If you have young kids, you know the importance of finding ways to keep them entertained on long car rides. There is nothing worse than a bored kid in a car!
Our kids are pretty used to long car rides. Before our current trip across the country, they have taken road trips from Maine to Florida, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C., as well as shorter trips around Maine and New England.
Are you considering a road trip with your kids? Here are the top 3 tricks that have worked for us, as well as sample lists of what toys and snacks we keep in the car!
Tip #1:
Have new activities waiting in the car
For particularly long driving days, it is a HUGE help to have new-to-them activities waiting to surprise the kids in the car!
These activities don't have to be big or expensive. It just has to be something your kid hasn't played with before or hasn't played with in a long time.
For example, when we were getting ready to drive from Maine to Florida this time, Brady had a new kit of scented Color Wonder markers and paper waiting for him, and Lauren had an Invisible Marker workbook.
These were art supplies that only cost us a few dollars, but gave the kids several hours' worth of enjoyment (and thus gave us several hours' worth of quiet driving time!).
It also makes the kids feel like they're getting a present at the beginning of the trip, so it makes them happy and associate the trip with getting new toys!
Tip #2:
Keep a bin of toys in the backseat where the kids can reach them
For this trip, we put a medium-sized fabric storage bin in the backseat between the kids' car seats. It has (almost all) of their toys in it, so whenever the kids want a new toy, they simply find it in the bin.
So, what do our kids usually have in the car on travel days?
Portable DVD player with DVDs
(Pro-tip: If you're RVing, consider changing out the DVDs every few travel days, so that . the kids always have new and different DVDs to watch in the car.)
iPads
Headphones
Color Wonder paper and markers
Barbies with accessories
Rainbow loom with rubber bands
Small handheld video game console
Several bop its (Brady is obsessed with bop it)
Books
Road trip bingo game cards
Various card games (Road Trip Game, Conversation Starters with Kids, and Would You Rather are all popular with our family)
Electronic handheld Math Whiz game
Toy moon that changes colors with a remote control
Toy phone and tablets
Polly Pockets
Mini Simon Says electronic game
Fidgets
Tic Tac Toe game
To be honest, it's amazing what these bins are capable of holding!
Picture of the kids' car bin with all of their car toys inside of it.
Picture of all of the kids' toys from their bin.
Tip #3:
Keep a "secret" supply of snacks in the front seat that the kids can't reach
The center console of our truck has a huge storage space, which has now become our "pantry" on travel days. The exact snacks we have changes with each trip, but there's always a wide array of food.
We leave the food in the car in between trips. This makes our travel days easier (because we don't have to worry about packing snacks) and also means that we always have food in the car in case we get extra hungry after a day of exploring. (No one like a Hangry Mom after a long day of hiking!)
Because the food stays in the car, we always make sure that the snacks are non-perishable and will last in the car (and possibly heat) for several days or weeks.
A sample inventory might include:
Applesauce pouches
Nutella & Go containers
Fruit snacks
Granola bars
Protein bars
Freeze dried fruit (strawberries, apples, etc)
Cereal bars
Pop-tarts
Brownies
Candy (small chocolates, lollipops, etc)
For long trips, we also bring small bottles of water or Gatorade. We also keep flavored water packets in the "pantry", in case anyone wants flavored water.
We tell the kids when there are new snacks in the "pantry", but often won't tell them exactly what the snacks are. This keeps the kids excited and on their best behavior, knowing that there are new and yummy snacks for them later on in the trip! It also gives them something to look forward to on the long drive!
So, tell us--if you've ever taken your kids on a long road trip, are we missing any must-have activities or snacks!?
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