Most people cringe when they think of taking a road trip with kids, but have to say that I kind of look forward to it. I am not talking about the 1-3 hour trips, I am talking about the long "Are we there yet" drives from 5 hours to days. To find the source of this odd desire you have to travel way back in the day (I mean way back as I am starting to get grey hair) to when my parents took us on road trips. They were amazing at this feat! Riding in the car to the place of destination was almost as fun and sometimes more memorable then the actual destination. That is not to say we didn't have difficult times, but in general they were great memories. You have only to watch our family videos for proof.
Anyway I believe there are many keys to success in road trips with kids. In hopes of helping families everywhere who are hesistant to go on a road trip I will list a couple of the things I have learned. I also got a little creative and did a few projects I will show below.
1) Have plenty of snacks & treats. This is important. Everyone gets irritable when they get hungary. The key here is the right kind of snacks. I like to pre cut some sandwich turkey and cheese into slices that fit perfectly on crackers for cracker sandwiches. The protein helps you feel full longer and you don't get the sugar rush. Other healthy things I also pack along are washed and pulled grapes, the pre sliced apples you get at the store in a bag, granola bars, teddy grahms, dried fruit, nuts, and pretzels. The other treats have minimal mess (no chocolate), but a great for a quick fix. I bring things like starbursts, licorice, rice krispy treats, life saver's, and something special like Peachie o's, or gummy bears. I really try and save the treats for the later part of the drive or after everything else doesn't work. Kids, candy, and the car don't always mix well!
2) Save the electronics for the way home or the later part of the drive. They are great for a little while but kids do get bored of them eventually. You want them to be available in the clutch moment.
3) have lots of non-electronic things to do. I will usually buy one new magic marker kit for each kid for the trip and bring it out on the way home. I also printed off and laminated a lot of mazes, crossword puzzles, word searches, connect the dots, and other games and activities. I found washable dry erase markers that worked on the laminate. They also had a lot of coloring pages of their favorite TV characters I printed from the internet. This is where my first project comes in. I wanted a lap table for the kids to color on but everything on the internet was ~20 which is a lot X3. I went a little crazy and came up with my own and they worked GREAT! Even better then I had hoped. I just bought some metal cookie sheets (don't get teflon coated) and glued some fleece fabric on the back side with my hot glue gun. This was the end result.
The best part was since they were metal I could use magnetic stuff on them. I printed off some of their favorite TV characters from the internet, laminated them, and stuck a magnet on the back and the kids played with them for quite a while! The edges on the cookie sheets helped keep their papers and markers in. I also glued magnets to the bottom of water cups and snack cups so they would stay put on the sheet and they did! As you can see in the picture we also bought some cheep reading lights from walmart so they could color when it got dark without bothering the driver. They did this for hours!
3)Bring games to do as a family. We like playing go fish, old maid, and uno. I also found some fun car bingo cards on the internet where they had to look for things out side and mark it on their card. It ended up being a family effort to fill it. I also found a printable license plate game you could mark off.
4) If you have a portable DVD player bring it. Bring several DVD's from home but also stop at Redbox's along the way and rent some new ones.
5) Rent, buy, or borrow some new books for the ride. Amazingly kids listen to them or read them much better in the car. They seem to have a better attention span! My parents did a lot of books on tape and they really helped pass the time quickly. We also read many classics in the car like the Wizard of Oz and the Hobbit.
6) Bring a blanket and pillow for each child. If possible bring a childs' neck pillow. The ones that are C-shaped. Also bring comfortable clothes and a couple of their favorite toys. I will usually bring a small new toy for each child. I also bring a couple of random things like glow sticks, punch balloons, and light up toys.
7) bring water but only in very slow sippy cups. You want those kids to work for a drink. I usually keep all water bottles up front with me.
8) Stop for lunch at a park where the kids can run, or a resturant with a play place. An extra 15 minutes of play time is totally worth it. When you do stop for a potty break make sure EVERYONE gets out and at least tries to use the potty.
9) Try to keep the car as tidy as possible. This will help everyone feel more calm, especially mom. I usually clean out the car really well before we go on a trip so it starts clean. I also came up with a few ideas to help keep the garbage to a minimum.
First I made a garbage sack for each child that hangs off the head rest or stability bar on the seat in front of them. In this picture it is the blue bag below his tray. I just sewed a simple bag the size of a gallon zip lock bag. I then added a couple of velcro straps to the back and there you have it...the car garbage sack. You put the gallon bag inside and just pull it out and dump it when it is full! (Sorry it is not a better picture)
This is my favorite idea I came up with. I absolutely HATE having all the markers, crayons, and other stuff running around loose on the seats and floor. They always get lost or broken. I went to the store and found these shower cubbies with suction cups and they were AWESOME for keeping everything contained. I got these at Walmart as well. By the end of the trip they were filled to the brim but they hung on and there was nothing on the floor. The kids loved having their own place to put things so they did a great job of keeping them filled.
10) Relax and enjoy. Everyone is under stress including the kids. I really don't think car seats and boosters are all that comfortable so try to be understanding when they complain a bit after sitting for a long time. Remember the drive is part of the vacation so use the time to connect with your kids. If you can go sit with them, they will love it!
Special considerations for toddlers: They are a bit of a special bunch when it comes to car rides and can be a lot more demanding. I brought a lot of those "baby food in a bag" things and that helped prolong the time between meals. I also brought a giant bag of his favorite toys and even bought a few new ones that had flashing lights. They will need to get out of the car more often then older kids though.
