Road trip activities for toddlers and preschoolers

The beach where we vacation each year with our extended family is an 8 hour drive from our house. We have a 1 year old and a 3 year old.

So if you do the math (add time for each diaper change, potty stop, food break, leg stretch, road-side stop to get the giant beetle out of the car, etc.) that turns into a twelve hour car ride!

Oh, and we drove back home, again, too. That makes 24 hours in the car with two kids, you guys! Woah.

Maybe you’re reading this article because you, too, are planning a road trip with your kids. Well, you came to right place.

We survived, and even had a great time together. And it’s all thanks to the huge bin of activities I’ve been working on (and keeping the kids out of!) for the past month.

Be sure to download the free printable road trip planner to start planning what you’ll bring on your own trip! You can download it here.

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Update: The 2019 version of this article is now available! Click to see what I packed one year later for a 2 and 4 year old.

OK, let’s talk about what you should bring along to entertain your kiddos during this road trip of yours.

Activity books

I brought 2 sticker/activity books, which Emma (our 3 year old) could write and draw in. Kate (the one year old) played with the stickers.

The wipe-clean workbook was great because Emma could draw in it with dry erase markers, erase, and do it all over again. (She really loves writing letters and numbers.)

Finally, the Highlights magazine has these pages in it where you have to find hidden pictures, which Emma loves.

Board books

I included 2 of Kate’s favorite books so that she could look at them on her own. Pottytime for Chickies and Baby Faces are both very well-loved, and she can “read” some of the pages by herself, so they held her interest for a while. (If you’re looking for more book ideas, check out this list of my top 15 favorite books for babies/toddlers.)

Thrift Store Finds

I bought this old phone and calculator at a thrift store, cleaned them, and saved them for the girls to play with on this trip. Kate loved the calculator. Both girls played with the phone for quite some time. Kate pushed buttons and pulled the antenna up and down. Emma had extended conversations with lots of imaginary people. 🙂

Makeup. Just call me really crazy.

Emma loves makeup. She is always asking me if she can play with my makeup, and I am always telling her no. So when I saw this unopened makeup kit at a yard sale for fifty cents, I thought, “Why not?”

This was, by far, the favorite activity of the car ride. Yes, it was a little messy, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Nothing a few wipes couldn’t fix. And it certainly had all of us laughing!

(To see an “after” picture of Emma’s face, visit me on Instagram and check out my Road Trip stories!)

Baby toys

I packed a few things just for Kate. She’s been loving Violet lately, so she came along. It’s a stuffed animal that talks and sings to you, and calls you by your name. Except this was a hand-me-down from Emma, so it still says, “Emma.” We should change it, but… #secondchildproblems.

I packed a few little things inside of a play purse, and Kate had a great time taking them out and putting them back in again.

Here’s what I put in the purse:

A little car
A flashlight
Toy keys
A water bottle with dish soap, water and food coloring. She loved shaking and looking at this! Luckily, she can’t open bottles yet.
An old pair of my sunglasses

Play-Doh

I got this little starter set, and I thought both girls would have fun playing with it in the car. Well, Emma did a great job with it, but let me tell you- Kate made a huge mess with it!

Which just goes to show, every kid is different. My advice is to save this one for the older kids. Live and learn.

Story Reader

I don’t remember where we even got this, but it reads stories out loud as you follow along, and it’s awesome. Emma listened to quite a few stories with this. (Same idea here.)

Plus it has a little bag to contain all of the pieces.

Books on CD

These were for Emma, and they were a hit! I had to get the CDs started for her, but then she was able to follow along all by herself. Our library has tons of these. We also created some of our own, which you can read about here.

In addition, we checked out some of these CDs. We listened to the stories together as a family. We chose Arthur because that was something everyone could enjoy. Even Kate listened quietly, and Kevin and I weren’t bored to death- it was actually pretty entertaining!

Library Goodies

Our library has some pretty cool electronics. The one on top is an iPad that has books loaded onto it. This one was The Berenstain Bears, and it had a ton of different stories on it. The one of the bottom is a tiny screen that plays a Sid the Science Kid video.

Movies and music

We packed a couple different movies just in case we needed them. We don’t usually watch TV in the van. (The kids didn’t even know we had a DVD player in there until this trip.) It was nice to have these on hand, though, for such a long ride.

Music is always fun in the car, too. I have a playlist of our favorite songs on my phone, but we also brought these CDs:

We Sing Silly Songs: One of my childhood favorites
Slugs & Bugs: If you listen to Christian music, this one is our absolute favorites for the kids.
Soundtracks from our favorite movies: We like Moana, Frozen, and our new favorite, Tangled. We got this one from our trusty library.

