It’s Road Trip Time! Road trips are probably my favorite way to travel, but there is a certain amount of planning that is needed to make them successful. With our Mother of All Road Trips (MOART) coming up, I’ve been cooking up a few new ideas to make the miles seem less monotonous. And since today is Travel Tips Tuesday, I am excited to share some of my ideas for managing road trips with kids and making it more fun on the way. Please link up your travel ideas below and share your best traveling tips.
A WARNING about cute and creative crafts: The internet is filled with sites that seem to only be designed to make moms feel bad that they are not slaving for hours creating handmade masterpieces for their kids (Yes, Pinterest, I am looking at you!!) Parenting is not meant to be a competitive sport and the woman with the best glue gun skills does not win a prize. Only use and create these crafts if you think you will enjoy making them and your kids will enjoy using them. If not, ditch the crafts (and the guilt) and do what works for you.
Make a Road Trip Countdown
Way before kids can tell time or read maps they can yell “are we there yet” from the backseat. Printing these cards will give kids of all ages a visual representation of the miles yet to travel and the miles already behind you. Print the cards onto cardstock and fill in the blanks with cities or milestones you will pass on your route. With younger kids, make the milestones closer together so they won’t have to wait too long. On the back of each card, write a fun game or treat that the whole family can look forward to doing as that milestone is passed. Hang the cards on a ribbon or string in your car using clothespins or paper clips and watch the miles melt away with all the fun of yanking each of those suckers off the string.
Make Snacking Fun
A perfectly timed snack is a surefire way to stave off the hungry, cranky beast in the back seat. With just a printer and stapler, you can make your snacks much more Martha Stewart worthy with very little effort. Fill quart and gallon sized ziplock bags with your kids’ favorite snacks and then staple these snack toppers to the top. As a bonus, these fun snacks are also friendly to your budget. Gas station snacks are so tempting and can really add up. Knowing that these cute snacks are packed and waiting for you in the car makes it so much easier to speed past the candy aisle and get back on the road.
Packing in the Fun
Planning new games and activities along the way can be the difference between the highway to heaven or well….you know. Finding a clever way to hand out those treats can add even more fun (and distraction) to your car weary crew. Print these little tags and attach them to wrapped presents or tiny gift bags filled with card games, art supplies, or other trinkets that will keep kids busy for at least a few miles. This paper gift bag template can be printed onto colored cardstock of your choice to satisfy your inner scrapbooking goddess. However, if you are short on time (or just haven’t found your inner scrapping goddess), you could fill paper take-out containers from the dollar store, or wrap activities in plain brown paper.
Print your own free road trip printables below and don't forget to link up with Travel Tips Tuesday!
Click Here: Road Trip Printables
Where were you last week before I started my road trip! I love the count down tags. We will be using them for sure. And thanks for the reminder that the mom with the fastest glue gun doesnt win a prize. Cause I'm not really sure where mine is đ
I am definitely making the countdown tags for our next trip, which happens to be a 15 hour drive to Virginia and then another four to Maryland. This will be great!
Those are some cute ideas. Planning some along-the-way surprises is something I'd like to try. I do agree that road trips can be stressful enough without adding craft-guilt to the to-do list. Play to your strengths and do what sounds like fun, not work.
I love the countdown idea! Such great tips.
Thanks for these great tips! I've never seen the tag idea…. love it!
What I love the most about this post, that you remind us that we aren't horrible mom's if we can't recreate all those cute things we find our friends put on pinterest! lol My attempts never look as good as the originals. đ And popcorn, why didn't I think of that for a travel snack? My kids love popcorn! And pre packaging the snacks would probably be helpful for me in the long run, making it easier to dish out to the kids in the back seat. Great tips!
Well I think my kids are past the point of wanting to count down to things now, but I'd enjoy ripping something down everytime we passed a city. Especially if I get a treat for it! That sounds perfect for me.
Hey, I could have use your exact Road Trip cards a few weeks ago for my Austin to Waco daytrip. Cute idea.
What a cute idea. I never would have thought about doing cards. Baby B will need to get a bit older (he'll just try to eat it right now) but we will try that!
Great tips! I love the printables, my oldest would LOVE doing that!
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This is great! But I feel like I’m missing something…are the printables no longer free as mentioned in the post? Or am I clicking the wrong link? When I try to download, it takes me to Scribd’s payment options for a membership.
Thanks!
Hmmmm….the printables are still free.. Maybe try this link directly?
http://www.scribd.com/doc/99624682/Road-Trip-Printables
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