h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

No personal experience, but a friend of mine puts the tapes of the Harry Potter books in the car on long car trips, and her 4 kids (from single-digits to teen) are Absolutely Silent. No fights. No asking "Are we there yet". They just listen to the story.

I was allowed to take a carry-on box filled with action figures, stuffed animals, miniature cars, dolls and so forth. Then my parents helped me to drape a thin sheet over the backs of their chairs and beneath their fully lowered head rests. I then proceeded to play fantasy games for *hours* with a mild but persistent belief that I was doing so "in private."

I wouldn't recommend this for more than one child. But it was a super solution for an only child like myself.

Give the kid a handgun to play with. After the initial loud noise, they tend to stay pretty much quiet for the rest of the journey.

Hey, now.

I always bring mini-sized games in the car. They make many small magnetic board games now but my favorites are the creative games such as, mini-magna doodle(one for each child please) and mini etch-a-sketch. There are also those water toys where you push a button and try to get various items trapped in or on various doohickeys. And most important.....BOOKS.

The best thing we ever bought for our children for this was their own walkmans, then they can all listen to their own stories/music at their own pace. Brilliant. For a long journey they get a fresh batch of story tapes that they haven't heard before

Nice idea. by the way botogol if you put anything in your homespace people will stop by to say hi.