My clan has been adding quite a few miles to the family car lately. Not only have we been traveling for fun, but we recently relocated to the Twin Cities from Tucson. Back in May we took a two-week driving trip to Minnesota to scout the area, and then we just finished our permanent move two weeks ago — making that long drive again. At three to four days each way, I needed a lot of in-car entertainment.
I’ve written plenty of road trip tips in the past for our blog and Fodors.com, and I even recently reviewed TravelKiddy, which is loaded with on-the-road entertainment (and totally saved the day two weeks ago during our drive to the Midwest).
This summer I was interviewed for the FoxNews.com travel column. I offered a suggestion, which is one of my favorite cheap and easy road trip entertainment ideas and I would love to share it with you — pipe cleaners! It sounds so simple, and it is. First, a pack of colorful pipe cleaners is under two bucks — so it’s super cheap. Second, simply hand the kids a handful and let them go to town — super easy!
We had a “garden” growing in the back seat pockets, crazy looking monsters, glasses (see photo), hats, jewelry and headbands for my daughter. As you can see, my kids have a blast with a pack of pipe cleaners, so next time you’re hitting the road grab a pack and create with the kids. It’s a good time for parents, too.
My clan has been adding quite a few miles to the family car lately. Not only have we been traveling for fun, but we recently relocated to the Twin Cities from Tucson. Back in May we took a two-week driving trip to Minnesota to scout the area, and then we just finished our permanent move two weeks ago — making that long drive again. At three to four days each way, I needed a lot of in-car entertainment.I’ve written plenty of road trip tips in the past for our blog and Fodors.com, and I even recently reviewed TravelKiddy, which is loaded with on-the-road entertainment (and totally saved the day two weeks ago on our drive to Minnesota).
This summer I was interviewed for the FoxNews.com travel column. I offered a suggestion, which is one of my favorite cheap and easy road trip entertainment ideas and I would love to share it with you — pipe cleaners! It sounds so simple, and it is. First, a pack of colorful pipe cleaners is under two bucks — so it’s super cheap. Second, simply hand the kids a handful and let them go to town — super easy!
We had a “garden” growing in the back seat pockets, crazy looking monsters, glasses (see photo), hats, jewelry and headbands for my daughter. As you can see, my kids have a blast with a pack of pipe cleaners, so next time you’re hitting the road grab a pack and create with the kids. It’s a good time for parents, too.
Can you see me slapping my head over here? What a GREAT idea! And (unlike wiki stix, which I also like) they can’t melt in the hot sun.
We’re road tripping to Sequoia National Park and Palm Springs over Thanksgiving, and I’m totally stealing this idea.
Also, cute pic.
I’m am so excited to see your new website! Looking forward to getting settled back in with all the posts from the three of you.
Love this, Beth! Luke’s teacher told me to bring pipe cleaners a couple of years ago when we were flying back to Savannah and I have been amazed at how busy it keeps the kids.
[...] of how my son is using the Parking Pals so well. Until then, if you are looking for other ideas on traveling with children check out this article on The Vacation Gals website – fellow Type-A-Mom [...]
Looks great… kids cannot really stand a very long road trips so they have to be entertained. At least have them do something that would keep them busy. I like your cheap and easy idea very much. Last year, I bought my two kids their own PSP and it helps me a lot to keep them still during travel.