Our favorite toys for long car rides

At 2.5 and 1, my kids need entertainment for our long car rides from Philadelphia to RI. Our last trip took almost 8 hours since we had to stop in Manhattan to pick up Trig from court. I never want to do that again, but if we do, I want to be prepared.

Here are some of our favorite toys for long car rides, restaurants, waiting rooms and the like. I’m desperate to add to this collection and would love some of your favorites too.

Melissa & Doug Water Wow Paint Kit

At $5 a book, these sets have been lifesavers for us. You fill the marker with water, and the child paints the design on each page. When the water dries, the page becomes white again. This means we can rotate the same few books over and over again through a long car ride. And since the marker is just water, I let Ali (age 1) play with these too without worrying too much if she sticks the marker edge in her mouth. Totally saves the day since she constantly wants to do what R is doing.

Mini slinky

I have no idea why, but both kids can play with a mini slinky for what seems like forever. At <$1 for 1, these are so worth keeping on hand for car rides. Ours live in the car so that they maintain their allure.

Flashlight

I had $5 remaining on a store gift card once, and in trying to use it all up I bought a random Thomas the train flashlight. This flashlight has brought a lot of car enjoyment. During the day R just pushes the buttons on and off, and when it’s dark out he zips the light all around the car. The light isn’t so bright that it disturbs us or other drivers, but it’s bright enough to provide entertainment.

Melissa & Doug Reusable Sticker Pad Bundle (Pack of 2)

Both of my kids are obsessed with stickers. I wouldn’t let Ali use these during a car ride because I can’t supervise her, but these are great for restaurants and waiting rooms.

Mini cookie tray + magnets

I have a metal cookie tray from the kids’ play kitchen, and sometimes I pack that with a bag of magnets for a long car ride. R will spend ages taking all the magnets out, lining them up on the tray, and putting them back in. Ali will take all the magnets out of the bag and hand them over to R, so it’s a good game for them to share too.

My friend also recently reminded me to bring books. I got out of that habit but plan on getting right back into it.

BONUS

R is obsessed with these Melissa & Doug 24 piece jigsaw puzzles. We only have two right now, the under the sea one and the jungle animals one, and he does them multiple times a day. We’ve had them since he was 2 years old, but he just became obsessed over the last two months or so. These don’t work for car rides, but they are great on rainy days like today.

Any other ideas on good car ride toys/activities?

*Note: Some of these links are Amazon affiliate links.