It may be faster to travel by air, but there is no doubt that it’s more economical and, certainly, more fun to travel by road especially when you have your home with you! The trick for pleasant road trips is keeping boredom at a minimum. No matter what stage of life your family is in you’ll find ideas here to make the road fun for everyone.
Expert Advice
Tips And Tricks To Pass Time In The Car
We’ve logged more than 70,000 miles in our truck as a family over the last three and half years. However, our road trips didn’t begin when we hit the road full time in our RV. When the boys were younger we had a folding camping trailer and it wasn’t unusual to take 8 hour drives to camp under the majestic redwoods in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range or head across the desert to visit family in Arizona.
All Ages
-
Share Stories
A long car ride is the perfect time to get to know your kids better and share family stories. Use “ice breaker” type questions like “What is your earliest memory?” or keep things silly by asking imaginative questions like “If you were going to the moon what would you take and why?” A group story where everyone takes turns adding a sentence or two to the story can be really fun. Mad Libs are another way to pass time while having a few good laughs.
Tip: Print out a list of “Ice Breaker” questions beforehand! -
Games
Driving games and small travel games are classic ways to pass time in the car. Games can be as easy as “Eye Spy” for little ones to more challenging games like “I’m Going on a Trip” (Each person says “I’m going on a trip to ______ and I’m bringing a ______.” You go around and around repeating what everyone is bringing and adding to the list each time it’s your turn. Anytime someone forgets an item they are out until there is just one person left.) My older boys enjoyed this game for a long time. Small travel games like Connect Four, one of our family favorites for years, can pass time as well.
Tip: Try to avoid bringing or minimize games with lots of small pieces.
-
Books
Bring along a stack of beloved board books for the little ones and some new reading for the big kids. What if your older kids “don’t like to read”? My oldest, Thing 1, used to be a voracious reader but as he got older he started to lose interest. It takes a little more work than when he was younger, but I found a little research went a long way and I am able to find books he enjoys. The best thing I did was visit the library and talk to the librarian in the teen section. I told her his interests and she was able to suggest books. It worked! My reluctant reader became a voracious reader again, at least until the series was over and I had to find a new one!
Tip: Kindles for the older boys have been an invaluable investment. Did you know you can borrow Kindle and other e-reader books from your library? Borrowing books on e-readers saves a ton of space and money. We’ve paid for our Kindles many times over with the amount of books we’ve borrowed.
-
Yummy Snacks
Sometimes long car rides can be a challenge for everyone. One sure way to keep meltdowns to a minimum is to keep little (and big!) tummies from rumbling with yummy snacks. A surefire strategy that works for us is to bring along “special” snacks. These are foods that our kids don’t get very often. We recently had a long drive from Colorado to Texas. The night before we stopped by Trader Joe’s and picked up surprise special snacks.
Tip: For the little ones make sure the snacks are easy open so mom or dad doesn’t have to help! Also, make sure everyone has his or her own water bottle within easy reach. -
Blankets and pillows
No one likes to get a crook in their neck while sleeping even the little ones in the back seat. Not only that, but I bet we’ll agree we want to stretch out naptime as long as possible. Naps break up the long drive for little ones and give parents a stretch of that cherished peace and quiet. To increase the chances of a long midday slumber in the backseat bring along a blanket and pillow for each of your younger passengers.
Tip: If your child has a special blankie, always check for it when you take stops. We somehow lost Thing 1’s special blankie on a road trip when he was little. I don’t know who was more upset, him or me.
Younger Kids
For the little ones list, I enlisted the help of my sister, who just drove 12 hours alone with her kids all under the age of 8 to go RVing with us in Mississippi. I wish I had thought of some of these things when Thing 1 and 2 were younger, and we will be using some of them for sure with Thing 3 in the not too distant future.
-
Activity books
Activity books can keep little hands busy while the miles pass. There are activity books for kids of all ages. Activity books with games and puzzles are great for older kids. For the ones not yet ready for games, try sticker books. Of course crayons and coloring are always a great go-to activity. -
Sing
Nowadays if I break into Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah with my teens I may get an uncomfortable laugh followed by “stop it mom”. They won’t admit it but when they were little they loved it when I sang and would jump right in. While you might not want to sing for 12 hours straight, a few songs here and there can break up the monotony of a long drive. If you are the type that can handle children’s music for extended periods of time (I’m not! Ha ha!), then buy a few children’s albums for the kids.
