Car games
I'm looking for ideas for keeping a child entertained for a long series of car rides. I'm looking for a mix of stuff he can do by himself and interactive stuff with his parents. We'll have access to a laptop and maybe an iPod Touch, so things for those that don't require net access would be OK, but I'm looking for non-digital stuff as well.
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Miniature magnetic board game versions are great for the car, if one of the adults is within reach to play. Something like Othello, backgammon, or chess can be entertaining for hours with the right players. Maybe make a tournament out of it to keep things interesting.
Some card games can be well adapted to the car - usually the simpler games like "go fish" which don't require an extensive layout. Uno is also good.
I spent hours reading in the car - I was lucky and had no issues with car sickness. By his age I was heavily into things like Nancy Drew so I was entertained for hours that way.
We had big coloring/activity type books. Again, it does depend on one's tolerance for reading in the car. I particularly enjoyed word searches, but with his proclivity for math, perhaps a book of Sudoku puzzles? Or some crosswords where the whole family can work on the hints? (I dislike doing crosswords myself - I suck at them).
Using street signs to find all the letters in the alphabet, in order, was always a challenge. We frequently got stuck on "J" for extended periods of time unless a highway intersection was labeled "Jct". Using license plates instead can sometimes make the game less frustrating/shorter. Finding license plates from as many states as possible is also engaging - color in a map state by state to make keeping track easier. Just don't try to go alphabetically. ;)
Eventually we gained access to walkmans (for cassette tapes... we're so old) but I used that mainly for my French homework when I did a class during the summer. Audio books could be a good option if that's adequately distracting for him.
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