I started to call this list "The Ultimate Stress-Free Traveling (With Kids) Guide."
But, I'm a mom of three and the words 'stress-free and kids', don't exactly go together. Especially when you're traveling.
Know what I mean?
We have a couple of small trips planned and so I created this list out of necessity. Because frankly, driving 250 miles to Family Camp, isn't exactly relaxing with a screaming toddler.
Here's a list of some ideas for your next road trip. Maybe one of these or 23 of them will help!
Most of these are items to be taken on a road trip, although many will work for flying too.
- Audio books (my library checks them out) or you can download them here
- Ice chest w/drinks
- DVD player, preferably with movies that haven't been seen
- We've been driving our smaller less gas-consuming car that doesn't have a built-in TV. So, we strap our laptop on an ice chest with a bungee, so the kids can watch a movie. (Yeah, we are THAT family).
- Bag or backpack with coloring books and small toys for each child.
- This site says pack a plastic box for kids personal things and then use the lid as a tray to eat on.
- Lap Desk for writing and drawing
- Headphones for MP3 players and/or DVD player
- Kid's camera
- Sketch pad/pencil
- Extra change of clothes, separate from luggage. Because if it can happen, it probably will.
- If you're traveling with a toddler, leave when they are tired. If you leave first thing in the morning, this is their active time and they don't make the best travelers
- A package of pipe cleaners (to bend, twist and create)
- Pack paper towels, wipes, and a couple of blankets. Remember, we're talking kids.
- Buy $5 Tape Recorder and 'Read' stories to your kids in your own voice
- Put a trash box in the back seat
- Travel Journal
- Sing silly road trip songs
- Travel games from the store (Target has some great ones in the stationary section that are cheap and magnetic!)
- Travel freebies-links to free stuff for traveling
- Play the I spy game with license plates
- Wipe-off white board/marker
- Magnetic sets (paper dolls, fire trucks, found in book sections)
- Snack bag filled with pre-portioned zip-lock bags of non-messy foods
- Kid's music
- Tin foil for creations
- Play Go Fish
- Make string figures
- Check out these awesome games (like Noah's Ark, Build a Story and Fooler, Fooler) to play in the car!
- Kids pillow and blanket
- Treasure Jar
- Rest Stop Box-stock with jump rope, frisbee, inflatable beach ball and Nerf ball, according to July's issue of Parents Magazine.
- They also encourage travelers to 'crank up the radio, open the doors and have an outdoor dance-a-thon).
- Printable Car Trip Check List
- Child-safety scissors and paper (it worked on a long flight w/my preschooler)
- Invisible markers/Magic paper
- Chalk Cloth Oil Mat
- Moon sand on a tray
- Post It Notes-draw on them, then decorate the car (Women's Day, July Issue)
- Spill-proof Bubbles (yes, in the car. My toddler loves this).
- Printable Car Bingo
- Stickers
- Band-aids (again a toddler-pleaser)
- Leapster, DS Lite or hand-held game
- Magna Doodle
- Cookie sheet with magnetic alphabet letters
- The following incredible ideas came from MomsMinivan: travel tickets, surprise packages, and more (Actually EVERY idea on this site is amazing!)
- Printable Boredom Busters
- I spy bags/jars
- Ear plugs for when the "how much longer questions begin"
Have a Works-For-Me Wednesday tip you'd like to share? I'd love for you to join us! Please note that the links will close at 8 pm CST tonight, in order to keep away the spammers!Please mark your calendar for next week's themed edition: "Best Summer Recipes!"Links have now closed. Please join us again next week.
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110 comments:
Thanks for the list! We're planning a pretty long trip in October and that will definitely be useful!!! And thanks for the giveaway :)
Hi,
I love the i spy bag idea, I have never seen them before! They are great, I am sure my little 15 month old girl would love any one that is pink ;) and thanks for you message at cafe devotions today :)
Alex
The I Spy fairy princess would be so neat to win! My daughter could play it on road trips and with her younger friends! I have never seen one of these before, what a great idea. Please enter me! Thanks for the giveaway~
Great list!! And, a great giveaway!! Thanks for the traveling encouragement!!
