I panic before every family trip we take. Some about safety, activities, sleep, etc. (normal mom stuff), but almost more about boredom/happiness/distraction on the way there & back…I can NOT handle kiddos screaming in the car. So, I try to distract, distract, distract. We do have iPads that the boys can play on, but I usually won’t let them do it for very long – and mine tend to get car sick (extra bonus worry) – so I need other tactics of distraction. And, they’re kids. Boy kids. They need to disperse energy and when they can’t…it’s not pretty. There are so many ideas that I’ve used over the years, and it changes based on child, age, interests, and duration of travel. But, we have an upcoming 14-hour drive for “vacation” (a trip with kids, am I right?) and it’s the longest road trip we’ve ever taken, so I’m letting ipad/movie-watching rules go out the window and I’ll be happy for them to watch as much as they like. But when that doesn’t work, I need some backup. So, here’s what I have packed for the boys.
Each kiddo has a backpack with:
- Ipad/headphones
- A tackle box that I use for dry snacks – it makes it fun for them to pick what they want and have a variety of options. I usually have things like dry cereal, dried fruits, crackers, nuts, etc. and some non-chocolate (read: non-meltable) treats like fruit snacks, jelly beans, mini marshmallows, Mike & Ike’s. I really like the size that I have linked – it’s small enough to be manageable but gives them plenty of options!
- Activity Binders – I have a binder for each of my older boys that has activity pages in it tailored to their age and interests. In the front of each binder is a zippered pouch to hold markers, crayons, stickers, and some pipe cleaners. Next, is a pocket that holds activity pages that I’ve torn out of books like this Melissa and Doug Sticker Face Maker. Then, I have a ton of free printables I found online (or tore out of coloring books we already have) and hole punched them for the back of the binder. I searched for coloring pages – superheros for the 4 year old and Pokemon for the 7 year old, dot-to-dot pages, letter awareness pages, math facts, color by number, mazes, etc. It did take a little time to search for all of them but I figured it was time well spent to distract and it was free! After all of the activity pages, I added some blank paper that I hole-punched for free draw. The binders are easy to update as needed and are now easy to pack in a hurry.
- Car Trip Toys – I have a box of toys that are stored in the boys’ closet that are exclusively saved for travel and other special “quiet” occasions like a Baptism or something where they need to be extra quiet. I feel like when they’re saved for special occasions, they stay new and entertaining. Plus, they’re easier to organize and pull out when I need them. I have these divided into ziplock bags so that they can be given one bag of a few toys at a time and not just blow through everything in the first 15 minutes.
Here are easy links to most of the toys that are shown in these pictures. Some of these toys are old and not easily available so I just linked to the closest thing I could find. And some of these are Target Dollar Spot items that I posted about previously. Otherwise, I am listing all Amazon links here because it’s normally the easiest, but I will say that some of the cheap items are actually less expensive at your local toy store, so you should check that out if you have the chance! I love the mini toys in the plastic bins at toy stores, and I love Lakeshore Learning for small toys too. A lot of these listed below are good for both the 7 and 4 year old, so I’ll mix them up for the return trip home – so definitely look at all of the pictures for ideas of what your kiddos might enjoy!
My 7-Year Old’s Toys:
Target Activity Workbooks / Kids Card Games / Road Trip Bingo / Mad Libs Jr / Paint By Sticker Books / Stretchy Fidget Sensory Toy Tubes / Carnival Toss / Plus Plus Blocks / Mini Play Dough / Finger Puppets / Snack Box (Tackle Box) / Rubix Cube 2×2 / Water Wow Books / Wiki Sticks / Silly Putty / Kanoodle Jr / Color Matching Puzzle Ball / Handheld Water Game / Pokemon Cards
My 4-Year Old’s Toys (Can you tell who I’m the most worried about entertaining?):
Magic Drawing Slate / Target Activity Workbooks / Stretchy Fidget Sensory Toy Tubes / Plus Plus Blocks / Road Trip Bingo / Kids Card Games / Water Wow Books / Snack Box (Tackle Box) / Slinky Jr or Big Plastic Slinky / Fidget Cube / Finger Puppet Monsters or Paw Patrol / Lacing Cards / Alphabet Scratch-Off Book / Colorforms Take Along Set / I Spy Book / Finger Flickin Baseball Game / Magnetic Doodle Balls or Wooly Willy / Handheld Water Game / Dot to Dot Book / Mini Hungry Hungry Hippos / Mini Etch-a-Sketch / Silly Putty / Avengers Key Chain / Rubix Bear / Pokemon Cards / Reusable Puffy Sticker Play / Mini Play Dough / Mini Pokemon Figures / Kid-friendly Headphones / Wiki Sticks
My (Almost) 2-Year Old’s Toys:
Travel Tray / Matchbox Cars / Mini Animal Figures / Sticky Notes / Dimpl Color Popper Toy / Crayola Dry Erase Travel Book / Shark and Foot Squeeze Toy or Panic Pete Squeeze Toy / Finger Puppet Monsters / Reusable Sticker Pad / Mini Bead Maze / Pig Squeeze Critter / Magnetic Drawing Board / Stretchy Fidget Sensory Tubes / Key Chain Noise Maker / Boogie Board / Wiki Sticks / Light Up Wand / Snack Box (Tackle Box) / Color Fidget Pad / Crayola Mess Free White Paper / Water Wow Books