cloud - what do the clouds look like?
* Sound game - make up your own sounds for items that you see along the way, see a bird say "meow meow" every time you see a bird.  Pick silly sounds for everything!
* License play game


Songs & Riddles:
* Jesus Loves Me
* Baby Bumblebee
* Apples and Bananas
* The Animal Fair
* A Hunting We Will Go
* I'm a Little Teapot
* John, Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt
* Hey Diddle Diddle
* Hickory Dickory Dock
* A Frog Went A Courtin'
* Do Your Ears Hang Low
* There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
* Pop Goes The Weasel
* Old Dan Tucker
* Michael Finnegan
* Kookaburra
* Ain't It Great to Be Crazy
* A Pirate's Life for Me
* Pirate Ship
* I'm a Nut
* The Ants Go Marching
* Found A  Peanut
* On Top of Spaghetti
* I've Been Working on the Railroad
* She'll Be Coming Around the Mountain
* If You're Happy and You Know It
* Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
* Freres Jacques
* Are You Sleeping
* He's Got the Whole World
*


Card Games:
* Crazy 8's
* Old Maid
* Go Fish

To Do:
* Paper Dolls  -  Design Your own!
* Car Bingo
* Car Scavenger Hunt
* Movies on portable dvd player - rent or buy movies they haven't seen yet
* books on CD
* Travel check list - give them a map or check list with the places you will see or pass on the way there.  This will give them a way to calculate how much longer!  I.e. city signs, landmarks, etc.
* Jokes - get some kid joke books from the library and read aloud
* Get some kid sing-a-long cds from the library
* Puppet show
* Finger Puppets
* Crosswords or Word Searches - Make your own for free (very plain)  More Dolls - cute, with hair and more!
* Coloring
* Stickers
* Cats craddle - find directions for all kinds of fun online!
* Word scrambles
* How Many Words Can You Make Out Of: use words that have to do with your trip
* Yarn balls - wrap yarn around all of your fingers a bunch of times, take it off your fingers, tie a knot around the center of the now looped yarn, cut the tips of the yarn, and fan out for a ball of fun!


Snacks (Yes, I am the mean mom, I don't allow anything but water bottles in the van.  I save sticky things that can spill for stops for meals):

* Nuts
* Make your own snack mix
* Crackers
* Lunchables - get them some protein with their crackers!  Make your own for cheap!
* Corn nuts
* Carrot sticks - for older kids who won't likely choke
* String cheese
* Granola Bars
* Fresh Fruit
* GoGurts - frozen
* Fruit Roll-ups - I prefer these over fruit snacks because fruit snacks have a way of sneaking off and getting stuck to seats!
* Air popped popcorn - use a spray butter or olive oil and put in brown lunch bags