Great ideas! Spray water bottles at rest stops was one of our best! They run around, cool off and laugh, laugh, laugh.
Girl. How'd you get to be 1st over at WFMW. Do you have an in w/ Shannon or somehting?!
We've been known to use the laptop as a TV too! :D
Come make my finger licking good, sticky, SUPER EASY ribs recipe: http://anapronaday.blogspot.com/2008/07/easy-bbq-ribs-recipe.html
They go great w/ sweet tea!
I love the cars and trucks pattern and I'd save it for my little sweetie boy who will be travling by plane with me to OK in September. Boy, is that gonna be a long ride...no daddy to help us this trip! YIKES!
strap our laptop on an ice chest with a bungee
Why haven't I thought of this? Thanks for the great tips.
I love the lady bug one at that store, so cute!
Our family travels over 1500 miles by car (each way) once or twice a year and this post will make the next trip SO much more fun! Your list is a welcome addition to the tip of my iceberg of ideas. And if I don't win, I may just have to buy the pleasantly plaid bag myself.
I spy bags are the best. We have one, and all the kids fight over it. I'd love to add that cute frog one to our collection.
And I can't wait for your summer vacation spectacular.
I LOVE the I-Spy Fairy Princess one!!! Ooh ooh ooh, draw me! My kids would LOVE this! P.S. I'd have to buy another... cuz you know toddlers don't share very well... LOL!
Thanks so much for this! We are driving maybe 3 hours in a couple of weeks back to my hometown - San Antonio, TX - for a wedding that I am in. I am going to need all the ideas that I can get for my 2 year old. Hopefully my 6 month old will just sleep! I will try some of your ideas. Thanks!
Thanks for the list - it never hurts to have new ideas when traveling in the car. I especially love bungee-cording the laptop to a cooler :)
The "Awesome Airplanes" style would be appropriate being that we are soon moving halfway across the country. My kids love to fly but four hours is a long time to sit! Thanks for all the great tips and for hosting the giveaway.
Oh my goodness! If we took all that stuff we wouldn't have any room for the kids!!! lol
Oh, I could so use any of those I spy bags. Those are just too cool!
These are great! I have never seen them before. We drive to my in-laws in Kansas (we live in Virginia) every year. My kids would love this! I think the Tie Dye Mania would appeal to my girls and boy alike.
Thanks!
Christy
I would like to enter the contest!
Those bags are great, never seen them before! I love this onehttp://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13076437
with the cars. It is pretty gender neutral so you could pass it down from kid to kid, or buy one and let them share. :)
Those are great ideas. Thanks!
What a great idea! Love the tie-dye. Our family is embarking on a very over-due vacation in a few weeks. We are counting down the days. This would really give the kids something fun to do together while flying over the Southwest. The 3 and 5 year old will love the game, the 10 month old will just love it. Anything the siblings have, besides it looks soft and squishy. She loves that. Hmmm...we might need two! We love etsy!
I'm adding this post to my favorites! What great ideas! My favorite I Spy bag is Stars and Swirls, but I'd love to win any! Thanks for entering me! marygilson*@*mosquitonet.com
I always thought when my kids were older (like they are NOW) that traveling would be easier. But, I think they traveled better as little ones. Where's the fairness in that?
When they were small, we used to have to travel 10 hours by car to visit my family. I kept a clothes pin clipped to the visor. I taped a picture of our house on one side and a picture of my parents on the other. I would move the clothes pen every hour or so, so that the kids had a "visual" of how much farther. It eliminated the "how much farther" question. Of course, it was replaced with, "Hey, mom - is it time to move the clothes pen yet?" (Sigh.)
Thank you for putting together the idea list!
These "I Spy" bags are awesome. I think my girls would like the I Spy Bag-Lovely Ladybugs one.
