Tis the time to start thinking about Holiday traveling. After all, Thankgiving and Christmas are just around the corner and I’m sure many of you travel.
Twice a year we make the journey up north to Papa Tractors house….it is a six-hour drive each way. Over the years I have fine tuned our trip to include things to pass the time. This year I put all those things together into one bag! Each kiddo got their own, personalized, basket for the road trip. Here are a list of 50 things you could pack into a road trip bag to keep the kids entertained.
- Crayons
- Sheets to color on (I found 100 foot rolls of coloring paper in the dollar section!)
- Traffic BINGO (didn’t we all play this as a kid?)
- Library books (This was a huge hit because they were something new, not books they’ve seen before)
- One snack for each hour (this helps our kids know the answer to the dreaded question “how much longer?”)
- Water bottle (gotta stay hydrated)
- Batteries (for any electronic device)
- InnoTab by VTech
- Games for your electronic devices
- Headphones (because listening to those games for hours will be too much for anyone!)
- A lovie (my kids each have a special bear that they bring with)
- A Blanket (something soft to snuggle with in the car)
- A pillow (not necessarily for sleeping with but to use as a table top for their things)
- A map (I print one off of my computer and draw in the route we’re taking, they love being able to follow along)
- Rewards (I keep these in my secret bag in the front, for good behavior, polite manners and using quiet voices)
- “Homework” (even if school isn’t in session road trips are a great opportunity for kids to learn along the way)
- Music for them! (I can’t stress this enough…there was nothing worse than having to be strapped into a car and listen to your parents music for hours on end!)
- I Spy Bottles
- Popsicle Stick Puzzles
- Lacing shapes (this is a great time for them to learn how to lace and tie shoes!)
- Sticker books
- Where’s Waldo (surprisingly this old-time is still a HUGE favorite!)
- Tin Foil and Markers (Did you know you can color on tin foil with markers? My kids love to do this and it’s cheap!)
- Paper Dolls (my daughter thinks I am the coolest mom ever because I made her a bunch with my Cricut Die Cut Machine)
- Small plastic bag (for trash, just because you’re stuck in a car doesn’t mean you have to trash the floor)
- Window Markers (I reserve this one for my oldest because he knows he can only color on the windows)
- Wipes (It’s amazing to me how much they appreciate these! No one likes sticky fingers and giving them their own package of wipes is the cure)
- Scavenger Hunt Sheets (give them a list of 10 things they have to find along the trip)
- Road Trip questionnaire (Fill a sheet with 15 or more questions for them to ask YOU along the way about yourself, daddy, or the place you are going)
- Dry Erase Boards
- Squirrel Mix
- Word Search
- Package of Pipe Cleaners and beads (my kids made me a dozen bracelets and necklaces)
- Cereal Necklaces (a GREAT snack)
- Paper Chains (Add one ring every set number of miles- or take one off)
- Smore baggies (in a ziploc bag put some mini marshmallows, broken graham crackers and mini chocolate chips)
- Bandaids (I know this might seem silly but kids love bandaids….let them stick them all over themselves…who cares!)
- Playdough
- Glurch
- String Games (these are a blast!)
- Disposable Camera (face it, kids love to take photos…they’re pretty cheap and they’ll love every minute of it)
- Audio Books (you can find these at your local book store or library)
- Journal (this will vary based upon age, but school age kids can journal each hour about the things they have seen so far)
- Grab Bags (number little brown paper bags, decide how much time must go by before each bag can be opened, each bag contains a special treat or activity)
- Deck of cards (a great time to learn War or Go Fish)
- Fruit Leather (make your own!)
- Doodle Boards
- Colorful string (teach your child how to make friendship bracelets like you once did)
- Brain Quest Flash Cards
- Rubik Cube
What do you do/pack to pass the time on your road trips?
Awesome, thank you! This will be perfect for our upcoming cruise. I know it’s not a car ride, but I think this will really help keep Levi entertained during the flight there and back.