40 Hours, 4 Kids, 1 Cat, 7 States

In less than 72 hours, Lord willing, we will begin our trek to Irvine, California!  Our estimated driving time is 40 hours.  That's a lot of time in the car for four kids.  Usually, my kids don't mind the car at all. But, then again, our average trip usually lasts about 20 minutes.  Expecting 40 + hours (we're taking a long-cut through Colorado to visit my sister and her family) in the car to be a bit more challenging, I put together a box of activities for each of the kids.

MARY'S BOX:

• Construction paper shapes, glue, and paper--We have a lot of fun making picture scenes out of various shapes!
• Black construction paper and chalk
• Horses of the World Coloring Book
• Color Wonder Sheets and Markers--No Mess!
• Colored paper and Fancy Nancy stickers
• 2 Finger Puppets (for entertaining fussy brothers)
• States Flash Cards--I thought this might be fun to learn about the states we are driving through.
• Presidents Flash Cards--Mary just really likes the presidents. 
• Name in Bubble Letters and Stickers--I made an outline of her full name in bold letters and thought it would be fun to decorate it with stickers.
• Decorate a Birthday Cake Sticker Book--My girls LOVE birthday parties!
• My Little Pony Coloring Book
• Bendaroos and Placemat--I thought this would be another fun, tactile, mess-free activity for the car
• Writing paper with pictures--I drew some simple pictures for Mary to write about.
• An old shoe for tying practice
• Pencil Box with colored pencils, erasers, and a pencil sharpener

MAGGIE'S BOX:

• Construction paper shapes, glue, and paper
• Black construction paper and chalk
• Color Wonder Sheets
• Colored Paper and Fancy Nancy Stickers
• Counting Books--I used foam stickers to make several different counting books.
• Sound Out Books--I used foam letter stickers to make as many words as I could think of for Maggie to practice her reading.
• 2 Finger Puppets (for entertaining fussy brothers)
• Animal Flash Cards
• Same/Different Flash Cards
• Name in Bubble Letters and Stickers
• Decorate a Birthday Cake Sticker Book
• Hello Kitty Coloring Book
• Bendaroos and Placemat
• Pencil Box with colored pencils, erasers and a pencil sharpener
• Second set of BOB Books

BOYS' BOX (Ordinarily, I don't really like to lump them together.  Although they have unique personalities, their toys fit in one box and I find it's best if they are playing with the same toy!):

• 2 O-Balls--OOO a brand new toy for the trip!  I found these O-balls that have another ball inside.  I think these are going to be a big hit!
• 2 Taggy Blankets--The boys love to play peek-a-boo with each other!
• 4 Plastic Shapes--I thought they would enjoy holding them and banging them together.  Hopefully, they do not become torpedoes!
• Trucks--We have two small trucks, one is a dump truck and one is a cement mixer.  The best $3 I ever spent!
• 2 Little People--Nana and Papa bought each of the boys a truck for their birthday with a little driver.  They love playing with the little people.  (They like the trucks, too, but they are just too bulky for the car!)
• 5 Chunky Trucks--I rescued these from the sand table for the boys to play with in the car.
• Stacking Cups
• 4 Infant Feeding Spoons--I thought these would be great for biting and wapping and even for sword-fighting!
• 2 Sets of Links
• 2 Buckles
• 2 Snaps
• 4 Holey Balls
• 4 Ping Pong Balls
• 2 Plastic Containers with Clothespins--They are in the put in, take out stage!
• 2 Plastic Containers with Holey Balls--ditto!
• 2 Finger Puppet Books
• Very Hungry Caterpillar Playset--These are colorform stickers which I think will be lots of fun, assuming they don't get eaten!

OTHER:

• The Story of the World Volume 2--We all love listening to these CDs!  Mary is especially eager to listen!
• Sing the Word CDs--A while back, I had bought several of these CDs on sale.  I love these CDs because they are Bible verses set to music.  
• The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos--I have read really great reviews of this Story Bible.  Hopefully, it will be better than the other ones we own already:)
• Imaginets--These are magnetic shapes that you can make into different designs.  They come with preprinted cards that you can try to reproduce.  I have a lot of fun playing with it, hopefully, the kids do, too!
• DVD player and movies--this is a last resort!
• Kindle with LOTS of free books!

SNACKS:

I think the snacks are the part of the trip the kids are most looking forward to!  I bought several snacks (that I NEVER buy).  Fruit(less) Snacks, Animal Crackers, Peanut Butter Crackers, Cereal Bars, Raisins (not for the boys), Chocolate Chip Granola Bars.  I wrapped each individual item in tissue paper, so it will be like getting a special surprise!  I also bought juice boxes!

And if that doesn't keep everyone happy, then I will insert my earplugs!