Wow! We just survived an epic family road trip with kids. Our destination was 18 hours away. Before leaving, I was pretty nervous. So, for the first day, we planned on only going 9 hours, then 9 again later. But on the way home, we just went for it and made 18 hours in one day with four kids in tow! Woop!
How did we survive such a long family road trip with kids? With careful planning and forethought, plus God watching out for us, that’s how! And you can do it, too. With a little prep and a visit to the dollar store, you can be ready for your incredible family road trip adventure, too.
11 Travel Hacks to Survive a Family Road Trip with Kids
Road Trip Hack #1: Get Comfortable
For starters, each child brought along their favorite creature comforts – a blanket, small pillow, and a treasured stuffy for the littles. We dressed the kids in super soft comfortable clothes and socks. Dressing in layers and bringing a blanket allowed each child to manage their own temperature without fussing. And they had everything they needed when they felt sleepy!
Road Trip Hack #2: Snacks & Water
Before the trip, we made a trip to Dollar Tree and picked out several options for individualized snack packs. We opened the boxes ahead of time and combined all the snack packs into one big plastic tub. Since we were in a minivan, we placed it right between the two captain seats so everyone in the car could reach them as needed. Each kid brought their own water bottle, too. Well fed kids = happy kids!
Road Trip Hack #3: Books & Audio Books
I love to read in the car! It’s probably my personal favorite thing to do to pass the time. Before this trip, we hit the library and made sure everyone was stocked with new books to read. Unfortunately, we have a couple of kids who struggle with car sickness and reading can sometimes be out of the question for them. Enter, audio books!
There are some great options for reading aloud that the whole family can enjoy together on the trip, and audio books are a wonderful way to do that! Or, if mom and dad want some silence, pack headphones and an audio splitter like this one for up to five kids who want to listen together. The Box Car Children mysteries were a hit for my kids on this particular trip. We also listened to the Bible being read aloud for quite awhile together as a family, too.
For the parents – grab a copy of my book, Heading into Homeschool. It’ll make great road trip reading!
Not sure what books to pack for the fam? Check out 100 Must-Read Classic Books for Kids
Road Trip Hack #4: Car Toy Box
This is an idea I learned from someone else! And it worked like a charm. For the small kids, we grabbed a shoebox size clear plastic bin to use as a toy car box for the trip. We packed it with several small sets of toys in plastic baggies. The kids could pick out one set at a time then return them to their toy box. What kinds of toys? Things we already had around the house. Here’s some examples:
- Hot wheel cars or other small vehicles
- Barbie doll children & babies
- Finger puppets
- Fidget toys
- Bubble poppers
- Small figurines (my daughter brought Disney Princesses and Cocomelon figurines)
- Small animals (like farm animals, pets, zoo animals, etc.)
Road Trip Hack #5: Activity Book Presents
Presents? Yes, as in gifts. Even with the toy box idea, I knew my younger kids would quickly get tired of their toy options and start fussing. So, I decided to infuse some fun into the car trip for my younger kids by wrapping up some new and old activity books like gifts. First, I hit the dollar store (again) where I grabbed a few new sticker books and coloring books. I also raided our stash in the house and wrapped up some activity books and magnetic playsets they hadn’t seen in a while. Then I spent an evening with scissors, tape, and butcher paper wrapping them all up.
I stored the wrapped packages in one of those 12×12 cube boxes, which we stacked on top of the snack bin smack in the middle of the van. Every 30 minutes to an hour the kids got to open a new present if they didn’t fuss. This helped them stay sweet and pace their play time with a new activity. If they didn’t want to do it, they could choose a toy from their car toy box instead. Of course, you would want to adjust the wait time according to the age of your child, but it was amazing how well this worked! They really enjoyed the surprise of something new!
Here’s some examples of road trip activity books we brought along, different things for different age groups of kids. Pro Hint: I linked everything to Amazon, but you can often find them cheaper at Dollar Tree.
