Goodie Bags

One way I keep my children content during long car trips, field trips, Dr's office waits, and other long waits is by making a "goodie bag." I use a large Ziploc storage bag and put in the following items. If the wait will be particularly long, I will allow them to take out one item at set intervals. This works very well for my family. We just recently traveled 14 hours by van and had no problems with bored children. There are lots of great ideas for goodie bag items in the dollar-type stores & I am sure you can think of many more.

1. Raisins, graham crackers, Goldfish crackers, small boxes of dry cereal, etc make good snacks.

2. Stickers

3. Create a scene sticker sets

4. Blank labels so they can design and color their own stickers

5. Small toys or gifts that you can wrap

6. Small coloring book

7. 8 or 16 pack of crayons

8. Pencil and eraser

9. Small paper notebook (assignment pad size are what my children enjoy the best.)

10. Small stencils

11. Small travel games

12. Pipe cleaners to bend to make shapes

13. Miniature doll and animal figures

14. Sewing/lacing cards

15. Small chalkboard with eraser and chalk

16. Beaded necklace kits, small cross-stitch kits for older girls

17. Party favors (usually sold in sets of 8)

18. Old Maid and similar card games

19. A 6" ruler with a list of things in their reach to measure (car trips)

20. An "I SEE IT!" Travel Checklist of things to look for on the trip

I hope this helps you get some peace and quiet on the road.

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