Recently we (3 adults and 2 children under the age of 10) took a rather long road trip. It was a learning experience for us all! :-) I did manage to do a few things to make the trip easier.
Before the trip I also purchased (for $1 each), a bottle with a push/pull top, like the top on a dishwashing detergent bottle. All drinks (diet soda, water, or juice) had to be in that bottle. No spills. We also took fresh fruit. You can always stop along the way and replenish supplies.
All in all, it was a fun, and educational trip; one I hope the children will always remember. I know I will!
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Hitting the road with the kids means hours in the car listening to them complain about being bored. Well, never fear the old games we used to play are still around and to top it off you can create some new car fun.
Before starting any vacation or car-travel, go to a good $1 store and pick out 5 small quiet toys for each child. Then give these to them one at a time throughout the trip instead off buying trinkets at each stop along the way. This will not only keep your children occupied, but will save you all kinds of money. You can even use these toys as "bribery", as in "If you keep your voices down and don't fight with your sister for the next hour, I have a new toy for you.
When traveling with children, I do this to avoid stopping all the time and save money on wipes. Before we leave, I get at least 2 wash cloths and soap them really well but don't rinse them.
When traveling a long ways with a child, bring his shoe bag holder. Hang it over the car window to block sunlight and to store toys in the "pockets"! By Chell
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
"Mom are we there yet?" ... "I know you are, but what am I?" ... "Mom! Sandy hit me!" Traveling with kids can be quite a challenge.
Here are some tips to help keep them occupied and prevent you from going nuts. Post your ideas.
Books on tape are great for long car trips with kids or even by yourself! You can often check them out from the public library, so it's free!
By Becki in IN
When traveling on a long car trip with kids, a 9x13 inch cake pan with a tight-fitting lid is great to keep the kids busy. You can store coloring books, crayons, small toys, etc. inside the pan and then when they need a surface to color/play on, put the lid back on and use the lid as the surface! If the lid is uneven, flip the closed pan over and use the bottom.
By Becki in Indiana
Wow I thought there would be alot of suggestions, but I do have some that were not mentioned. 1st - food and drinks are a must. Books to read, music, and games. Homemade bingo using things that you would see on a car trip.
(bird, green car, semi, horse, barn, cow, flowers, church, dog, etc. ).
Play the ABC game, every one tries to get every letter of the alphabet starting with "A", you can see it on a billboard or license plate or other sign, but can not be anywhere except the first letter of the word. OK I admit that it is hard. You can make exceptions for little ones, like the letter "X" and " Q" can be eliminated and then you can say yes to the letter being anywhere in a word.
Another game is to play "guess who I am" (a famous person). Someone thinks of a person dead or alive. The players ask "yes or no " questions till they give up or get it. Another version of that game is " I spot". Someone announces that they see a certain something and then the guessing starts. Coloring books and puzzle books are great. My dad who was always the driver would ask us kids how far a certain distance was. He would pick a land mark up ahead and we would guess. Then he would tell us what it really was. The guessing was fun.
Also, I always bring each passenger a pillow and lap blanket. Sleeping is a great pastime too. haha
What time of day is the best time to travel with children?
By nanny from WI
It depends on how you train them. My folks would pack us up at midnight to leave so we would sleep while they were driving until 6-7am; then stop for breakfast, change clothes, etc. Just pack lots of games, books, snacks, DVDs if your vehicle is so equipped. Plan to stop every 2 hours for bathroom/stretch breaks; kids can't sit as long as adults. Stay positive! Start with shorter trips and work up. My nieces are 3 & 4 and travel like troopers, it's all in the "training."
As bkvander said, it really does depend on the child and how they have been trained. I think the first trip I did with my kids was started just around bedtime so they will sleep. Now that they are a few years old, but still preteen we get up really early. Kids crawl in the vehicle in their pj's and then we stop for breakfast when they wake again. They do generally go back to sleep for a while, but it might take a little bit for that to happen. They change out of pjs when we stop for breakfast.
Another tip I found that helped a lot was to pack a "fun bag" that is easily accessible at stops. The bag should have stuff like sidewalk chalk, bubbles, a small ball, maybe a jump rope depending on the age of the child. Every stop should include a few minutes of play time to let the kids expend some of that pent up energy that ends up causing arguing between siblings. We also play tag during our stops if there is a place that won't interrupt others. Now that my kids are school age, I have included a small digital camera in the "fun bag". It is always cool to see things from their point of view.
We used to travel with our kids starting around 7pm. The trick we learned early - on days to travel we didn't give our kids an afternoon nap. This would usually end up with them going to sleep sooner and staying asleep through the night.
If you really need to travel during the day I would recommend leaving an hour or so before your kids normally take a nap. Then they sleep during part of the trip. Of course , if your kids don't normally take naps your next best bet is an activity that is high energy to wear them out (so to speak). Just make sure you live through it. No naps for the driver.
