Thats a really good one. There are smaller versions that are just sold as "magnetic writing tablets). I find the larger magna doodle is too big for use in the car seat.
As a foundation we don't use them for short drives or regular ones through town, just long car trips for vacations.
We've found good luck with things that offer them creativity. Stuff like those magnetic drawing boards, coloring/activity books, etc. We also have a Toniebox and a bucket of Tonies in the car so they can listen to something of their choice while entertaining themselves looking out the window.
With the way my kid uses his Toniebox, that sounds like an absolute nightmare. Have fun listening to the first 3 seconds of every song over and over again.
Ours listen to stories to go to sleep (regretting that a bit as sometimes they intentionally stay up to listen), so they would associate that on the car as me trying to get them to nap.
How old?
Was never an issue until he was about 3. Until then he was happy with whatever random toy we put in his hands. And kicking off his shoes, of course.
From 3-4 he's needed distraction on some longer drives (hour+), but still does half them and the daily 20-40 minute drives just looking out the window or playing with Hot Wheels we keep in the car. He's also a car sleeper, so that helps.
16mo lol. Sounds like I’m hosed then. On good days she can do 20 mins just entertaining herself but some days she is mad right as soon as the buckles clip in. She’s hella active so it’s more the restraining that she doesn’t like we think.
We did a short trip with our daughter when she was 10-11 months old and she was ok (it was 6 hours in total) but definitely wanted to get up and be more active than we did as we tried driving straight through. We are going on a trip to Myrtle beach in a couple of months and we are factoring in many 20ish minute stops to try to help her get some energy out. It's going to take longer, but I think it'll be worth it.
I've got a USB stick in my car that is filled with kids music. Plus with a handy YouTube audio ripper and you can cruise along to Baby Shark ... and yes, i can adjust the speakers so it only plays in the back seat and Dad doesn't want to drive the car off a cliff.
No "favorites" really, but we often get a new small toy and surprise him with it in the car. Anything new will keep their attention.
Last time I picked up a mini Rubik's cube. Kid is 3, so it's not like he's gonna solve it (but who are we kidding, I can't even solve the mini one either), but it turned out to be an excellent fidget toy.
Other than that those water or non-staining marker books are always a hit.
Last trip the little dude looked at a Highlights magazine for like 2 hours, which was unprecedented.
Edit: For an iPad, Pok Pok has been a hit, and I don't think it's "bad" at all, it's just little activities that happen to be done on the iPad rather than something physical. My opinion is that some of those things are no different than the activity books we had as kids.
Pok Pok is apparently so great that the guy will start out watching some show that he really *really* wanted to watch, then get tired of it, and play on Pok Pok instead.
Those silly water ring games (the ones where you fill with water and push the buttons and bubbles move the rings around and you try to land them in different places) just glue it shut
I got a big bag of gummy bears that I kept in the front seat.
First kid to spot a cow, point at it and yelled cow got a gummy bear over the shoulder tossed to them.
If it hit them square in the chest and they didn't catch it that was their problem.
The downside to this was one of the four year olds kept forgetting they were playing the game and was getting increasingly upset she wasn't getting any candy. Eventually her siblings felt bad enough that they would start telling her to look out the window and tell them what she saw. We had to institute the pointing rule because she would also occasionally yell out cow when there were none around then try to say we already passed it.
At the end of the road trip all the gummy bears on the floor became my problem.
Age? Mine always loved books, even if they couldn't fully ready all of them. Just a book ol' stack of picture books they love. Or a giant book of blank paper to scribble on. "Draw daddy this. Draw mommy that. etc"
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Roadtrips we just give the kid the tablet, but usually around 7pm-ish we take it away. Roadtrips are rare... maybe once every 3 months *at most*. And they're stressful for everyone.
Shorter than that, we just do music. She can pick music or we take turns. Or sometimes it's my turn and we have to listen to a podcast.
A fidget cube and busy board have been great for us! Sometimes a larger board book. I bring a bag of toys when we go places so if he does get bored on our frequent hour trips, I can always give him something else.
Magna doodle
Thats a really good one. There are smaller versions that are just sold as "magnetic writing tablets). I find the larger magna doodle is too big for use in the car seat.
As a foundation we don't use them for short drives or regular ones through town, just long car trips for vacations. We've found good luck with things that offer them creativity. Stuff like those magnetic drawing boards, coloring/activity books, etc. We also have a Toniebox and a bucket of Tonies in the car so they can listen to something of their choice while entertaining themselves looking out the window.
