It’s been almost a full year since we’ve had a good road trip and I’m getting a little stir-crazy. Spring Break is in a week and I’m thinking it’s time to load up the minivan, pick a direction, and get on outta here for a while (preferably somewhere warmer? With green growing things, perhaps? Ooooh — or a beach! Yes, a beach.)
Now. I found a lot of ideas and advice for hitting the road. Some are simple and some are so totally not. I’m not an involved-planning sort of person, but sometimes I simplify the complicated ideas for our family (a present for every hour on the road?? When we usually travel for 16 hours? No. But I do get a few new things and stagger giving them out along the way. See what I mean?) My hope is that this guide won’t stress you out with all the things you’re not doing, but will give you one or two new ideas to try. Happy trails, people!
ADVICE AND PLANNING:
–Road Trip Tricks & Tips — my best advice, personally tried and tested, for making road trips as smooth as possible.
–Baby’s First Road Trip — guidelines for taking your baby on the road for the first time
–Tips for Carsick Kids from A Mom With A Lesson Plan — I’m so thankful we haven’t had to deal with upset tummies much, but these tips are huge for kids (and adults) who do
–Books About Road Trips fron I Can Teach My Child — get excited ahead of time and read up on your adventure
–Road Trip Gift Basket from The Chaos and The Clutter — such a cool idea for a family traveling during the holidays
–25 Road Trip Hacks from Your Modern Family
–5 Road Trip Apps from Childhood 101 — #3 is priceless. You’re going to need it.
–Tips for Road Trips With Kids from What’s Up Fagans? — we do #2 at our house and the kids are usually pretty excited to get on their way!
-Best Road Trip Songs from 3 Boys and a Dog — the songs on this list are kid-appropriate but not necessarily “kids’ songs.” Hallelujah.
–Road Trip Playlist from The Pleasantest Thing — and this one is a playlist of kids’ songs, but sung by…you know…cool people who won’t drive you crazy
PRINTABLES:
–Road Trip Journal — we use these pages to keep track of our travels and record some memories.
–The License Plate Game from The Dating Divas — can you find all 50? Next time we go somewhere, I’m totally challenging my kids.
–Lines & Dots from Moms Minivan — a classic. I remember playing this with my brother, tooling along in our un-airconditioned Vanagon. Good times.
–Mad Libs for Kids from Classroom Jr — another can’t-miss game. Include the whole family and get ready to laugh (a word of advice, though — outlaw potty words ahead of time. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.)
–Printable Activity Pack from Playdough to Plato — Bingo, I Spy, story starters — tons of stuff in this pack!
–Road Trip Bingo from Housing a Forest — more fun bingo games
source: Picklebums
–Road Trip Drawing Prompts from Picklebums — get everyone’s creative juices flowing with these drawing pages (note: I’d bring colored pencils and a sharpener because crayons will get left on the seat and melt all over everything)
OTHER GAMES:
–Mess Free Road Trip Activities for Preschoolers from Kids Activities Blog
–Road Trip Activities for Kids Ages 2-8 from The Measured Mom
–Road Trip Printables and Car Games from Buggy and Buddy
SNACKS & MEALS:
Snacks are tricky. They need to be easy to hand out, relatively healthy, and mostly un-messy. Here are a few ideas.
–Road Trip Snack Ideas from Kids Activities Blog
source: Kid World Citizen
–Road Trip Meals and Snacks from Kid World Citizen — we try to avoid eating fast food more than once a day (and at all if we can). These are some great ideas for other meals to have.
–Family Road Trip Snack Suggestions from Childhood 101
–Easy-Pack Snack Ideas from Family Food and Travel
How about you? If you’ve got any great road trip hacks or advice, I’d love to hear it in the comments!
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Great tips, thanks for sharing at our share day!