in the car for a roadtrip

For our recent car trip to Mall of America (about 7 hours with kid stops) I searched online for things to occupy my toddler and infant in the car (and the hotel). I did find some good ideas but a lot of ideas didn't work for us since both kids are rear-facing and I was worried about choking and projectiles. We have another roadtrip from NE to IN at the beginning of August and a Christmas trip from NE to GA.

So I thought I would make a post about what I did bring. First I pulled things from the house and put some of them away a few weeks before the trip so they would be "new" and then I purchased a few things for this trip. I had a few travel things from trips with just our oldest as well. I try not to bring things I would hate to lose, so lots of things from the dollar store, target dollar spot, ikea, etc. I hand them each just a few toys at a time and then hand them more as them seem to be  done with those or get bored. The oldest knows to put them in them in the middle when she is done with them. Other trips I wrapped up some like presents, this time I didn't. I did use some felt baskets from Easter to hand them some things.

• soft/cloth books - I have several including Peek-a-Boo Forest and Sunny Day
• indestuctibles books 
• dollar store board books 
• chik-fil-a under 3 kid meal books
• finger puppets 
• hand puppets
• bath mitts 
• small plush toys - target clearance,dollar store, ikea - we have a few of these in the car all the time
• look n find book
• plush toy cars
• Soft Travel Tray (we only used this  part of the time with the things below)
• Two-sided activity 
• mini water painting mat (aka aquadoodle)
• homemade playmat - inspired by this post - I printed some scenes on paper and put them in a clear plastic envelope with a zip closure.
• homemade sponge blocks

trying out the sponge blocks before the trip

Farm playmat with some plush farm animals

Plus I packed toys for hotel, if your kids are older you could use these in the car, but I like to have different toys from the car so they aren't tired of them.

• toy figures (like Mickey and friends)
• ponies
• zip bin playmat box
• Little People -duplicates from home
• kid meal toys
• mess free coloring (water surprise/water wow or color wonder/imagine ink)
• magnet drawing (aka magna doodle) I used to use this one when my oldest was younger but now I just use this one
• crib/stoller toys
• teething toys
• rubber ducky (this one tells you if the bath is too hot)

other ideas that I might use when we stay with family at Christmas, either brought by me or ask them to get before we arrive in addition to the handful of toys they have already.

• cards (flash cards, playing cards, or memory/matching, etc)
• soft balls such as splash balls
• sand/water toys like stacking cups 
• colander
• measuring cups/spoons 
• chenille sticks (aka pipe cleaners)

Since the trip at Christmas is longer I might buy some more toys for the trip home such as

• lauri toddler tote
• colorform
• felt storyboards
• take along sorter 

if I had more time I found lots of ideas on pintrest for- printable travel games, quiet book pages, felt activities