Travel Tips

Well, as we get closer to leaving on our trip to Utah next week I have been doing some research on keeping te kids occupied better in the car. I put together a travel folder for our 3 older kids filled with games and activities for them to do. The folders are just flat folders that the kids brought home from school so I'm reusing them. You could also use a 3-ring binder. I thought these would take up less room in the car being flat.

For Megan's (almost 5) I went to NickJr's website and printed off a bunch of Dora activity sheets because she loves Dora! I also found a Spongebob activity pack to print off for my son Brandon on that website. They have all the characters listed there, just click where you want! Kate isn't so much into the nickjr stuff, but they do have a couple of Holly Hobbie printable coloring pages and a tic-tac-toe page.

There are all kinds of things to print off and ideas for travelling here at Child Parenting. I found a fun Travel Bingo on Crayola's website. You have to register to print things out on their site, but they have some fun stuff. Here is another link for more printable car games and ideas at Family Fun. On Kids Domain there are some more bingo games and also a reusable tic-tac-toe board. Also, check out Mom's Minivan for ideas for babies, toddlers, and big kids. PBS Kids has a lot of printable coloring pages, too. Girls will also love these coloring pages of Strawberry Shortcake.

One game I always played when was growing up is the license plate game. I found a list of all the state names in a table here and I copied and pasted it into a word document and printed it from there. Then the kids can cross off the names of the states as they see them on license plates or they can make tally marks to see how many they see of different states.

So I printed all these things off and punches holes so I could hook them into the folders. I want everything attached so we won't have loose papers all over the van.

I also found this checklist so I wouldn't forget the basics! I've made a list of other misc. things I need to take on this trip and I've found it very handy in getting ready. Another thing I try to have on long trips is a new movie or 2 so they are more interested in watching it than one they've seen 10 times (or more). You could also go to the dollar store and get some little games to pass out if they are good ("Ok, if you can make it the next 2 hours without whining at us you will get one of the surprises.")

Snacks are a must, but with a new van in our family (used, but new to us!) we are not taking any snacks that are sticky or melty. Our kids have been huge slobs on trips in the past, but they love the new van, too, and have been very good about keeping it clean so far that I think this trip will be better than before. One thing Ben and I always take on trips is Salt and Vinegar Pringles. It's become a tradition so we'll be taking those with us this time, too. :)

Well, that's about all I can think of right now. I post more travel stuff if I find more! Oh, one thing I just remembered. Don't take crayons in the car if you're going to be stopping at any place hot. They will melt! We went through that last summer after forgetting to take them out of the car when we got there. What a mess! Thankfully, they were inside a box and didn't melt on the floor or seats, but it could have been worse. Take colored pencils or washable markers instead.