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How do I keep my 8 year old occupied during a 13 hour car ride?

He's possibly Autistic, but nothing diagnosed. He's a bit slow in educational issues, but very advanced in emotional and social situations. I'm trying to find ways to keep him busy in the car from Denver to Phoenix. Flying isn't option due to money. Now here's the real issue: He never stops talking! He even talks non-stop during his sleep. He will probably drive me crazy, and I don't think I can handle the 13 hour trip without a lot of good ideas. One thing he is mesmerized by is TV, so I'll bring along a portable DVD player. Any other ideas? I don't want to have to check into a mental health facility the second I get the AZ (lol).

Public Comments

1. Bring plenty of coloring books and crayons.
2. Try coloring books / dvd's as you stated / have plenty of snacks available / picture books - where's waldo / music for your cd player. Also, you could also try to travel at night...possibly his talking isn't as much during his sleep as you stated, the sounds of the car driving might help sooth him into a deeper sleep.
3. Buy him a Nintendo DS and a few games.
4. I don't know if he's old enough, but we would play bingo on long car rides. My mom would make a bingo sheet, with pictures of stuff you'd probably see on a card ride. We also would play the ABC game. You use like signs and license plates to find all the letters of the alphabet. A...B...C... ect. Good luck!
5. We have DVD player (Pollaroid brand) that has a Video game controller and video games built in. My 8 year old loved that and the transformers DVD on roadtrip. Bring plenty of snacks too. .
6. Deffintley a portable DVD player! Take him to the store and say pick out however many DVD's that you want to watch and get him those. (Look at the ones on sale first) bring coloring books, a game boy nintendo DS if that is possible, HEADPHONES, a pillow and blanket, if he likes to read bring him a book, if he likes music bring a CD player with his fav Cds, and hand held games, and you might just want to bring some ear plugs. lol, they still don't block out all of the noise. I wish you the best of luck
7. I bought all the suggested stuff when we moved from New Mexico to Indiana for my 7 year old daughter. She didn't watch a movie the whole time, she asked me to turn the music off in the CD player, and she pretty much refused to sleep in the car. However, she chowed down the snacks and loved the changing scenery. Oh and she read a lot, but that is typical of her. She did talk a lot, but it was relevant conversation and I think she learned a lot from that 3 day drive. I suggest you have all the suggested items, but that you be prepared to find out something new about your child. This is an excellent time to establish the type of communication you want to have with him when he becomes a teen! Good luck, and enjoy your trip!