10 Tips for Long Road Trips with Kids

With Spring Break here or right around the corner, I know many people will be taking some long road trips and the idea of being trapped in the car with your family may either scare or delight you.  My kids have been taking long road trips since they've been very young (each of them made it through an 8 hour road trip - each direction - within 12 weeks of them being born.)  With my parents living in Southern California, and family over in Idaho - we do a road trip typically at least once a year to visit.  In an effort to survive these, we have found a few different ways to keep them occupied.

Some of these suggestions are not for everyone - I know some people are very anti-screens in the car, so if you find yourself in that category, feel free to skip to the next suggestion.  While I don't like to have a movie playing or video games happening through the whole car ride, I am definitely not against having moves/games as an option.  To each their own!

Here are some of my favorite tips for enduring those long road trips.

1. Road Games!  We love games like the License Plate Game, Road Bingo and I-Spy.

2.  Snacks!  Snacks and Road Trips go hand in hand...like peanut butter and jelly!  I love to mix it up and have snacks that we don't normally have at home - special treats for the kids.  Fun sized cereals and mini chip bags are big hits!  I like that it controls the portion and I they usually come in a variety pack, so the kids (and me!) can try new flavors.  I like to make a big batch of Chex Mix for snacking on the way, too.  Bring along a cooler with frozen water bottles to keep everything cold, and pack some favorite drinks too.

3.  Get Creative!  Coloring books, crayons, colored pencils, drawing books with blank paper can go a long ways!  One year we got a couple of packages of Wikki Stix with kids meals at one of our meal stops, and those provided lots of entertainment.  I've seen them on Amazon in multi-packs.

4.  Movies!  If you have a movie player in your car, or a portable DVD player, take advantage of Red Box!  You can rent a movie at one stop, and return it at the next - and pick up a new title!

5. Pre-plan some stops along the way.  Before you head out on your journey, scope out where you are driving - plan to make some pit stops to stretch your legs, empty the bladders and get some car jitters out.  Maybe there's a beautiful view point, a park with playground, or a funky souvenir shop.  Maybe you'll see the World's Largest Ball of String!  Everyone's kids are different - some may need to stop every 2 hours, others can go 4 or 5 hours. 

6. Timing is everything.  For Road trips that are going to go through the night, it works best for our family to start the trip at night - we have the kids get in the car in their jammies and then they fall asleep towards the beginning of our car trips, and hopefully sleep most of the night and into the morning.

7.  Timing is everything...part 2 If your Road Trip is long and you plan to make a stop at a hotel part way there, consider starting your trip really early - like 4am - so the kids can get in the car in their jammies and hopefully fall back to sleep, and sleep for the first few hours - by the time you need to make your first pitstop for gas or to hit a bathroom, it should be a good time to also have breakfast.

8.  Have a grab bag - this one works better for the littler ones.  Pack a bag full of small surprises - inexpensive gifts that they can use along the way or for their upcoming trip.  As little ones start to get restless, pull out the grab bag and give them a fun surprise.  Fun ideas: scented markers, sticker books, Wikki Stix, new book, new stuffed animal, mini magna-doodle, etc.

9. Load up the Kindle/iPad/LeapPad, etc.  Before you leave, pre-load your devices with books, movies, games, etc.  Netflix has an option to download content for offline viewing - take advantage of that!

10.  Remember to have fun!  The journey and the destination should be fun!  Remember that delays happen, and just go with the flow.  It's difficult to plan every single step of the way for a road trip - you may know the path, but it's hard to predict traffic jams and weather occurrences.