A road trip with the kids in summer can promise a lot of fun, as well as plenty of opportunity for annoyance — perhaps for the kids, more than anyone else! For, healthy, active and inquisitive kids, nothing is more maddening than being confined. Whether you have one kid or more, you need to prepare — with entertainment, food and most of all,ย fun!!!
Turn the rear window into one big writing board!
If the general rule forย the childrenย in the car has always been do not scribble on anything, it needs to change. You need to loosen up if you aren’t to drive your kids out of their minds. Given the right tools and a little freedom, your kids can have a great time, and ย your car wouldn’t be too much worse for the wear.
Window markers by companies such as Crayola are a great idea. Let your kids go crazy on the rear window of the car. It wouldn’t matter, because you can easily wipe the window down with a baby wipe when they are done.
If there are going to be pencils or markers, it also makes sense to hang an organizing bag off the headrest on each seat. It’ll help your kids make sure that they don’t lose any pencils.
Get educational!
Children love learning, and they can be receptive during a road trip, when they have nothing to do. It can be a great time to introduce them to all kinds of basics. If you love fishing, for example, you could use the opportunity to introduce rods, theย Haywire Twist tool, casting technique and your best fishing stories and equipment. You may also be able to teach them things like knitting, crocheting or speaking a new language!
Make nighttime travel more fun
Children love it when they get to spend the night at a hotel. Until you arrive, however, you do need to keep your children entertained. Getting a bunch of glow-in-the-dark necklaces, bracelets and glow sticks can be a hit! It will keep them entertained for miles. Glow in the dark stickers could also be a fun way for them to pass the time.
Have your children shush one another
If it sounds like a lot of fun to have the children keep one another quiet, get a great audiobook or two, of great children’s stories. Anything from Harry Potter to Giraffes Can’t Dance, can work. If one child decides to talk in the middle of an audiobook recitation, the others will probably enforce the peace so that they can listen undisturbed.
Give the kids something to look forward to!
There are plenty of websites that help you mark out every interesting attraction on any route. You can put them out on a map, and hand it to the kids. This way, they can keep checking out what’s coming up next.ย You can actually do even better than this. Get a bunch of low-cost gifts from a dollar store, and gift-wrap them. The rule should be that the kids get something for every hour that they behave. Few things can be more fun.
Kids get hungry, man!
The better you prepare for your kids’ hunger pangs, the more bearable your trip will be. Letting your children have their way with bags of junk food is a surefire way to end up with car sickness. Packing set meals or healthy snacks is always a good idea. Go with almond butter sandwiches, turkey hotdogs, dried fruit and snack pouches. Stopping for meals will help break up the monotony of the trip, but bringing food will help you save money! For snacks, get things like juice boxes and Slammers Superfood Snack Pouches help avoid messiness and keep them healthy.
Children tend to fuss when they travel when they are hungry or sleepy. All you need to do is to plan for these two needs. With pillows, blankets and enough healthy snacks, you’re almost all set.
