Our third toddler road trip saving grace is Water Wow! books from @melissaanddougtoys. You fill up the little pen with water (albeit this is difficult to do in the car. I suggest filling them pre-vacay or you’ll be stuck sucking water into a straw and dripping it in) and kiddos can color the pages and bring the black and white images to life with vibrant colors. Bug has liked “painting” with these book sets for two years- we keep one in her backpack/diaper bag for restaurants (you know… pre-COVID when we did that sort of thing), one in the car, etc. but now they’re growing with her which I didn’t expect. For example, earlier she realized once you color the picture it becomes a search and find where she hunted down 5 acorns, 3 doors, etc. Growing even more with her is this newest book that is letters themed. “Momma that’s my letter!” she enthusiastically hollered out while coloring the J. “And that’s Wy Wy’s!” pointing at the W. “I have to find the duck. D-D-Duck. Duck is a d. Here it is!” Working on letter recognition and reading in the 13th hour- still tantrum free ?
