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Our family takes quite a number of road trips, particularly when we visit my husband’s family in the Southeast. This holiday weekend, we’re laying low at home since we’ve been all over the country in the past month. However, I wanted to share some tips on making the long road trips a bit easier with young children.
1. As the boy scouts say, be prepared. While I typically try to travel light on airplanes, I don’t skimp when it comes to road trips. With ample storage space, I tend to bring essentials and niceties so that we’re comfortable on the road. Favorite toys and snacks help make the hours go by quickly.
2. Keep them entertained. I once read that the attention span of a child is 3-5 minutes per year if age. So even if you have a 10 year old, you may get about an hour, although I expect that would be less in the car. I like to bring new toys, DVDs, and coloring activities on the trip, introducing them one at a time throughout the duration of the trip
3. Be a night owl. Nighttime or early mornings are ideal for car travel since children will likely sleep, allowing you to cover more distance with fewer stops. Be sure to alternate drivers to prevent nighttime fatigue.
4. Build in rest stops. It’s likely that children won’t last longer than 2-3 hours, particularly if they’re young and mastering potty training. I like to research rest stops along our route and plan to make stops rather than waiting until the kids are cranky, hungry, or in need of a potty.
What are your best tips for road trips with kids?
Win It! One of you will win a road trip survival package containing the following:
- 2 coloring and activity books with over 100 pages of coloring and drawing exercises.
- One pack of crayons for coloring and activity books.
- One toy; for boys a toy motorcycle and for girls a small stuffed animal.
- One travel friendly Milton Bradley game, Hungry Hungry Hippos or Connect Four.
- One Johnson and Johnson First Aid kit which includes 70 items in case of emergency bumps and bruises, including 54 band-aids of assorted sizes, 6 hand cleansing wipes, 4 gauze pads, Tylenol, 3 antibiotic ointment, and a compact carrying case.
- One Johnson and Johnson supplemental First Aid kit with 12 more assorted items in a smaller
Simply leave me a comment with your best tip for taking road trips with kids. Comments will close on September 18, 2010 at 11:59 PM PST. Duplicates and comments not including the above information will be disqualified. Comments are moderated. If you don’t see your comment in a reasonable amount of time, send me an email. Bloggers and non-bloggers may enter. If you don’t want to leave your email address, please be sure to check back for my announcement on the winner. Please note that winners must respond within 48 hours of being announced/contacted or another winner will be drawn. Want an extra entry? Do any or all of the following and receive an extra entry for each one.Be sure to leave me a separate comment for each additional entry.
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leave early in the morning so they sleep
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I like to make sure we have plenty of snacks.
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When my kids were little and we traveled to Florida from New Jersey, we left around dinner time so the kids would sleep through the night. When they woke in the morning, we were more than half way there and they were refreshed and excited to be traveling.
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My best tip woulod be to bring LOTS of snacks, and juice packs! lol…My kids nintendo DS works wonders for entertainment also! karasceviour at hotmail dot com
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When we take a trip with the kids I make up a bag for each of them with snacks,toys and fun things to do. They enjoy each having their own and also a great way for them to learn sharing. Thanks!
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We bring lots of DVDs for our DVD player!
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My tip would be to bring lots of stuff to keep them busy and plan lots of possible stops.
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Load up a playlist with songs everyone likes!
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Unfortunately a last resort solution is bribing with candy. Maybe sugar free. I ended giving it to other kids on the plane because they kept crying. A handheld video game helps.
My tip is to bring snacks and toys.
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My children are older now but we still plan in advance for roadtrips. What I have found works best is having the girls be part of the planning process. If they have ownership in something, they are much more likely to cooperate and participate.
pillows/blankets and let them have their own map
Take plenty of non messy snacks and drink boxes. I always like to bring along travel games and small toys.
following and tweeted http://twitter.com/annedoggett/status/23068779465
We have found that frequent stops help keep the kids from getting antsy in the car.
I make sure we have plenty of healthy snacks. We also pack books for the kids to read.
I invested in one of thoes dvd players that goes in your car. It is agreat thing! My kids watch cartoons on long trips and I never here a word from them.
We try to start out when I know the kids will be a little sleepy and take a nap!
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Before you go, get a bag full of different little things of interest, perhaps from a nearby dollar store. Kids have short attention spans, so one game or item, no matter how spectacular, will lose its appeal in no time flat. Keep the bag of goodies handy and give them out one per hour or half hour, depending on how long the trip is.
We always take an ice chest with drinks and snacks. That way we do not have to make frequent stops. We also take a potty chair, just in case we are 50 miles away from the nearest bathroom when my daughter lets us know she needs to go potty!
Following on twitter and tweeted http://twitter.com/FlyingGiggles/status/23108088293
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Bring a DVD player and lots of DVDs.
We bring a bag of books, toys, and coloring. One of the best things that I bought for road trips was a tray that straps across my sons lap and hooks to the car seat cover. It has a soft bottom and has four sides to keep crayons from rolling off. He loves it!
We play car bingo, trivia and we listen to books on tape. The kids also bring hand-held video games.