Art Supplies

I bought this Color and Go Dry Erase Desk at Target, which is basically a large clipboard with storage inside. It’s a good size so Emma could put it on her lap and color (or play with play-doh) on top of it. I filled it up with some of her favorite art supplies:

Dry erase activity sheets, tiny markers, and a mini eraser: These came with the set.
Sticky notes: We drew pictures on these and stuck them all over the windows.
A pad of blank to do lists: Emma loves these for some reason. I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!
New pens
A mini notebook
A bag of small, washable markers

Kate loved coloring with the washable markers, too. Yes, I give my one year old markers in the car. Because crayons and cars don’t mix. It’s only a matter of time before one will melt all over everything on a hot day. Stick to the markers and don’t worry if they get some on themselves. They really are washable.

A clipboard and paper

I added a second clipboard because I knew both girls would want to color at the same time. I added to the clipboard:

Blank white paper: You can see an example of both the girls’ artwork above!
Emma’s writing practice: I just typed a list of all the members of the family that Emma would be seeing on vacation for her to practice writing.
100 Would You Rather Questions for Kids: I printed these out from this website, and we answered a bunch of them as a family. Emma’s answers were pretty funny!
Road Trip Bingo: I found this here, and printed a few copies out. Emma needed a little help with this one, but she did pretty well once we went over all of the pictures and explained what they were.

That’s a lot of stuff. How did it all fit in the car???

It all fit in the car. In fact, it all fit neatly into one large bin!

We put the bin right in front of Kate’s carseat. It fit perfectly.

It was great because I could easily reach the bin from my spot in the front passenger seat. I put each activity back in the bin before giving out a new one, and things actually stayed pretty organized throughout the day.

So that’s the entertainment!

Whew! If you’ve got that down, you’re well on your way to a smooth, successful road trip. But there are a few other things you’ll definitely want to have in the car as well. First up- if your kids are anything like mine- they’re going to need some snacks!

In the snack bag

I use an old gift bag to pack some snacks and drinks, just so I can throw it away when it’s empty. Here’s what I include:

Water bottles for the adults
Cups of water for the kids- We love these for travel because they don’t spill, and it’s easy to keep them clean
Snacks containers– I pack empty snack containers and then fill them up with one snack at a time so the girls can feed themselves without spilling a ton
Snacks for the kids- Our favorites are dry salty snacks like veggie straws, goldfish, and cereal, and fruits like grapes and apple slices
Adult snacks- Imagine for a moment that your kids both fell asleep, and now you’re hungry. Are you going to stop for food? No way! If the kids are asleep, keep driving. Plan ahead with some snacks for yourself. 😉
Special treats- Pack one or two special treats that your kids don’t usually get, and whip them out as needed. We brought fruit snacks, juice boxes, and gum (for Emma.)

Your purse or diaper bag:

Pack a big purse or diaper bag with essentials that you can take in with you at rest stops. Here’s what to include:

A change of clothes for each child: I keep them in the dry section of my wet/dry bag. If someone has an accident, I change them and put the dirty clothes in the wet section.
A diaper changing clutch with wipes and diapers
Kleenex wipes: For cleaning dirty hands and faces
Your phone and charger
A few magazines to read: Just in case you have some time to yourself
Your wallet and keys
An extra pacifier
A silicon placemat: For toddlers who like to throw plates, this will save them from eating off the table if you stop at a restaurant.

A few other things to make your trip more organized:

A car visor organizer for CDs and DVDs
EZpass: So you can take all the express lanes!
A power inverter / car adapter: We keep this in our glove box and it’s come in handy more times than I can count. You plug it into the car’s lighter, and it provides you with 2 regular electrical outlets.
A trash bag
Apps for your phone:

Audible– Download a book for yourself to listen to during nap time. We took advantage of the two free sample books this trip.

Overcast– My favorite podcast app. Did you know there are podcasts for kids? Check out What if World. It’s silly and fun.

Playground Buddy– How about a picnic for lunch? The kids love to stretch their legs at a playground after hours in the car.

Pandora– for all the tunes 🙂

Whew! That was a lot of information.

Before you get overwhelmed, click here to print out my free road trip planning sheet. Take a few minutes to write down your ideas. Remember- you know your kids best, so you’re the best one to decide what they’ll need.

Now go out there and make that road trip awesome!

P.S. Don’t forget to check out the pictures of our road trip in action. Visit me on Instagram and check out the Road Trip highlight.

Road trip activities for toddlers and preschoolers