What a great list! Thanks!! I love the I-Spy bags, such a great idea! The Lovely Ladybugs is my favorite! Great giveaway! Thanks for offering it!
~Tanya
the4moyers(at)msn(dot)com
The I spy bags would definitely make any trip better! Perhaps rattle balls do too :) Thanks for the chance!
bunnybox9 at gmail . com
As a fellow mom of three (ages 5,4 and 10 mos), with in-laws that live in Mexico, I would love it if I won the Polka Dots and Paws I Spy Bag. There are definitely hours on a plane ride to Mexico that need passing....lol! Great post, as always you are so inspiring!
Blessings!
Mrs. Q
Don't have kids, however great ideas! My husband and I even purchased the license plates magnet game from Target for our recent trip! It was really fun! :-)
These are awesome! I like the pleasantly plaid because it is a neutral fabric...I have a boy and a girl.
BTW, I love reading your blog! I saw your link on Shauna's page, and I am now addicted!
Thanks for doing this great contest!
Neat, neat, neat. I will be using 2 or 3 or ALL of these ideas. We leave for Kentucky in about 120 days according to kids ...and these will come in handy.
Great list for traveling! I have had my eye on these cool toys! I think my kids would love the Spy Bag-Beach Fun! Thank You!!
kenzkween at hotmail dot com
This is fantastic! And so are the I Spy Bags -- love them! I like the Lovely Ladybugs - -great for my 2 girls!
Lori H
hawkins_lori (at) hotmail (dot) com
I am printing out this post, great ideas and we will be on a road trip to Maine next month. A very very long car ride! Thanks!
I love the tie-dye mania. I will be traveling in two weeks with three of my own kids and two borrowed kids. This would help alot. I also love the laptop idea!
Oh I love this, what a great idea. My son likes the Mini I Spy Bag-Cars and Trucks.
sav98 (at) comporium (dot) net
Great list! Thanks for sharing the I Spy Bags - so clever! Love the polka-dot pet!
What a great list of ideas for traveling with kids! I'd like to add 1 and recommend a change for another.
The Klutz series of books for kids has a fantastic paper doll book The Fabulous Book of Paper Dolls that my daughter has loved to play with on long rides since she was 3 (now 7)
Also, rather than spending $$ for a tape recorder and tapes to record stories, download Audacity (free audio recording/editing software http://audacity.sourceforge.net) and buy your computer a microphone if you don't have one yet. You can record as many books as you want and save the recordings to your hard drive, itunes, or CDs.
OK, now that I've added my $0.02, my favorite I Spy bag (CUTE idea!) is the Tie Dye Mania.
I like the tie dye bag. This would be great to have because the big kids can look for things and when it falls into the baby's lap (as everything eventually does) we don't have to worry about her choking on it!
Please enter me to win one!
I likey!
may the best blogger win!
We just returned from our 18 hr one way trip to visit grandparents...some of the entertainment ideas you mentioned were ones we used. One of the biggest problems (or so I thought at the time but it still went great) was that the portable CD player my dd brought along wouldn't work. No problem, we'd just listen to all the books on cd we brought along, on the car CD player. IT DIDN'T WORK EITHER. Very bizarre.
Usually the books on CD help us a lot on trips so I wasn't sure how it would go...but it was fine. It was primarily my ds who complained of boredom as he's not as good of a reader as his sister...I rarely heard a peep from her.
I'm always amazed at how well the kids travel (sure didn't take after my siblings and I as kids!).
I like the "pincess" one as my two-year old would say it!
I'm going to have to buy a stash of these for toddler gifts. I never know what to buy for that age group.
Also, great list!
Some really great tips in here!
What a great idea! I love the soccer i spy game. We travel a lot (every other weekend) so this would come in handy.
Oh, Kristen, I simply must know! Do you have a way of setting the time of your posts.