We bring the portable DVD player and plenty of her favorite DVDs.
Among other things, we bring along a portable dvd player and Veggie Tales dvd’s.
My best tip is to time trips for nap time. LOL
I follow you on Twitter @eswright18 and tweeted
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snacks, travel games and portable dvd player. Zingo! is a winner in this house!
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my tip if at all possible have an adult sit in the back with the kids..last road trip my son kept taking off his seatbelt..til my sister moved to the back…then he was an angel
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Leave at night so they will sleep the whole way!
go to a few garage sales before your trip and get some new little toys etc that can be played with in the car that children have never seen before. Give them a toy each time they start to get antsy.
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I like to pack plenty of snacks.
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My best tip would be ,travel at night if possible,kids do so much better at night,they sleep thru most of it
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traveling is tricky this is nice
I like to bring each child a new coloring book and crayons
Thank you
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Make sure they have a Leapster, DS, or something of that nature. Pack a bookbag full of activities, books, favorite toys and such. Map out bathroom stops so that they don’t have to hold it too long.
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Pack lots of snacks and toys!
I follow and tweeted. http://twitter.com/susanlanai/status/23899812285
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We drive at night so the little ones sleep! Thanks for the chance.
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I always have the mini writer in my car for both daughters. They can spend lots of time writing/drawing on them.
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went to the wisconsin dells
Invest in a portable DVD player. It’s worth every penny!
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Plan on making lots of stops for restroom breaks and so the kids can burn off a litte steam.
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Bring a lot of different types of activities for the kids to keep themselves busy and active during the road trip such as games, dvds, music, books, coloring etc. For some reason, on long road trips, one of my kids always seems to throw-up, so another tip I have is make sure that you bring extra towels, lysol in can, paper towels etc. to effectively clean up any messes in the car that you might get.
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coloring stuff, handheld game, dvds
You can get children’s audio books from the library for free. My kids love listening to them in the car.
My tip is to always have small easy-to-eat (and not too many crumbs!) snacks along for the trip!
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My tip is that we make sure their Nintendo DS’s are charged and have their games in a backpack so they have something to do.
My best tip for taking roadtrips with kids is to always make them at least try to go potty before you leave and every time you make a stop. Thanks for the contest! codisweepstakes2 (@) gmail(dot)com
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on long trips drive at night so the kids sleep, my kids fight during long trips it is so much better this way
I always have little snacks and lots of different activities to keep the kids occupied.
The portable dvd player is a lifesaver.
My best advice would be to make sure you bring lots of stuff for them to do. Having a dvd player isn’t enough on a 12 hour car ride. Got to have some other activities. We especially like car bingo.
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Follow you on Twitter and tweeted http://twitter.com/chipdip2010/status/24785632916
Bring lots of snacks and activity items to keep them busy.
road trip with kids? bring a 1st aid kit
bring snacks with you
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To make a trip more pleasant for everyone pack a backpack for each child that might include a variety of their favorite things such as a favorite toy, blanket, dvd, book, snack or drink.
They will be more comfortable with their familiar items and the trip will go much more smoothly.
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I try to pack plenty of munchies and toys.
try to stick to “normal” schedules – mealtimes, etc. when traveling
Let the kids help pick out toys and snacks for the car and then bring along some others for surprises. Bring the child’s favorite pillow (and blanket!) Be willing to sing and play “I Spy” a bazillion times
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My best tip: Always remember to pack plenty of snacks. Put them in little ziplock bags before you leave the house, and dole them out now and again to prevent incredible amounts of whining
Laura Pruett
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we bring the dvd players and a digital camera works great
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My best tip is to plan stops about every two hours to let people get out and stretch their legs and run around a little bit before getting back in the car. It makes it much more pleasant to drive with them.
Pack lots of snacks!
We rely on the dvd player in our van.
Make sure they all go potty before you leave
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get a good rest and have snacks! suelee1998 @ gmail.com
we drive throough the night so the kids sleep, works great for us!
janel_marie at yahoo dot com
I like books on tape/CD. I try to find a few that we all can enjoy. Thanks.
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My best tip for traveling with the kids is to be prepared for anything. We have had motion sickness, unexpected bathroom breaks as soon as you get back on the interstate from a bathroom break, etc. Anything can happen when you travel with your little ones.
Thanks for the giveaway…we try to stop every 90 minutes or so to let the kids run around, explore, etc. and release some of their pent up energy when we are on road trips.
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My best tip is to have plenty of bathroom trips and bring drinks and snacks for the kids.
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plenty of coloring stuff ty.
My best tip is to take a cooler filled with juice drinks, Dole fruit cups & some Boogie wipes.
Bring a trash bag too..don’t be a litter bug.
Snacks are a must. A portable DVD player is also a lifesaver.
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Pack a backpack full of games and activities for kids.
Carry snacks, both healthy and a little unhealthy. Also some surprises like games, stickers, movies, etc.. Keep things interesting and fun.
One of my best tips is to always be armed with games, toys and sing-along CDs.
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