Scenario: As a parent facing "long" road trips, I've often wondered, what can Thompson (and in the future William) do to occupy his time without always relying on the DVD player. As he's gotten older, we've progressed from looking for construction equipment, trains and RxR tracks and searching for water towers to map-reading (tracking our progress by matching exit numbers to those on the map) and playing the ABC games.
Background: Earlier in the year, I read an article about ways families "pass the time" on long trips. One family shared how they bought dry-erase boards and markers for their children.
My Reaction: "What a great idea! I've got to try this for our next long trip." So, for the road trip to Topsail Beach last month, I bought Thompson a dry erase board big enough for his lap and a multi-colored collection of dry erase markers. I gave him an old rag to use as his "eraser" and a plastic cup that fits in a cup holder to store the markers.
The Result: Magic! I can't begin to tell you how much he enjoys his board. It has remained in the car and has become his "go-to" activity nearly every time he's riding. He colors, draws, practices his letters, writes word (with a little help) and so much more! [Today's artwork while driving home after school was a two-lane road, each lane with their own stoplight and car. The next drawing was a board filled with circles...a golf course.] So, I'm sure it comes as no surprise, that I'm passing this idea along. Happy traveling!
1 comment:
thanks for sharing! i am always afraid of expo markers as they stain and don't come out of clothes well. i have found that murphy's oil is the only thing that can truly get it out. sooooo....just in case T ever gets any marker on his clothes. :)
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