Travel Products to Keep Kids Entertained Series: Audio & Visual Entertainment Products

Tropical Family Travel continues its series on tips and product reviews on keeping kids entertained when traveling via car and air. I am continually amazed how young companies target kids with technology-based products and more surprised on how quickly kids’ adopt and learn how to use these items.

Some of these entertainment-focused products have been put to the test by toddlers to teens and these audio and visual items are sure to help the time pass during travels and result in an enjoyable trip.

Personally, reading is one of my favorite travel activities and the traditional paper books work to keep our little one entertained, so when learning about Playaway audiobooks I was curious. These products are designed for on the go families and proved to capture interest and attention on a long car ride. Playaway audiobooks offer more than 100 children’s titles, including Alice in Wonderland, Charlotte’s Web and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There are also classic nursery rhymes and fairy tales available for younger kids.

I am impressed by the title variety, yet the one improvement I would recommend is that the stories should be told by different voices to keep the kids’ attention. One of the features that I appreciate is the pause function…kids can return to the story where they left off automatically.

Each Playaway audiobook comes self-packaged, pre-loaded and with the required earbuds. This product even comes with a battery! This product reminds me of the Leapfrog books where you insert the different stories, only this is only one piece and much more compact and easier for traveling. It is about the size of a playing card, so perfect for the kids’ backpack or your purse. Prices start at $29.99, which I do believe is a little high though for kids, and select titles are available at Borders, Barnes & Noble, Brookstone & Hudson Books. The entire collection is online at www.PlayawayDigital.com.

Now, for parents concerned about damaging their kids’ ears, there is a product that can be used on the above recommended product or any other items where ear buds are required including iPods, MP3 and DVD players. Ultimate Ears has released volume-limiting earphones for kids titled LoudEnough. The technology which controls the volume is built right into the ear buds and are available in bright, fun colors. LoudEnough provides some piece of mind, but is most appropriate for older children due to the size of the ear bud. When we tried this product, they did not stay in place in our 3-year-old’s ears and I was hesitant to push them down too far. LoudEnough retails for $39.99 and is available at www.LoudEnough.com.

On the gaming product side to help keep kids busy during long car trips and flights are some travel-size products. In fact, according to a survey from national video game retailer Game Crazy, 96 percent of kids are bringing their handheld player or video game console along for the ride. The Game Crazy/Weekly Reader Research Summer Travel Survey reveals that eight in 10 children need at least one video game with them on vacation. Reasons for taking a game on vacation vary, but more than three-quarters say the main reason is to provide a break from other siblings, make the trip easier and serve as an escape from parents. As for parents, 82 percent indicate that video games help make family trips easier and more enjoyable and more than 33 percent of parents are worried kids will get bored if they don’t bring enough game options.

However, there are some game products for a variety of kids’ ages and even the parents can take part in the fun. Franklin Electronic Publishers offers some game products are easy to use, compact in size and provide an educational component compared to just another video game. A few of the available products include the Speaking Spelling Bee, complete with a 7,000 word spelling bee list and multi-level difficulty settings; Sudoku (a personal favorite), containing millions of computer generated puzzles handcrafted by Nikoli and with different skill levels; and the Crossword Puzzle Dictionary, ensuring success in solving puzzles.

For those taking a computer on the trip, depending on your battery life, additional creativity can be sparked by installing Creativity Express, from Madcap Logic, onto the laptop. This product, developed by former Disney animators, is interactive and best for kids 7+. To learn more, visit www.madcaplogic.com.

One electronic item to not leave home without for long car trips is the XpressRC from XM Satellite Radio. To this day, I’m thankful for GM installing the trial version on one of our vehicles as we have been hooked ever since! But, for those who do not have already installed, this product is great as it is portable, easy to hook up and travels well. XM offers more than 170 channels (including some kids only programming) so instant entertainment for the entire family.

Among other new features, the XpressRC includes a customizable, color display that allows XM listeners to view the content they want, including channel, artist name and song title. This was more impressive for my husband than me, but I did appreciate that the split-screen lets listeners to easily browse to discover what is playing on multiple channels without having to change the dial. Another function that comes in handy is the ability to save up to 10 favorite songs for the encores requested by kids! Visit: www.xmradio.com/xpressrc.

Integrating all of these travel products into family vacations almost makes the travel experience a destination in itself! Stay tuned for Tropical Family Travel’s ongoing series of products that keep kids entertained during travels. On deck include some book and non-electronic toys and games, which proved to come in handy during our recent 10 hour car journey!

Travel Products to Keep Kids Entertained Series: Music Inspires & Entertains

Continuing Tropical Family Travel’s series reviewing products that keep our children entertained during travel time and even inspire interaction, we have tested some audio products that are certain to keep your little one occupied and even provide cultural inspiration.

In the last article, we encouraged a DVD as a must-have travel product. To accompany a portable DVD player, one "must-have" travel accessory is a collection of kid-friendly music options. Using the DVD as a CD player allows parents to listen to their preferred choice of music while kids listen to their favorites, although admittedly there are some fun music choices that the entire family can listen to and result in a family sing-along!

