I don’t think road trips are for everyone. I mean come on, days on end stuck in a car, driving for endless hours with two kids can be anything but enjoyable. It can be enjoyable though, well as enjoyable as possible with small children.
I’ve come to learn a few things to bring on road trips for kids.
- Portable DVD players are lifesavers!!
- So are smartphones for Googling “car games to play with kids”
- Car games! Eye Spy is fun but get creative! I did some searches and found some really fun car games for kids.
- A CD with kids songs, most likely everyone will know the words. Singing helps keeps the tears away.
- Naptimes are taken to a whole new level, you will actually find they also come at the perfect time. Just make the screaming stop!!
- Take breaks and see the scenery, explore local restaurants and you’ll feel so refreshed when you jump back in the car.
- Set small goals, and if you have small children stop and stay the night.
- Have a conversation with your family, hours and hours of driving can get old but make the best of it and create memories to last a lifetime. We’re always so “connected” yet never connected enough take the time to just talk.
- Always keep a bag of candy handy. I am not afraid of resorting to bribery.
Happy road tripping!
I love road trips just as much as the next person. I usually take tons of snacks and lots of books and games for the kids. I work for DISH Network and purchased the sling adapter for $99.00 and now have the TV Everywhere app on my Ipad. I love it! It keeps the kids quiet for hours. They can watch all their DVR recordings and their favorite TV shows live. Now they don’t have to miss any of their cartoons while we are on the road.
We take a 5 1/2 hour trip (straight through) to relax and fish every summer, the same trip every year. We used to leave before sunrise so the kids would be sleeping for the first 1/3 🙂 Then it took the next 1/3 to get situated and then they were so excited the last 1/3 we couldn’t get there quick enough!
Our longest trip was from MN to KY, of which my husband also said straight through. OMG! I was pregnant and had a baby in tow. Now we use DVD player, hand held games, and I threaten to talk the whole way if they act up 🙂 It’s so quiet you can hear a pin drop! I put in my audio book and enjoy!
We just had friends drive up to join us at Tahoe. When they left home, weather was fine. Got to Blue Canyon and the snow was coming down.. Got to Northstar, was told to turn around go back to Truckee and then go thru Tahoe City to get to the lake. Black ice on the mountain. Total time in car..10 hours from the bay area. Most of it on the mountain in the snow. Thank goodness for portable CD players.. Two kids under seven in the car!
Can we all say..LET me OUT of the CAR!
We had fun. The drive from Oregon to Southern California is a drive of scenic views. We got sunshine and clear skies. Happy New Year Jackie and Jen.
Great tips! The furthest we went was to San Diego when my son was 11 and my daughter was 5. It was actually pretty brutal lol. My son got especially bored, but we did pack so many things to entertain them.
I hope you had a wonderful time!
The furthest we’ve ever went was 4hours to see my in-laws and we make that trip a lot. Remember to feed the baby! We got halfway there once and both Jeffery and Jaylin (who was still a infant) was crying hysterically. We pulled off the side of the interstate and I was standing next to the car feeding Jaylin a jar of baby food and Jeff was finding Jeffery a snack, a police officer pulled up behind us with his lights on and asked what was going on…I replied “I have a screaming hungry baby and a screaming toddler…we’re trying to feed them” While saying this I had the jar of baby food in one hand and a spoon in the other holding them up…he looked at me and said “Ok then. Have a good day, be safe.” then walked away. I thought to myself, he must have kids! Some police would have made us get back in the car and get off an exit (which we just happened to be pulled off AT one lol).
I agree, the portable DVD players are a lifesaver!!!! Also, handheld games!