After many pains of working out the details of my WFMW post on How to Tame a Toddler, I decided I must, MUST stay up late and wait until Rocks has it up. I went to bed. And when the toddler woke up TWICE last night (I neglected to work on a tip for that one.,...) I knew I should go right away and post it. But, alas, I did not. I slept. And even just after 7:00 a.m. I was #165! There are some serious WFMW tippers out there!
Thanks for the vacation tips.
And REALLY, DO you have a way of posting at a specific time?
I know, your secret CANNOT be a next week's WFMW post.
Great tips! I think I will print those out...most of our traveling happens in the fall, so I still have time to put some things together!
My girls would love the one with flowers, or any one girly! I might have to buy an extra too. I'm thinking birthday gift for all the neices and nephews...
All the birthdays this year, the kids are getting cookie sheets decorated with their names on one side, and painted with chalkboard paint on the other. I'm throwing some color wonder stuff and a few other goodies in there too. I might have to make a "travel" theme for my gifts, and these spy bags would be great!
Thanks for all the great ideas! I'll have to remember most of those. :)
I have never heard of a Spy Bag - I love it!! Please enter me for the Rubber Duckies print, which would be perfect for both my son and daughter on our day trips. Thank you!
The iSpy bag is really cool! I could've used one of those last week when we were on the road. My daughter would love the princess version! Speaking of travelling ... I shared some road trip tips this week, too!
That's a great travel list. We're not quite ready for road trips with a 7 month old but hope to be by next summer.
We would love the Stars and Stripes iSpy bag. Their stuff is so cute!
Great giveaway!
I'll be packing almost all of them for a family trip we are going on in two weeks with an almost two year old.
My little one would love the bug ispy bag.
The lovely ladybug or sassy stripes I Spy bags are my favorites. Such a fun idea! On Saturday, I'll be traveling around the world...alone with my 16 mo...for about 20 hours...in my lap...with two layovers. Yeah, I need all the help I can get!
How clever are those i-spy bags. I love them. I'd like the one with the cars.
We got Boo a travel tray for her birthday, and it was the best thing we ever got. She can color, write and sleep one it (yes she has). Love it!
Such a great list. I thought I had everything, but I can see some great idea.
Thanks for the giveaway!
I love the one I Spy bag with cars on it. So cute! That is a really long list. Thanks for all the ideas!
Great list! I have nothing to add - you covered all of my old standbys! I love the I Spy Bags, and I have not seen them before, though I LOVE Etsy and am constantly surfing for stuff I MUST have. Gets me in trouble! The one with the cars is probably my best bet!
Great list! I love that momsminivan site too.
Wow your own blog event very cool. Ill be there
I love the I Spy game idea! My kiddos would love it since we take a yearly trip to visit family 16 hours away.
Thanks for all the great suggestions! Not sure I can jump on the Moon Sand idea though. I don't even allow that stuff to come into the house. I can't imagine it all over the van! ACK!
I love the i spy Monster Mash bag. What a cool idea.
love all those ideas. We have a 5 hour trip when we are in California- so I will use these ideas. Any ideas on how to keep a 7-1/2 month preggo woman from losing her mind, bladder and back on a the trip too?? Love the giveaway but cant pick just one-love it all!!
Thanks for the great tips.
love the monster i spy bag!
I am going to have to get one of those I Spy things for my niece. She is just gonna love it!
Weren't you first last week, too? Or was it the week before? I started off in the 50th position, but ya never know where I'll end up!
I'm going to link to this post tomorrow maybe - I bet my sister would love some of those ideas.
Kristin
This is an awesome list! And I thought I had great ideas on my travel with kids list! You put mine to shame! I really like the rest stop box idea and the create with pipe cleaners idea. Since all four of mine are under 7 years old, most travel games and such have too many pieces to get dropped, etc. But these are cheap and fabulous!
Thanks!!!
I like the ISpy bag with the cars and trucks but ANY of them would be great!