One of our favorite CDs we listened to is “Let’s Go! Travel, Camp, and Car Songs by Susie Tallman and friends. Produced by Rock Me Baby Records, this iParenting Media award-winning CD has 26 songs which if played continuously lasts about an hour. These songs bring back childhood memories of road trips and camping outings. A couple of favorites on the “Let’s Go!” CD include “Polly Wolly Doodle”; “Going on a Bear Hunt”; and “Ain’t Gonna Rain No More”. Retails for $13.99 at www.rockmebabyrecords.com.

Another set of CDs our toddler loved listening to (and car dancing to) is KOCH Records re-releases of two Sesame Street music collections, “Hot! Hot! Hot! Dance Songs” and “The Best of Elmo!”. Needless to say, it would not matter what Elmo sang, our 3-year-old loved both CDs. However, “Hot, Hot, Hot”; “The Lambaba!”; “Happy Tappin’ with Elmo”; and “Sing” were a few favorites. The Sesame Street CDs retail for $11.98 each and are available at major retailers including Wal-Mart, Amazon and Itunes.

Our little one also likes the Wiggles and she was entertained by the Wiggles new dance-inspired CD released this summer by KOCH Records titled “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing”. There are 19 songs and some of our toddlers (and ours) favorites are the Caribbean classic “Day-O (aka The Banana Boat song); “The Shimmie Shake!” and “La Bamba”. This toe-tapping CD retails for $11.98 and is available at major national retailers including Target, Walmart, Amazon and Itunes.


Let’s just say that “drama” runs in the family, so I was excited to see how our toddler would react to the newly re-released CDs from The Broadway Kids by KOCH Records including “The Broadway Kids Sing America” and “Back on Broadway”. These CDs did not keep our toddler’s attention as long as the others, but she did love the songs she recognized from popular Disney movies including "I Just Can’t Wait to be King" and “Beauty and the Beast”. I am excited though to build her repertoire! On the America-inspired CD, she liked “This Land is Your Land” and “New York, New York”. Retails for $9.98.

From an organizational stand point, consider purchasing a CD wallet, such as Atlantic Metro Series, which holds 32 CDs and DVDs. This is a small square size and under $10 at Walmart.com. This size is easy to store in the car or take with you in your purse or carry-on bag and it ensures you take your child’s favorite songs and movies. TIP: Be sure you know how many entertainment products you take with you so you are sure to not leave any behind.

Other products that can be educational and entertaining for kids are books and games. Next, Tropical Family Travel will take a look at some products to consider taking on your next trip, or in some cases some items you might want to use before you go!

--Jenn Thomas

Travel Products to Keep Kids Entertained Series: Portable DVD is a Must-Have

August kicks off a series of travel products that help keep our children occupied and entertained during car and air travels. From books to toys, to healthy snacks to music, and from electronic gadgets/equipment to innovative accessories, your travel time is sure to be easier with the use of these products. Now, with increased imposed baggage fees, we have to be more careful on what we pack and this series will focus on realistic products that will not weigh us down.

Today, Tropical Family Travel takes a look at some audio and video items. As our child was not always a good car traveler and with having to sit around in airports for up to two hours before take off, we discovered the necessity and benefits of a portable DVD player very quickly. We have already been through one, which was a Sony brand, and it definitely was put through the ringer, and alas it gave up. So, it’s a good thing that these products are typically priced under $150.

For this series, we tested Coby Electronic’s 7” Widescreen Portable DVD 7377 player, which is very compact and lightweight. Coby’s product features a 180 degree swivel screen, which allows different viewing perspectives. From an auto perspective this makes the unit very compact. The one oddity for us for car use only was the way it folds because it does not allow for insertion and removal of DVDs and CDs without actually taking the unit out of the seat pouch, which is not convenient if you are the one driving. However, with the remote control, which can be operated from the front seat, it is easier than other units to fast forward to the scene or ensure if the movie does not automatically kick in and a menu screen appears, with a simple click of the remote, the movie begins.

A favorite part of the Coby product is the seat holder as it is very secure and keeps the product in place…the last one we had the DVD player was constantly hanging down and it never stayed in place. The battery pack on the Coby lasted much longer than our past Sony player too, which ensured that we did not have an in-flight disappointment as has happened to us before. Since the Coby DVD player also plays CDs, this came in handy to allow for some variation and not have video overload during our travels. Coby’s DVD player is also very easy to install and to remove for different purposes during your travels.

The Coby portable DVD player retails for under $120 at Wal-Mart or for right at $100 at Amazon.com.

To accompany a portable DVD player, two must-have travel accessories are a collection of movies and music options. Stay tuned for Tropical Family Travel’s kid travel product series and with our next review of different audio/video entertainment offerings.

--Jenn Thomas

Photo Credit: Coby Electronics