Summertime is here and if you have a vacation road trip coming up where you plan on traveling with kids and are looking for ideas to keep entertained during the drive – here is a comprehensive list of ideas to to make travel with kids easier and keep whiny kids from asking “Are We There YET??” the entire trip.
What Do You Need When Traveling With Kids?
Plan ahead with some of these ideas and travel tips to make the car ride more bearable while traveling with a kid!
- Get an audio book the whole family will enjoy. We are going to try The Ultimate Road Trip: Family Vacation Collection (Adventures in Odyssey). This is over 6 hours of audio entertainment. 🙂 Adventures in Odyssey also has an App where you can subscribe and get unlimited audio stories for your kids to enjoy!
2. Get a DVD that is educational or that related to your trip. Since part of our trip will be visiting Chincoteague Island off of the coast of Maryland, I ordered the Misty DVD for the girls to watch in the car. We are currently reading the paperback version Misty of Chincoteague as a family at meal time before we leave for our trip.
3. Bring along your favorite kid friendly electronic devices. I’m going to find a few new kids apps to add to our Samsung tablet. I’m also packing my kids favorite LeapFrog toys like our Tag Reader, Tag Headphones, Tag Reader Books, and LeapFrog Leapster Explorer Learning Game System. In fact, my oldest is getting LeapFrog Disney Doc McStuffins Learning Game for her birthday next week – perfect timing for an upcoming road trip.
4. Travel Scavenger Hunt Card Game
- The Travel Scavenger Hunt for Kids from University Games is great fun on a car trip
- Kids love whiling away the miles searching for the objects found on the cards
- Can you find a red car, a license plate with the letter ”Z,” or a stop sign?
- Includes 54 scavenger hunt cards for 2 or more players, ages 7 and up
- University Games offers you and your family creative games that are easy to learn and fun to play
5. 6-In-1 Travel Magnetic Games
Pressman 6-in-1 Travel Magnetic Games allows you to turn the knobs to scroll through six different games in one convenient package! Absolutely perfect for traveling. This set includes everything you need to play Checkers, Chess, Backgammon, Parcheesi, Chinese Checkers, and Snakes and Ladders.
- All 6 games are conveniently contained in 1 package
- Simply turn the knobs to view the different games
- Pieces are magnetic, so they can attach to the board
- Great for travel
- For 2-4 players, ages 7 and up
6. The Kid’s Awesome Activity Book is a parent’s best friend, guaranteed to entertain your backseat travelers during those endless summer road trips. Readers can create their own comic strips, write a hit song for the hedgehog hoedown, decode pirate word scrambles, and help a little leprechaun find his pot of gold. All they need is a pencil and their imagination!
7. Pillow Pets – every kid needs a pillow to snuggle with while on a long road trip! It may as well be a Pillow Pet where this stuffed animal doubles as a pillow!
Pillow Pets are anything but just another stuffed animal. Extremely versatile, these unique creations have a strap that closes underneath to transform them into friendly pets. Simply open the strap and the pet becomes a pillow! In addition, the Americana Pillow Pet coordinates perfectly with the highly popular red, white and blue stars and stripes bedding and bedroom décor.
8. Bring a porta potty for your car! I’m also bringing our porta potty since my 3-year-old is still in potty training stage. I’d much rather have this in our car, rather than have to stop in an icky gas station bathroom.
Don’t forget to bring your own TP – try Charmin Essentials Soft – perfect softness for younger bums. 🙂 You can get 36 giant rolls for $16.99 right now on Amazon. That’s just $0.47 per roll!!
9. I love this idea from Neat Nest Organizing to use sticky notes to put on the radio. Whenever this time comes about, the kids get to choose a new dollar store toy to keep them buys.
10. If you don’t want to spend money at the drive through – or you want to be sure to have healthy snacks – then check out these 6 Healthy Travel Snacks for Kids – from The Busy Baker.
- If you don’t have time for your own homemade healthy snacks – then check out this list of awesome store-bought healthy snacks:
- If you are looking for a healthy beverage – you should try Drazil Kids Tea! Drazil Kids Tea is a juice box drink, made with all-natural fruit juice and blended with naturally caffeine-free herbal tea.
Flavors include Punch Passion, Grape Bliss, Tropical Burst and Yummy Berry. My 7-year-old raves about this stuff!!!!! Perfect for a drink on the go! - We are also a fan of Barbara’s Cheese Puffs – they taste like real cheese and not fake orange yucky cheese powder like the “normal” cheese puffs!
