Whip up a pouch with some felt, embroidery floss, and a needle. Personalize it with buttons or trim or other felt cut outs like our hearts. We made ours to hold a car air freshener, so it no longer has to dangle from the rear view mirror, and we will also be using it as a glove box organizer. Make it any size to accommodate a gift. It could be filled with candy, a sachet, a gift card, or whatever else you dream up.
When I was growing up, my family had the opportunity to travel all over the country for our vacations. After being to 43 of the states myself, I consider it important for my children to have some way of looking back and seeing all the places they have visited.
It would be wonderful if I created scrapbooks of our family travels, but the truth is, I don’t have the time or the inclination. So, I came up with a very low-cost, easy, and quick way to log Ava and Landon’s vacation destinations. Each child has a photo album (a.k.a. travel book) which is being filled with a postcard from each of our trips.
When we go on vacation, I let Ava pick out a postcard she likes, I write the date on the back, and then we add it to her travel book. That’s it. I also added a 4×6 map of the United States to each of their books for them to color in the states as they visit them.
As you already know, entertaining children (of any age) is a challenge when you are spending hours in the car. Earlier in the month, we went on vacation with Tim’s parents to Ocean Isle Beach, NC, and packing the kids’ toys and snacks to keep them happy in the car took just as much thought and work as packing for our time at the beach itself. I tried to think of a way to engage Ava for longer than 5 minutes at a time, so I decided to figure out a way for her to be able to color.
I started by shopping around and I found this plastic, purple, RoseArt clipboard at Target. It even came with sets of crayons, markers, and colored pencils. This clipboard pops open to store supplies inside – perfect for what I was aiming to accomplish. Inside the clipboard, I stashed crayons, markers, colored pencils, stickers, construction paper, and a coloring book!
The only thing missing was a holder to keep crayons/markers/pencils handy for her to reach and use and to potentially save the car’s upholstery from lost, melting crayons. So, I made one. I already had the felt, the needle and thread, and the velcro I needed. I simply folded the felt to create the long pocket, and then stitched it into mini pockets to fit crayons. Velcro attaches it to the side of the clipboard (just below where the clipboard opens).
This was the perfect size for Ava, and it met all my criteria for a creative traveling station that effectively engaged Ava and kept things simple and organized for me.
This idea is one that you have probably already figured out for yourself, but in case you’re like me and hadn’t yet thought of it, here you are…
Last week, I was trying to figure out how I was going to make a successful, enjoyable trip to the library with my 2.5 year old and 4 month old. While consolidating diaper bag stuff, outerwear, and my own personal items, I began to wonder how I was going to manage “the stuff,” carry a baby, enjoy my time with my little girl, and still find a way to carry books all over the library. So, it came to me – the most obvious solution – take a bag with us for toting the books. Better yet, let Ava be the one who carried it.
So, I began searching closets and found this bag which conveniently happens to be clear (for easy viewing inside) and horizontally structured (so Ava could carry it easily without it dragging the ground). Since it didn’t have a pocket, I added a carabiner to the handle and attached our library card, so we wouldn’t have to go searching for it.
Since we’ve been home, we have stored the books, videos, and return list in the bag so we won’t lose or forget what needs to be returned. Plus, it’s easy for Tim or whoever happens to be returning the items to just grab the bag and go.