Now that Thanksgiving has finally arrived, we all know what comes next….Christmas! For many of us, we will be hitting the road and taking a road trip to visit our families over the Christmas holiday season. Traveling with children can be stressful for families, especially if that road trip is a long distance one.
Years ago, we took our daughter (age 7 at the time) on a cross country holiday trip from Pennsylvania to Arizona. We spent 6 days on the road going out to Arizona and then 8 days on the road coming back. During that road trip, I learned many things about traveling with children and today, I thought I would share those things with all of you.
#1. Pack a change of clothing for each of your children along with pajamas and keep that bag within easy reach. (we kept ours on the floor in the back seat). If they have a potty accident, spill something on their clothes or if you are traveling at night, you can easily change their clothing without unpacking the trunk.
#2. For each day that you will be on the road, pack a bag full of snacks. You can also pack shelf-stable juice boxes and milk boxes for beverages. Kids often get bored or get hungry and need things to snack on. Snacks should include granola, snack bars, raisins, dried fruit snacks, pretzels, etc. Try to avoid the sticky & sugary snacks like candy and chocolate which makes a mess.
#3. Pack several different activity bags and only bring out one of those bags per day that you are traveling. Children often get bored with doing the same activity over & over, so place different things in each activity bag. Some suggestions would be: travel size games, flash cards, dot-to-dot books, sticker & coloring books, felt and/or paper dolls, miniature play sets, colorforms play sets, puzzle books, board puzzles for small children, etc. Let your children decide at the beginning of the travel day, which bag they would like for that specific day. The following day, insist that they select a different bag, to keep things fun & interesting.
#4. Media Entertainment – Pack a portable DVD player that also plays CDs. Bring along some of your child’s favorite DVDs and CDs, but also invest in a few new ones that they have never seen or listened to. New media entertainment usually keeps kids entertained while traveling, along with favorite old hits.
#5. Take a break every couple of hours and allow your kids to get out of the car and stretch their legs. If possible, visit a public rest area and let them run around & play for a little bit to burn off some of their energy. Just like adults, they need those breaks too!
When it comes to traveling with your kids this holiday season, what tips do you have to share? We would love to hear all about them! Please leave your comments & tips below in our blogs comment form. Thanks!
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Love these ideas! I’m going to have my whole family traveling to visit us next year from TX to CO and they are going to need some of these ideas!
I am thankful for this post because it has made me stretch my mond for all kinds of tips not already stated here. So I guess my motto for any long trip should be : Be prepared and don’t get upset.
I am running out of thoughts except that any parent who undertakes a long trip with children has to show a lot of patience and understanding of kids. Be prepared to be unprepared and don’t get upset.
You can also bring different individual serving size powder drinks to mix in bottled water and keep them as a treat for good behavior.
I need all the help I can get on this subject. Thanks I find these tips useful for our upcoming holiday traveling.
If the child is old enough and has a camera you might want to encourage he/she to take pictures at each rest stop. You can say that there will be a little prize for the most unusual photo, etc.
Sometimes something just to keep them busy – but with a reward at the end. For example, divide and sort a bag of M&M’s by color into sandwich bags and later the child can pick which bag he/she wants to eat.
I just saw advertised an animal/doll pillow that clips to the car strap so that your kid’s head wil not lool around. That ‘s a great idea – especially for a long trip.
If you have both younger and older kids you can have the older kid help take care of the younger kid and help keep him/her entertained.
Tel the kids that each will have a turn if they are quiet. Have each child describe one at a time what he/she hopes the most to see/eat/find.
If it is a long trip it also helps to have a pillow for the child to rest against and nap.
With all the electronic games that exist there should be a large variety to take along including puzzle games. Even a favorite game cannot last the whole trip.
What I love about games like “I’m going on a trip” is that they help improve memory and the kids don’t realize that they are doing something educational!!
I noticed on a longish trip, that the seat belts started irritating the kids skin. I got some nice seat belt covers,to make sure they stay comfy!
As kids are growing up, I Spy and I’m Going on a Trip are Fun. A couple of my daughter’s friends taught us I’m Going on a Trip. You begin with I’m going on a trip to (name someplace…we chose Hawaii) then each person starts off with something they would take, in alphabetical order, and you continue on until someone can’t remember the whole list. For example. I’m going on a trip to Hawaii and I’m taking an apple. (The next person) I’m going on a trip to Hawaii, and I’m taking an apple and a beach towel.
Another activity that helps is some of the old games we used to play like “Who can see the first red car?”,etc. and of course singing songs.
With older kids who have friends scattered across the country, and family too, we’ve allowed a few extra hours to stop and visit if the detour is not too far. It makes the trip that much more special.
Just in case there is a problem with water we often bring 2 to 4 gallons of spring water with us.
We took a long road trip this summer and used everyone of your tips. They were a life saver. We have a mini van and cannot reach the back seat to hand items to my kids so if possible we seat on older child in the middle seats to hand thing to the other kids in the back. My 10 year old was a big help as she would hand snacks and books to the younger ones while we drove. So considering the seating arrangement can be helpful too.
Since I’d prefer to have healthy snacks, I often make my own trail mix and divide it into snack size in sandwich bags.
The tips are great. The extra clothes, snacks and activities are so important.Thanks for all your Kia tips.
Carol L
I also always have napkins, wipes, Purell and nitbacterial soap as well as bandaids and antibacterial ointment
I love the traveling tips, thank you!
Good tips! I also carry a gallon ziploc of rolled wet washclothes and one of dry. Sometimes those wipes just aren’t enough.
Thanks for your comments Rust…that is a fabulous idea!
Great tips. Two things to add to the cd’s. #1 always make sure you have a big selection of cd’s. There’s nothing worse than listening to the same 3 cd’s on an 8 hour trip. #2 hit your local library. We can check out cd’s for 3 weeks. I go the day before a road trip and grab a bunch of stuff we haven’t listened to before 🙂
Val, great idea about the library! Ours also has “games” that we can rent out too!
Good tips. It’s so important to have extra clothes, activities, and snacks. Make sure you don’t give your kids everything at once. Save some different activities/games for the other days and return trip. Also, keep plenty of napkins and wipes within easy reach. Spills and accidents are going to happen. Try to be prepared for many situations but at the same time try to remember to relax and have fun. Kids don’t understand the length of time it takes to get places or how frustrating traffic can be. Road trips are a great time to practice patience and smiling when you’d rather yell. Just think of all the stories you will have to tell later on… 🙂
Sherry, I love the wipes idea! I always travel with wipes and with bottles of antibacterial hand soap! Can never have enough!