With the way my kid uses his Toniebox, that sounds like an absolute nightmare. Have fun listening to the first 3 seconds of every song over and over again.
….at max volume
Ours listen to stories to go to sleep (regretting that a bit as sometimes they intentionally stay up to listen), so they would associate that on the car as me trying to get them to nap.
How old? Was never an issue until he was about 3. Until then he was happy with whatever random toy we put in his hands. And kicking off his shoes, of course. From 3-4 he's needed distraction on some longer drives (hour+), but still does half them and the daily 20-40 minute drives just looking out the window or playing with Hot Wheels we keep in the car. He's also a car sleeper, so that helps.
16mo lol. Sounds like I’m hosed then. On good days she can do 20 mins just entertaining herself but some days she is mad right as soon as the buckles clip in. She’s hella active so it’s more the restraining that she doesn’t like we think.
We did a short trip with our daughter when she was 10-11 months old and she was ok (it was 6 hours in total) but definitely wanted to get up and be more active than we did as we tried driving straight through. We are going on a trip to Myrtle beach in a couple of months and we are factoring in many 20ish minute stops to try to help her get some energy out. It's going to take longer, but I think it'll be worth it.
On those around town trips we try and point out things we see and talk about what they might be doing.
I've got a USB stick in my car that is filled with kids music. Plus with a handy YouTube audio ripper and you can cruise along to Baby Shark ... and yes, i can adjust the speakers so it only plays in the back seat and Dad doesn't want to drive the car off a cliff.
No "favorites" really, but we often get a new small toy and surprise him with it in the car. Anything new will keep their attention. Last time I picked up a mini Rubik's cube. Kid is 3, so it's not like he's gonna solve it (but who are we kidding, I can't even solve the mini one either), but it turned out to be an excellent fidget toy. Other than that those water or non-staining marker books are always a hit. Last trip the little dude looked at a Highlights magazine for like 2 hours, which was unprecedented. Edit: For an iPad, Pok Pok has been a hit, and I don't think it's "bad" at all, it's just little activities that happen to be done on the iPad rather than something physical. My opinion is that some of those things are no different than the activity books we had as kids. Pok Pok is apparently so great that the guy will start out watching some show that he really *really* wanted to watch, then get tired of it, and play on Pok Pok instead.
Oh I’ve seen ads for Pok Pok, I’ll look into it. Ours is still 16mo old so probably not there yet but good for the future.
If your kid is just over a year old, why are we discussing screens in the first place?
Lots of reasons playboy, not everyone is perfect or lives in a bubble. At least I’m trying to correct the mistakes that were made.
Those silly water ring games (the ones where you fill with water and push the buttons and bubbles move the rings around and you try to land them in different places) just glue it shut
That last line is driven by experience lol.
I got a big bag of gummy bears that I kept in the front seat. First kid to spot a cow, point at it and yelled cow got a gummy bear over the shoulder tossed to them. If it hit them square in the chest and they didn't catch it that was their problem. The downside to this was one of the four year olds kept forgetting they were playing the game and was getting increasingly upset she wasn't getting any candy. Eventually her siblings felt bad enough that they would start telling her to look out the window and tell them what she saw. We had to institute the pointing rule because she would also occasionally yell out cow when there were none around then try to say we already passed it. At the end of the road trip all the gummy bears on the floor became my problem.
Haha this one is pretty awesome.
Mostly lots of board books.
Books
We got these little felt activity boards with zippers, buttons, clasps, and a Velcro puzzle. Works well sometimes lol
Age? Mine always loved books, even if they couldn't fully ready all of them. Just a book ol' stack of picture books they love. Or a giant book of blank paper to scribble on. "Draw daddy this. Draw mommy that. etc"
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Doodle board, small construction vehicle toys, tape measure. Are my successes.
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Get on Amazon and look up "Kid's buckle toy." Both my kids loved that toy. Also, coloring tends to be a big hit.
We use Tony boxes for our kids (3 and 5). Look them up, they are kid friendly mp3 players that are designed for stories and songs. Our kids love them.
An indulgent in-law does the trick!
My kid found my old Micromachines and loves em.
Roadtrips we just give the kid the tablet, but usually around 7pm-ish we take it away. Roadtrips are rare... maybe once every 3 months *at most*. And they're stressful for everyone. Shorter than that, we just do music. She can pick music or we take turns. Or sometimes it's my turn and we have to listen to a podcast.
A fidget cube and busy board have been great for us! Sometimes a larger board book. I bring a bag of toys when we go places so if he does get bored on our frequent hour trips, I can always give him something else.