Tips & Toy Guide: Entertaining Kids When Traveling or Doing Errands

Looking for some tips and ideas to help you entertain your preschoolers while you are traveling, doing errands or out to eat? Here are some great tips from moms and toy suggestions that might make your outing just a touch easier.

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Wikki-Stix are a great mess-free crafting activity. Our kids have used them as window art in the car, to mold into creatures, make rainbows, even have mock mini-swordfights. Being mess-freee they are great to take out and about. . The B.H2-Whoa is an awesome mess-free doodle board, it comes with refillable water pens and is reversible with two coloring surfaces. Hours of doodling fun!   Look for it at Target. . …………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. The game Loaded Questions: Junior is a fun way to engage your kids and learn something about them in the process.   Keeping score might not be possible in a car-ride, but the questions are sure to get some laughs out of your kids! . Grab and Go Games by BriarPatch help your kids work on memory skills or pattern recognition during a car-trip or when stuck in a hotel.   They are packaged for traveling!   Want other game ideas?   Check out The Big Toy Book! ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

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Do you want a new book to read?   Even my youngest will sit and read while sitting in the Dr. office or driving and doing errands.   Basie & Paisley is a great series with themes, like bellybuttons or monsters who play polka music, that preschoolers just love full of bright pictures, sure to entertain your youngster! .

Why not make up your own story?   Pack these Rory Story Cubes by Gamewright and waiting for a table at the restaurant will no longer be a dull moment! The cubes have different images which you can incorporate into your story.   Brilliant!     The Big Toy Book referred these to us!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. For a great selection of iphone apps developed for especially for kids, check out Pic Pocket Books. They have educational games, stories and lots of silly fun ideas to entertain your kiddos. Available at Pic Pocket Books & Amazon. . Getting the kids their own Kidz Gear Wireless Car Headphones means you don't go crazy with kids music or DVDs during your trip! Check out KidzGear.   They also have a wired version. . Eddie Bauer has a Travel Tray that attaches to car-seat straps. It is perfect for containing toys and snacks during road trips!   I am looking forward to using them on our road trip – hopefully, they will cut down on the amount of dropped toys!   Note: Not a great drawing surface.   Available at Target. . Going out to eat? Second to waiting for a table, being patient waiting for food to arrive can be difficult for any kiddo.   These buildable straws will keep any kiddo happily hydrated and engaged. Note: Not suitable for young kiddos.   Available at Museum Tours.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Quiet play is always a good thing when cooped up, either in a highchair at the restaurant or on the confines of a car!   Cahootie Catcher has a wide variety of cootie catchers for your kiddos to decorate with stickers, manipulate, pick the outfit of their person, ask eachother questions or create a story.   These are especially loved by kinetic kids.

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Finger puppets are our activity bag.   Your kids can use them to create a pretend world.   My son loves the animal finger puppets at Ikea, he likes having the animals chase each other.   My daughter loves the little people series.   I love how they are small!   I can easily stuff several in my pocket for a last min errand-trip.

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. Museum Tour has some terrific Magna-Tiles that are great to build with.   As they stick together they are easy to use in the car with a travel tray or while waiting at the Dr. office. . B. Toy’s Stackadoos are easy to grab and stick together making them another great item to pack in your diaper bag to entertain that bored preschooler.   They can also be used to help your child develop pattern recognition. .

 

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Quirky Momma was not paid for any of these reviews.   All products included in the giveaway/guide are toys we love or have on our wish list.   Some review toys were given to us as compensation.

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