Also, I had to laugh at the "Play Go Fish" tip. My kids' favorite band is "Go Fish", so I was like "Yeah, we do that all the time!!" LOL! It took a minute for the card game to come to mind. :)
What a clever idea! Don't you just love Etsy?
great list! so many wonderful ideas. and those i spy pouches are genius! I'm always looking for gender neutral because you never know what the future will bring, but I just love the posies, so gender neutral be darned.
This was a great post! I found the information extremely useful. I'm taking my 7 year old and 3 year old on a car trip by myself. It was originally supposed to be 10 hours, but now we're breaking it up into a 4 1/2 hour trip to Grandpa's, then 6 hours the next day up to my family's cabin. The Cars and Trucks I Spy bag would save my sanity with my 3 year old!
great list!! what a great site ~ thanks for sharing!
ella likes the I Spy Bag-Fairy Princess!
thanks!
moore.g at insideconnect.net
ps we posted button :)
THANK YOU for this post. I am printing out your list. We are taking a 960 mile road trip over 6 days starting next Sunday and I am not sure how I am going to survive...
Don't put me in for the giveaway. I have 2 of these already. My mother-in-law made them for the boys a few years ago. She had seen them at a craft show and copied the idea - she can make anything once she's seen it! They are great for little ones.
My 18-month old and I travel 5 hours every weekend to see my parents - she would love the bee or ladybug I-spy bag! (very into bugs right now) Thanks for all the great ideas - she used to sleep a lot, but now that she's getting older I need to come up with some distractions. :)
That was a great list, lots of awesome ideas. I loved all the little I Spy bags, so hard to choose. My daughter would love the ladybugs.
I love the pink with white dots. We're taking our children (will be 3 & 1) on a twelve hour drive to Orlando in a few months. And listening to Veggie Tales in the car can only last for so long. This looks really neat! Something my husband and I can have fun with too!
We have to have snacks in the car. Sunflower seeds and dr. pepper are musts for road trips!
Oh my gosh that is the neatest thing!!!! I love it!! The tie-dyed, the polka dot, any of the I spy things would be awesome!!!
I love the 'awesome airplanes' I spy bag - I love the idea of them! And that it will keep a toddler entertained - awesome!
I love your blog, BTW. But I'm so sad that I can't do the summer vacation spectacle as I'll still be on summer vacation - in fabulous Branson, Missouri!!! Ah well, maybe next year! ;-)
The pipe cleaners are genius! Along with so many other cool ideas. I can tell you're a seasoned "travel with kids" kind of mom.
My 14 month old daughter would love the rubber duck I Spy Bag for our plane ride to Chicago next month!
I love the tie dyed I spy bag! I am pretty sure my older daughter would love it...and it would make the 4 hour trip to my in-laws in Atlanta more pleasant.
Have a great day!!!!
Thanks for the tips! I am a newbie and this is my first comment ever in the blog world! We're taking a car trip in August and my boys love anything sports related. Well, the toddler probably doesn't care and would just love looking for things inside. It would be a sanity saver, for sure. I love your blog!
WHO CARES ABOUT THE KIDS, I WANT THE 4TH OF JULY I SPY SINCE MY BIRTHDAY WAS JULY 5TH.
You are a life saver, lady!!! We are taking a 14 hour car trip in August with an 8, 6, 3 and 1 year old. You better believe that I would LOVE an I spy bag! Preferabley the rubber ducky one. That way it is neutral and not any one persons. Hopefully, crossing fingers, this will encourage sharing. I know, I know... I said the dreaded 'sh' word. ;)
These are so great! I would love the ladybug one...I'm driving from North Carolina to Texas later this month with a 2, 6 and 8 year old. I will definitely be using your ideas. Thanks!
Ooo! These are so neat! I'm going to have to get one for my trip from SC to WA in August with two toddlers. I may even need two. The one I need is the Fairy Princess. :)
christine:
godsbeengood2me(at)hotmail(dot)com
Look at you, girl. Got the first slot on WFMW. You always have the best ideas. We are getting ready for a beach trip next week and some of these ideas are great. I LOVE the travel games from Target. I need to buy a couple more.
