The ultimate guide to road-tripping with kids

Everyone loves a family vacation or taking the kids to visit extended family. However, road-tripping with kids can cause anxiety, stress and overall be daunting. We’ve created a guide for how to get the best out of your road trip and how to keep your kids entertained. 

Must dos before you hit the road 

First and foremost, find a pre-road trip routine that works best for your kids. These are our examples, but every child is going to be different. Tweak this and try different things so you are catering to your child’s needs. 

Have them help pack their own bags. Including your kids in the process of preparing for a road trip can help them to understand they are going somewhere and will be gone for a few days. You can turn this into a counting game based on the number of days you will be gone with their clothes. On top of packing their own bags, let them be a part of packing the car. Have them roll their own suitcases out to the car. You can also have them help build an activity bag with things like coloring books, toys and different car activity books to keep them entertained. For your readers, include books; and if you have a DVD player in your car have them pack their favorite movies as well. 

Tire them out before the car ride. Spend the morning before a road trip at the park or at school to encourage your kids to be active and get their energy out before being stuck in a car the rest of the day.  

During travel tips and tricks  

It can be hard to keep your kids entertained while physically in a car for hours. Energy can build up and there is no way to get it out! We have a few tips and tricks along with a list of our favorite mess free toys/activities to bring along.  

Keep them on their schedule. If you have little ones, try to keep the nap time schedule as much as possible. We recommend pulling up shades on windows if your car has them, switching music out for a sound machine and trying to recreate the feel of their room as much as possible.  

Get out of the car any time you stop for food or gas. Give your kids the chance to stretch and get some energy out whenever you stop.  

Cheap new toys. Go through the Target dollar section or any store with a section of cheaper toys and pick out a few your kids can play with during the trip. A new toy will keep them entertained and give them a feeling of excitement when they could be crabby about being stuck in a car.  

Activity bag. Have a bag for each kid they get to keep by them during the trip that is full of different activities for them to do. That new toy can be put in here along with any smaller snacks they may ask for. You can keep books along with any of our favorite mess-free toys/activities in this.  

Mess free toys/activities 

• LCD Doodle Board. 
• Color Wonder or Water Wow coloring books. 
• Stuffed animal with buckles or zippers. 
• Blown up balloon to pass around the car. 
• I Spy.  

How to handle “are we there yet?” 

“Are we there yet?” is the most infamous road trip question - and the most dreaded. It can be hard to know how to answer, especially if it keeps getting asked repeatedly and the same answer isn’t cutting it anymore. Our best piece of advice for this question is to turn it into a counting game. You can respond to the question with, “We actually aren’t there yet… But let’s see how many red trucks we see until we get there!” Along with any game of I Spy, this will capture and divert your child(ren)’s attention.  

Overall, the biggest piece of advice is to be flexible. Schedules are going to be thrown off. Kids could either not nap or not nap as long as you thought they would. If you’re a family that is not big on screens – in certain situations they can be extremely beneficial, and long car rides can be one of them! Try to enjoy the journey as much as the destination and if screens are going to keep your family sane, it’s OK to use them!