A little bit of preparation can make all the difference between an awesome road trip with your kids and a day full of meltdowns.
My family takes a lot of road trips during the summer. Our longest is our yearly trip to and from the beach. Last year, I shared everything I packed to entertain our 1 and 3 year olds during that trip.
This year, I wanted to share our updated road trip activities with you. Here’s everything I packed for a successful car trip with our now 2 year old (Kate) and 4 year old (Emma.)
Note: Almost everything on this list came from 3 places: The dollar store, our local library, or Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post contains affiliate links, meaning that if you choose to click through and make a purchase, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.
1. Books on CD
Our library has lots of picture books with CDs. We checked out a bunch, packed a CD player headphones, and Emma was all set to listen to stories on her own in the car.
2. Playaway Views
I don’t know if most libraries have these or not, but they are tiny little TV screens that will either play a show, or read a book when you hit play. Our kids love them.
3. Favorite books
This is Kate’s favorite book ever, so we brought it along. It’s great because the buttons are easy enough for her to push without help.
4. Magazines
We love our Highlights magazines. The one shown here is for younger kids: 0-2. Emma loves to read the older version. I just hid them for a week or so when they came in the mail so they would be “new” on our car ride.
5. This Scissor Skills and Tape Activity Book set
These books are so cool! Emma couldn’t get enough of the Scissor Skills one. The tape book was a little bit trickier, but also fun. Oh, Melissa & Doug. You think of everything.
6. Chapter books on CD
Sometimes it’s nice to listen to a story as a family. Even the littlest kids pick up more than you might think, especially if you pause and talk to them about what’s happening. We got these from our library.
7. Whiteboard & dry erase markers
I packed up a few markers in a pencil box, and added an old sock as an eraser.
8. These puffy sticker books
These are the best sticker books ever. Both the girls played with them for many hours over the course of our trip.
9. Blank drawing paper
You can just grab a stack from your printer, or buy a paper pad. (Mine came from the dollar store.)
10. This drawing book
This book is pretty cool. Emma has always been very artistic, so she likes to try to follow the directions and draw the pictures in here.
11. Tiny notebooks
Tiny notebooks are better than big ones. I’m not sure why, but they are always more popular than larger notebooks. I usually pick these up at the dollar spot in Target.
12. Colorful pens
We stocked up on some new, colorful pens for the trip. They came from the dollar store.
13. Activity and coloring books
This Highlights workbook is super amazing! Emma loved it. Kate’s book is just a normal coloring book from the dollar store, and is not nearly as exciting. Sorry, Kate.
14. Markers (and pencil cases to hold them)
Each girl got a new set of markers for the trip. (I don’t allow crayons in cars ever since I had one melt on the back seat one time!) These came from the dollar store, along with the plastic pencil cases I used to store them.
- Crayola washable markers
- Pencil bags (these look much more durable than the ones I picked up!)
15. Little bags full of dollar store toys/items
You know your kids, so I’m sure you can guess what little dollar store items will get them really excited. I found these little bags at a thrift store, and filled them with goodies like hand sanitizer, lotion, nail files, and chapstick. They were a huge hit.
I also bought this pointer finger. Strange, I know, but the girls loved playing with it. I think it’s because they were confined to their car seats for so long, and this extended their reach, allowing them to do things like control their own air vents and tap my husband and me on the shoulders! 😉
16. These storage clipboards
We only had one of these last year, and I bought another one because they are so great. They pop open, which makes great sticker/marker/notebook storage. They’re also pretty big so they double as lap desks, or a hard surface to color or write on.
17. Road trip bingo
I printed this out here. I love that it’s all pictures so you don’t have to be able to read to play.
18. Printable worksheets
You can print out worksheets on any topic and for any age. I printed out some ocean-themed worksheets that Emma could do, since we were heading to the beach.
19. Stickers
Stickers are always a hit. I bought a few packs at the dollar store and tucked them away inside the girls’ clipboards.
20. A crate or basket to hold everything
I like to pack everything in an open basket or crate so I can easily pull things out and put them back in during the trip, and things don’t end up all over the car.
Everything fit in with no problem. I stacked all the books/papers on one side of the crate, and tucked most of the electronics into this small canvas bag on the other side. (The bag has a little pocket in the front that is perfect for chargers and extra batteries.)
OTHER IDEAS:
21. Music
Music is a great car activity! Create an awesome playlist ahead of time on your phone, or make sure your favorite music app is ready to go. You can also buy a new CD (do people still buy CDs?!) or check one out from the library.
- All of our favorite toddler songs
- My favorite CD of kids songs
- My favorite kids’ Bible songs
- The CD we tried out from the library for this trip– Laurie Berkner is one of our favorites!
22. Snacks
You’ll definitely want to pack some snacks- both for your kids and for yourself! I pack a water bottle for everyone (the girls both have one of these) a variety of snacks, and these snack containers, which I fill as needed. I also bring a trash bag or two in order to collect wrappers.
Check out my big list of easy toddler snack ideas here!
23. Movies
Our car does have a DVD player, so we checked out a few movies from the library. We didn’t end up watching them, but we had them if we felt like we needed them. Instead of bringing along the whole DVD case, I pulled out the DVDs and tucked them into our car visor CD holder to save space.
24. Special treats
Save something extra special for those last 20 minutes that turn into 50 minutes of traffic. I always bring lollypops and gum, since the girls aren’t usually allowed to have them. My sanity has been saved by a lollypop on more than one occasion!
Download the free printable planning sheet
Now that you have some great ideas, click here to download the free planning sheet. This page will give you space to write down your favorite ideas. It also includes a to do list and a shopping list, so that you can start planning for a fun and stress-free road trip today.
You’ve got this. Have a wonderful trip!
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