I have never seen the I Spy bag before, but that is SO cool. We like the Tye Dye one here at the GRITS household. Gender neutral.
Oh, another travel suggestion ( I can't remember if it was on your list) the 20Q electronic game.
We have a ten hour drive to visit family in California, and we could sooo use this. Thanks for all of the great tips and games!
Thank you, thank you for the ideas! They sound like fun to me, too. I like the i spy bag that you have, but I couldn't find it on the website. I also like the Fun Flowers with Flower Window bag.
How cool are these? I'm going to gift them to all my mommy friends! I especially covet the pleasantly plaid one! Fun!
The Fairy Princess one would please my daughter. Thanks so much for the opportunity.
planetmisty at gmail dot com
Oh, these look amazing! What a great idea! The cars and trucks pattern would go over great in my house of boys!
Oh my goodness. We are leaving in one week for a nice long car trip. So it is necessary that you pick me. I love the ladybug I spy thingees. Even if I don't win- I have several new fabulous ideas to use with my toddler.
me@livinwithme.com
These are the neatest little things. My son would LOVE the blue soccer ball one. What a great idea!!!
Oh wow, so cool. I have never seen such. I can see both my girls spending hours playing with this thing!! Btw..Thanks for the list. There are a few things that I would have never thought about.
I love the I Spy Bag-Cupcakes and Butterflies with Butterfly Window!
Thanks!
I'm big on lists... this one is great! I love the lap desk idea (my kids love to draw), and the ispy book is too cute. Great info--thanks!
My favorite is the striped one! Thanks for all the travel tips. We've already gone on our vacation this year, but there were a lot of great ideas for next time.
candlesrhot@comcast.net
The I Spy Bag-Cars and Trucks would be perfect for my little guys!
Wow - I'm #94?!?
I love the I Spy Bag-Flowers. I might buy it if I don't win.
Lady Bug one, for sure!
This is a great list!
I think I like the rubber ducky one the best!
That's a great list, Kristen! Thanks for sharing it. I have a bit of a roadtrip with my two kids coming up so the ideas will come in handy!
I know I'm to late for the contest but I wanted to say that I love your ideas. I am driving from VA to NE and then back thats a total of 2400 miles with a six year old and a two year old. These ideas are sure to heip. I am probably going to get the stars and stripes bag (my husbands a marine) for the trip.
Thanks again for all the helpful ideas.
Jess
I'm really impressed with your tips for traveling with kids. They are wonderful.
99 comments! Glory be girl! Great tips! I am filing this post away for our next road trip.
This is great info for traveling with the kids. Great stuff, keep it up!
You and I must be on the same wavelength this week. Thanks for the tips! Especially since I'm taking a trip this weekend with the kids. :)
I love the Rest Stop Box idea! I've never thought of that, but it's a great idea! Thanks!
Recording yourself reading books for the kids is a great idea! I need to do that sometime! Thanks for the tip and thank you of course for the meme!!
Great list! I want to recommend a particular book on CD: Superfudge by Judy Blume, read by the author. I had read that book as a kid, and it was really cool hearing it exactly as the author meant it to sound! Like, I had always wondered whether the baby's name was TAMara or TaMARa...it's TaMARa. :-)
Hi:) I really like the cookie sheet with magnetic letters. Neat--I like everything magnetic when we travel...so I don't find it six months later. Lol. Thanks!
Ooh, thanks for the tips-- going on my Tumblr now!
And oops, I forgot my subject the first time I added my link, so please delete my first "Holes in My Shiny Veneer" link!
Love this list, especially since we are taking our 4 year old on his very first road trip with us to Ohio next month.
Where do I find said $5 tape recorder?
:)
Sigh. I got here too late to post my WFMW on Mr. Linky. Oh well.
Cute clothes pin bag to replace worn out ones -- http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/ElCloud/702286/
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