The Wheels on the Bus Sing-Along Review

Going on a family vacation this summer? Dreading the long car rides? Hmm, me too. Luckily, I got this really cool activity set by Scholastic to try out. The Wheels on the Bus Sing-Along Travel Kit not only has some great items that will come in handy when you’re on the road.

Miss A wanted to open it and play right away, but I made her save it for a trip, I know mean mommy! The kit is pretty cool, it comes in a big box with a velcro closure and a plastic handle, Miss A loved carrying it all around the house and to the “car”. Two DVDs are included in their own DVD boxes, There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly and The Wheels on the Bus. A The Wheels on the Bus CD, a Sing-Along Travel Kit Activity Booklet, and a 4 pack of crayons.

I like that the DVDs are a good amount of time, each about 65 minutes plus extras, although I haven’t quite figured out how to play anything but the main movie in our van. The movies feature several stories like, Frog Went A-Courtin’, Giraffes Can’t Dance, Bugs! Bugs! Bugs, and of course their title videos, There Was an Old Lady who Swallowed a Fly and The Wheels on the Bus.As you’re listening from the front seat or watching from the back, with your children you may recognize the voices of Cyndi Lauper, Billy Dee Williams, Rob Reiner and more.  I think Miss A was pretty entertained by the DVDs because they were new stories to her and we also watch a lot of different types of programming so the animation was not something that bothered her. If you have a child however, that only watches the latest cartoons with the best graffics they may complain a little about these discs being a little antiquated. Scholastic suggests this set for ages 2-8.

Since I had Baby C I haven’t been in the car by myself and 99 percent of the time I listen to children’s music or DVDs playing, so I actually liked the CD that came with The Wheels on the Bus Sing-Along Travel Kit. My two favorite songs are, He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands and The Erie Canal. Don’t ask me why I like The Erie Canal, I just do, and this version is a fun upbeat version that A and I danced to around the house, so I know you’ll be bopping in your cars too when this one comes on. Don’t worry about holding it in, have some fun, when you have 8 more hours of driving it’s totally worth being a little silly!

The Activity Booklet has a great front page section with Tips for Traveling with Kids. One tip that I really like is, “Bring a backpack of activities for each child and give out the activities one-by-one so they have something “new” every 30-45 minutes.” Now of course I’d probably change that up to 20-30 minutes for smaller children, and well, Baby C really can’t participate in that activity, but it’s a great idea.

Personally, I think the Activity Booklet is my favorite in the entire kit. It has some fun, “Color Me,” pages, and activities that go along with the CD and DVDs like, “See if you can remember the worlds to the song There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly and then circle the pictures of the animals the old lady swallows.” It’s also pretty educational asking your child to pick out colors, match shapes, write numbers, connect the dots. While I love this book I think it may work best for children 3 and up, unless you really don’t care about the activities and just want something to keep the kids busy. Also a great idea for 2 or more siblings so they can help each other and work together on the pages.

Overall we loved this kit and will be using it for more trips to come, but for our own family we’ll probably try to reserve it only for trips so Miss A doesn’t get tired of it like she does with most of her videos. Way to go Scholastic, great pairing of DVDs, CDs, and who could forget, my favorite Activity Booklet. No favoritism here

I found the The Wheels on the Bus Sing-Along Travel Kit at Amazon for about $22 brand new, not bad for everything that it has in it.

What tips or tricks do you have for making a long car ride bearable?