Traveling With Kids: 5 Tips to Make it Easier
Let’s face it, traveling with kids can be stressful and exhausting. The constant “Are we there yet?” And “I’m hungry!” Can tax any adult human quite rapidly.
So what do you do when you are going on a trip, and want to make it as easy on the kids and as enjoyable for you as possible?
1 - Travel at Night
For our spring break trip to Texas, this was a lifesaver!
We left after Honey got off of work at 6:00 PM for our 14ish hour drive. I work nights, so a few hours into the trip, I was tasked with driving. The kids fell asleep easily, and o Lt woke up when we stopped for fuel and bathroom breaks.
On the way home, we left around 1 PM. While there were several hours of the kids being awake, they still slept for about half of the drive.
2 - Bring a Laptop or Portable DVD Player
Or a tablet.
On this trip, I purchased an AC adapter off of Amazon, and I packed up my laptop with a few movie choices. Dinosaurs kept the kids occupied for several hours.
As a bonus, I was able to semi-entertain 3 year old SD while sitting in a hunting blind by having her watch movies.
3 - Bring Books!
This one actually came as a surprise to me. My mom bought 8 year old SS Diary of a Wimpy Kid for Christmas. I didn’t think he was much of a reader, but he started to read it before leaving for spring break.
I packed the book for him to read while we were at the cabin, and he flew threw it. Since I didn’t think he would read it as fast as he did, I didn’t bring the second book. So when we went to San Antonio, I bought him another book. This kept him occupied for hours on the drive home! Win!
4 - Bring Snacks!
I know, we don’t want to teach our kids to boredom eat. But I swear they have a second snack stomach, that is ten times larger than their normal stomach.
Pack all the snacks. Give them plenty of options. It’ll also cut down on the, “I’m hungry!”
5 - Music and Small Toys
While me playing music on my phone didn’t keep them entertained as long as movies did, it was also a nice break from listening to cartoons for hours on end.
Also, kids can entertain themselves for hours if they have a few small toys. Even just a couple of stuffed animals. If you’re ok with them playing games on a tablet, that’s great too!