Kid Approved Road Trip Survival Guide :: Snacks, Activities, & Entertainment
We have several road trips planned this summer. With each one, we are honing in on what works best for a peaceful ride for everyone involved. On our most recent 8 hour drive, we only made one stop which felt like a huge win! Our kids are ages 6, 9, and 11, which means they are pretty self sustained in the car, but of course there is still plenty of “Mom, can I have this, can you help with that … etc.” Now, as the passenger princess, I understand it’s my duty to deal with the kids, but there are a few tried and true tips and tricks that allow my husband, myself, and the kids to enjoy ourselves even more!
Seating:
I am a Suburban gal through and through, although I’d currently love to swap out our bench seats for captains chairs! In the meantime though, putting two kids in the very back and one kid in the middle was a huge game changer for us. Big sis is in the middle because she needs her own space, then the two younger girls are in the very back. This allows them to have more area for allllll the thingsssss they want to bring in the car. We try to limit it, but you know how it is! This also means that I’m less available for being handed trash and asked to open stuff. They have to figure it out or help each other: woohoo!
Snacks:
I try to pack healthy food with a couple treats thrown in. Our go-tos snacks include: Archer Farms meat sticks, Organic Crispy Coconut Rolls (Costco), unsweetened dried mango (Costco), individual hummus packs, Simple Mills Almond Flour crackers, cheddar cheese, apples, raisins, goldfish, and mini Go-Macro bars. I pack the snack bag and an additional bag of books and shared activities (see below). My most recent snack solution was to give each girl a lunchbox filled with her allotted snacks plus her packed lunch. Packing lunch and snacks instead of trying to get drive through or gas station food saves money and it’s always better. It’s my goal to do this every time!
Entertainment:
I love listening to a good audiobook in the car! Once everyone is settled with drawing supplies, a squishy dumpling, or a new craft kit, we turn on our family audiobook. This summer we are listening to The Hobbit. Past favorites include: From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, The Ordinary Princess, and The Magician’s Nephew. Check out this post from Every Day Reading for tons of great ideas!
Our Suburban has DVD players, so we usually visit the library to stock up before our trip. I also recently bought this iPad holder so we can have a bigger variety of streaming services. The girls enjoyed watching the Toy Story movies in preparation for the 5th one. They also really like Weird but True on Disney Plus, the new Carmen Sandiego on Netflix, Man vs. Wild on Disney Plus, and Kids Baking Championship on Disney Plus.
We also love podcasts for the car. Our favorite is Family Road Trip trivia on Spotify. The kids have also enjoyed Brains On, Real Cool History for Kids, and Storyland: all on Spotify.
Activity bags:
As mentioned, I ask each girl to put together an activity bag for herself. These usually include books to read, crochet needles and yarn, bead kits, markers, paper, washi tape. I also put together a play dough kit for my youngest daughter and it’s honestly great in the car! I usually check out the Target dollar section or Dollar Tree for some new, cheap items that will keep them happy. We recently liked these diamond art kits.
Once we have the kids settled, my husband and I love listening to a good audiobook together! We tried out the viral Dungeon Crawler Carl recently which was too crude for my taste but it was highly entertaining and creative. We also loved the Red Rising Series and The Lincoln Highway. Armed with coffee and airpods, we are content to look out the window and enjoy the ride, while our kids are happily occupying themselves (fingers crossed)! Happy trails!
