How do I hang a 2-screen DVD player in a 12 passenger van so that 4 (forward facing thankfully) children can see it? AND... there aren't headrests? AND... there's only about a 3' cord between the 2 screens? This may take longer than packing. Or we may be a no-go on the DVD player. For a six. and. a. half. hour. drive. WITHOUT. stops.
What do you do for your kids to keep them entertained in the car? I have coloring books and crayons and stickers for K and B and a magna doodle for E. Everything Micah likes to play with makes repetitive sounds and though he can have some for a little while at a time, it will quickly drive the rest of us nuts. Hence my DVD idea. Maybe we'll put Emma in the back with Micah and just put the DVD player back there...
Is anyone in the front row? If not Maybe this would work? Maybe it's crazy.
ReplyDeleteBut could you get some simple long, wooden sticks/poles and attatch them somehow to the back of the dvd screens(heavy duty velcro? Duct tape) then shove the other end of the pole into the crack(assuming there is one) between the seat and the seat back of the first row.
Two poles for each screen
faye
Put them all in the very back row. Take out the first bench seat and pack your things in there. Then enjoy the peace and quiet as the packing absorbs the noise from the far back of the van. ;)
ReplyDeleteOh, take the time to get the DVD to work...forget the clothes.... I can not even think of traveling without the DVD.... I ran to 2 men and a DVD shop who installed it from the ceiling.... I will pray for you...someone out there reading your blog must be able to install these tomorrow...PLEASE take it from experience...... once a DVD travel family always a DVD travel family.???velcro strips????
ReplyDeleteOur kids really enjoy just the Signing Time CD's, if you have any of those. They could last us hours. Wes loves just to watch out the window, I am SO lucky with him. Good luck with your trip!
ReplyDeleteKara
If you have the handles at the top of the van just past the drivers seat I would tye a rope side to side of the van(like a clothes line) then I would hand the put the two DVD players on them. so it is high enough for the back row to see too. Or figure a way to hang a rope something between the seats (if they are bucket) so that one dvd player is for the two on the middle section and one dvd player for the last seat. (kind of one in front of the other. However I don't know what you drive so not sure if any of that would work. I do know that best buy and/or radio shack sell extensions for electronics in the car.
ReplyDeleteWe don't go on 'non-stop' trips. But I understand why u would. Don't have a dvd either. With 4 kids in an explorer...we have our own entertainment built in: "He's touching me" "He kicked me". It goes on and on. We have lots of kids music, plus books, etc for the big kids. toy cars for the little ones.
ReplyDeleteHave a fun trip!
Jan
We listen to music. Everyone gets a turn to pick out a song.
ReplyDeleteThe little kids like Raffi songs like "Baby Beluga"(so do I) they also like a set we have called Silly Songs. We all sing loudly if we know the words.
A lot of the songs we have on the ipod and it plugs in the car so we can hear it. It holds a lot of different types of songs.
Sometimes we play guess the name of this song.
Sometimes we play a game one of the kids made up called "What Goes in the Witches Brew". Everyone takes a turn nameing something horrible like old toe nails, or frog eyes, that will go in the witches brew.
I could be way off base on what you're asking for but.....ok I saw this mount in someones minivan as they passed me one day and then forgot about it. But I just looked it up and found that it is on amazon.com under this listing DvdDr 70200 00 Portable DVD Player Car Mount
ReplyDeletehope that doesn't get me into any trouble posting info like that but it was such a cool mount that I loved it for my suv. Better than trying to tie it to the headrest.
I'm not sure if yours will fit this but I thought I would pass it along to anyone else out there looking for something.
those individual travel games or I always loved to play "I spy" in the car. With older kids you can always do the license plate game of figuring out what the personalized ones say.
I hope you have a great trip.
I remember those days I felt like a cruise director... Russ drove all the time just so he didn't have to do that job! We didn't have five, we just had the four but it was a 21 hour straight ride and we were crazy sometimes! We did a lot of cassette tapes with th Fisher Price cassette player so they couldn't break it. Never had a DVD player but it would be nice! Just remember if you "rig" it to keep it secure in case of slamming on the brakes. We did non-permanent markers on scratch paper and each person got a clipboard... Benadryl... we borrowed those little hand-held games that were really simple. even if they didn't "get it" they liked messing with them!
ReplyDeleteThinking of ya'll as you travel. have a good time and it will be a memory maker!
Karen