-
Interactive and Imaginary Toys
Be sure to pack a few interactive toys that will be able to keep little minds and hands busy. For many years Legos were a staple on our long car rides. Our boys had a little lap tray with storage containers and a Lego base plate to build on. Etch-A-Sketches and small play sets are also a fun way to keep them busy. -
Simple Craft Projects
Clearly a long car ride is not the time to get out the hot glue gun, but it’s a perfect time to for simple craft projects. My sister’s four-year-old daughter (yes, four) likes to crochet and her son has assembled snap together models. They can do both activities without the help of mom and dad and it keeps them busy. Check the dollar bins at your local crafting store for a selection of small, easy, and inexpensive craft projects. -
“Block Scheduling”
Block scheduling isn’t something to pack. It’s a strategy to implement everything you pack to keep the peace. The idea is so simple that I can’t believe I didn’t do it when my kids were younger. To make the miles pass faster for everyone, set a schedule for activities. For example, set a timer or watch the clock to allow 20 minutes of reading, followed by 20 minutes of a creative activity or play, followed by 20 minutes of singing, followed by a snack, and then repeat. If you are comfortable with your kids having screen time throw in a movie or screen time into the rotation. Of course, adjust the “blocks” to whatever activities your kids enjoy most and time increments that work the best for them. A few rotations will pass and you’ll be at your destination before you know it!
Tip: Organize all the goodies in special travel boxes for each kid for easy access. Keep a few things stashed away for the return trip so they will have something new to do on the way home.
Older Kids
We started full time RVing when our youngest was 8 and our oldest was 11. They are now 12 and 15 and we’ve seen some major changes during this time. Along with those changes, we’ve had to alter our approach to long car rides (and we’ve taken a lot of them!).
-
Family Audiobooks
I can’t say enough good things about listening to audiobooks with the older kids. Truth be told, I wasn’t that keen on audio books myself. I love to read and just the thought of someone else reading out loud to me was annoying. I was certain that the suggestion of audiobooks to my boys would be met with eye rolls or protests. I was WRONG! Okay, there was a little protest at first and a few books haven’t been exactly hits in my teens’ eyes but the overwhelming majority have been really wonderful experiences! Not only do audiobooks keep us entertained but they also give us something else to talk about as a family. Audiobooks are how we kept busy on our loooong drive from Key West, Florida to Alaska. There have been many times that our boys have wanted to go on long drives so we can listen to our book. A few times they have been so into the audiobook that they even complained that our drive was “too short”! That’s a complaint I’ll take.
Tip: Do a little research ahead of time and look for historical fiction set in the area where you are going. For example we listened to Jason’s Gold (a story about the Klondike Gold Rush) while driving through the Yukon and Johnny Tremain (a story that takes place before and during the American Revolution) while driving to New England. Not only will the drive go faster but everyone will also be learning!
-
School Work
Okay, I’ll admit this isn’t going to be a favorite among the tweens and teens but long car rides can be a great way to catch up on some school work. If you are met with resistance at the suggestion try reminding them of the benefits of getting it done in the car. Not only will it help the drive pass more quickly, but they also will have more free time once you get to your destination. In addition they won’t have to worry about catching up if you’ll be getting home on a Sunday night before school. -
Research Project
What?!?! First I tell you to suggest homework to your kid and now I’m suggesting a research project?!?! Bear with me for a minute. I really believe that behind all the eye rolls and sarcasm teens and tweens like to be involved with the decision-making process. And if your kids are anything like mine they like their screen time. Ideally, we would banish all cell phone use in the car but for us that’s just not realistic. So why not use some of that screen time to learn something. If you have a smart phone, ask them to do a little reading about the places you are going. -
Music
Perhaps you’ll want to offer to buy your kid some new music for his or her MP3 player. He or she will (hopefully…I know how teens are) appreciate the gift and it will give them something new to do and make the miles go faster.
-
Screen Time
As much as I would like to leave screen time off the list, I’ve found it’s just not possible in our family, especially as the boys have gotten older. Using all the ideas above has dramatically reduced but not eliminated screen time. Like other kids their age, my boys really do enjoy texting with friends, playing games, and watching movies on their devices. To be honest, Brent and I do too, so we don’t beat ourselves up by allowing screen time. After all, you are on your way to a campground where there will be plenty of outdoor activities to do once you are there and you never know when you’ll catch one of your kids capturing memories with their camera phones!
Tip: Did you know you can pick up a movie from one Redbox and return it to any Redbox in the U.S.? Just be sure to check their locations using their Location Tool before you rent to make sure there will be a place to drop it off.
These are our strategies to keep the “Are We There Yet?”s to a minimum and to make car rides fun for everyone.
What would you add to the list to keep kids busy on road trips? What’s the longest drive you’ve taken with your family?