- You can’t go wrong with Good Health Snacks – with their sweet potato kettle style chips being my personal favorite! They offer a variety of kid-friendly travel snacks in single-serving bags that are all perfect for traveling!!
Yum-A-Roos: are freeze-dried fruit and veggie snacks. They come in four flavor profiles (all pure fruits & vegetables). They are easily dissolvable bite-sized pieces that are non-GMO, certified organic & kosher & gluten, dairy, soy, egg-free. No added sugars, preservatives or artificial flavorings. When I offered a bag of the banana, mango and pineapple flavor, she ate the whole bag in one sitting! 🙂
Bare Snacks are a line of snacks that are made from freshly picked whole fruit that’s simply baked, never fried, with nothing artificial and no preservatives. These snacks are made with real fruit and no added sugar, which will help keep the energy levels at an appropriate level on long car trips or flights. Flavors and varieties include bare Apple Chips (my personal favorite), bare Coconut Chips and bare Banana Chips.
Mamee Stacked Crisps are gluten-free and GMO-free potato crisps stacked in canisters to create a perfect crunch every time, all while fitting snuggly in bags for boarding or hiking or nestled in vehicle cup-holders and seatback pockets. A can of these is a must for a long road trip with the family! 😉
Slammers Snack: Tasty, superfood Greek yogurt snacks designed to fuel kids with organic fruits and vegetables. These snacks are a portable, healthy alternative to candy, and can be enjoyed frozen, cold, or at room temperature. Great for those all-day adventures, but even better because there are no crumbs!
Rule Breaker Snacks – All Rule Breaker Snacks products harness the power of beans along with other wholesome ingredients to create truly delicious, indulgent and guilt-free goodies. Chickpeas (garbanzo beans) are the first ingredient in all flavors. Perfect for anyone looking for a treat they feel better about eating and giving to their kids, all Rule Breaker snacks are packed with protein and fiber, are lower in sugar and have under 250 calories each. They are also gluten-free, kosher, vegan, nut-free, non-GMO, and free from the top eight allergens.
DO NOT let the first ingredient of Chickpeas turn you off. These taste amazing and my daughter agreed with me that they are softer and taste better than your average cookie/brownie. I’d totally replace these 100% with any gluten-filled cookie or brownie any day! You can order them on Amazon!
PRIMAL PROTEIN BARS – coconut & cacao – box of 12.
- grass-fed & pasture raised beef protein
- non-GMO cage-free egg white protein
- healthy fats from almonds & cashews
- rich in non-GMO prebiotic fiber
- no dairy or whey or soy
- premium ingredients
- minimal processing
- totally delicious
- gluten free
10. Here is another great idea when it comes to travel snacks – the Travel Size Snack Boxes– from Become a Coupon Queen
My husband needs one of these too 🙂 I’ll fill it with New Zealand Jerky pieces, Jalapeno flavored Barbara’s Cheese Puffs and Smokin’ Jalepeno White Chedder Popcorners! He’s seriously hooked on all three and it’s on the grocery list to stock up on these before the trip.
Is Traveling Good For Kids?
Absolutely! Any time the family is bonding and enjoying new adventures, it is great for kids! Yes long car rides while traveling with kids can be a challenge, you can make it easier! Continue reading the rest of the ideas created by other moms of genious travel hacks for kids that will make your next road trip vacation memorable and fun!
11. I love the free printable that comes with the Just In Case Car Kit Free Printable – from Mom Explores!
12. Here is a frugal way to keep the kids occupied on a long road trip: Busy Binder with Printable Road Trip Games – from Cutesy Crafts.
13. Don’t want to hear “Are we there yet??????” a thousand times on your trip? Then try these Are We There Yet Bags – from Frugal Living NW.
12. Here are some more Kids Activities for Long Trips – from My Joy Filled Life.
13. Here is a fun game for the whole family – Road Trip Spy – from The Typical Mom.
14. Here are more ideas for Road Trip Busy Bags – from The Typical Mom.
15. This is so smart – the Solution to Common Travel Problem- “Are We There Yet?” – from Mission To Save
16. I just love this post on 10 Car Hacks Every Mom Needs to Know!
Now I want to hear from you! What tips can you share with us on how you survive long road trips with young kids???
Looking for ways to keep kids busy on a rainy day? Check out 15+ Fun Indoor Activities for Kids That are Screen Free and Frugal!
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