Taking a family road trip can sometimes be the most affordable way to travel with your children. But traveling with little ones can be a true test of one’s patience, so here are some little tips that will go a long way in helping you cope with the journey.
Make a Map
Before you set out on your trip, make a map of your journey. Mark places of interest and places you will stop, so your kids can follow their route and look out for different things along the way.
Get a Car Entertainment Bag
Fill it with small toys and activities like stickers, trinkets, craft supplies, action figures, cards games, and puzzle books. Wrap each item individually so kids have fun opening them at each stage of your journey.
Download Some Audio Books
Audio books are very useful for keeping kids quiet on a road trip, especially if you’re the only adult in the car. With a monthly subscription to Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited, you can borrow up to ten books at a time for no extra charge and they have a great collection of print and audio books.
Let Them Color
If you are traveling with young children, this coloring book app can go a long way to helping them pass the time. This app has over 100 images of people, places, animals, flowers, birds, and geometrical patterns to color. There are more than 25 pallets with plenty of colors to choose from. Kids can color with the touch of a finger. When the picture is complete they can add effects and share the images with friends and family.
Make a Felt Activity Board
These are plain boards covered with flannel. Because flannel is rough, soft materials such as felt will stick to them. Once you have your board, you can cut out all different shapes in colored felt so that your child can make different scenarios with them. You can even have several flannel boards depicting different background scenes to inspire your child’s creativity.
Make an I-Spy Mission
Kids love looking for things out of the window while traveling so print them an I-spy sheet such as this Restaurant I-spy game and let them search for places. Alternatively, you can make your own I-spy list with stickers so that they can cross off each thing when they see it.
Play The License Plate Game
For slightly older children you can print a map of the US and kids can have fun coloring in each state as they see a license plate from that state. You can keep it in the car for each time you travel so kids can see how long it takes to fill in every state.
If the trip is very long and you are going to be traveling through the night, give your kids, glow sticks, glow bracelets or glow necklaces and let you kids wear their own personal night light. Keep everyone safe and happy so that you’ll arrive at your destination ready for a great vacation.