Our trip this past week ended up being about 13 hours each way, and the kids were awesome, largely thanks to the car entertainment. My two oldest especially enjoy a DVD on a road trip.Some elements that make up good car trip DVDs in our family this summer have been.
► TV shows (instead of feature length movies): My experience with my kids has been that what holds there attention and interest best on a trip is DVD's of kids TV shows, rather than feature length kids films. The TV shows are often probably more age-appropriate and also a 15-30 minute episode followed back-to-back by another seems to flow nicely, and many times these DVDs pack the punch with some considerable length (a kids movie might be 70 minutes, but a disk of shows in some cases last over three hours)► Shows they have never seen or seen very little of: If my kids watch TV it is typically going to be something that is part of the PBS kids lineup (Curious George, Super Why, Peg + Cat, Thomas & Friends). But for road trips we've had great success when it's a show they've never seen before. It's guaranteed to be episodes they've seen before and it's special.
► Non-Gender Defined Shows: My oldest is a girl who loves Angelina Ballerina, and my three-year-old boy loves Thomas the Train. But I try to avoid anything that screams "that's a girl show" or "that's a boy show" because I want them both happy and don't want to have to go through any type of back and forth on choices.► No Choices - It's Always A Surprise: Because the shows are often things they haven't seen before - I like to bring the element of surprise. When we put in a movie they're curious about what it will be and it makes everything seem like a treat. Similarly I avoid letting them see the movies before hand. The movies are out of sight until my wife or I press play.
Below is a list of favorite DVDs from car trips this summer.
Our 10 Favorite DVDs for Car Trips This Summer:
• Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood: Life's Little Lessons
• Franklin: Reading Club
• Maya & Miguel: Funny Fix-ups
• Little Bear: Rainy Day Tales
• Magic School Bus: In a Pickle
• Justin Time: Amazing Adventures
• Max & Ruby: BunnyTales
• Little Einsteins Flight of the Instrument Fairies
• Timothy Goes To School: The Great Race
• Wild Kratts: Lost At Sea
**Feel free to share some of your favorite DVD finds for car road trips in the comments, and include your child(ren)s age(s) as well.**