- Stickers
- Coloring books & new colored pencils or twist-up crayons
- Color Wonder Mess-free Markers
- Water Wow! Reusable Water Activity Pad
- Melissa & Dough Reusable Sticker Pad
- Magnetic Playsets
- LCD writing tablet drawing board
- Colorform Sets
- Sticker Books
- Sticker-by-number
- Color-by-number
- Sketch Pad & pencils
- Drawing Books
- Mad Libs
- Mazes
- Crossword puzzles
- Sudoku and other number game books
Road Trip Hack #6: Podcasts
My husband’s favorite way to pass the hours in a long family road trip is to listen to podcasts. There are some really wonderful family friendly podcasts out there that the whole family can enjoy together, too.
Road Trip Hack #7: Movies
Normally, we are very strict about limited technology time, but car trips are an optimal time to break out the movies! Nothing keeps kids quieter than a good movie. With that in mind, we loaded 2 movies per day onto some tablets. We encouraged the more hands-on activities in the mornings, but allowed a movie in the afternoon and another after dark if we were still on the road.
Road Trip Hack #8: Drive While They Sleep
It’s a definite truism that you can get many miles down the road while the kids are sleeping! My hubby and I neither one are early morning people so the idea of getting up and driving at 5am did not appeal to us at all. If you’re already used to getting up for work early, though, this might be a great option for your family! However, since we’re both night owls, we knew it wouldn’t be any problem to stay up and drive at night after the kids had fallen asleep. We stopped for a final bathroom break around 8 pm, said prayers and tucked everyone in. Then as they drifted off to la-la-land, we got in another 6 hours of uninterrupted driving!
Road Trip Hack #9: Travel Games
What are road trips without games? There are so many verbal games you can play but also store bought games. Some games require everyone’s attention and others can be between only two people.
- Magnetic Travel Games. Last family vacation, we bought a set of magnetic road trip travel games that the kids loved. The set had lots of classics like Checkers, Tic-tac-toe, Chinese Checkers, Backgammon, Snakes and Ladders, and a few new surprises, too.
- Cards. Don’t forget to pack a deck of playing cards! A pack of cards can offer limitless fun and can be adapted for play between 2 to 4 players. I still remember playing lots of War on road trips with my brother when I was young. Happy memories!
- Road Trip Scavenger Hunts. You can easily make your own road trip scavenger hunt or find some online. Who can spot a motorcycle? An ambulance? A stop light? I also found a playing cards travel version available.
- Travel BINGO. Similar to travel scavenger hunts, you can buy Road Trip BINGO games pre-made, find them online to print, or make up your own. Look! There’s a fire hydrant. I just won BINGO!
- License Plate Hunt. Track how many license plates from the entire United States you can find on your trip! We snagged a map with stickers for the 50 United States at Dollar Tree and kept it attached to a clipboard in the pocket of the car. Every time we saw a new state license plate, the kids added the sticker to the map. This one was even fun for mom and dad as we were driving! We ended up seeing plates for 46 of the 50 states!
- I Spy. It’s a classic, but young kids really love this game! Hunt for items by color, shape, or by letter of the alphabet and see if others can guess your object This is a great break from looking down to get kids looking out the window to appreciate the scenery. “I spy with my little eye something big and red!”
Road Trip Hack #10: Stop to Stretch
Don’t forget when traveling with kids to allow time to stop and stretch! Make frequent stops for bathrooms and breaks. Yes, it adds in extra time to the trip, but it also makes a long family road trip with kids a lot more comfortable for everyone. Also, don’t eat meals in the car. That’s hard for small hands plus it makes a big mess. Instead, plan a little extra time to let everyone get out and walk around. If you can find a restaurant with a play place for the littles to get out some energy, even better!
Road Trip Hack #11: Manage Expectations
I probably should have mentioned this one first! Perhaps the most important thing you need to do on a long family road trip with kids is set the expectations. Kids thrive on routine – but unfortunately travel breaks all their routines. Most kids love to know what is coming next, too. So from the get-go, let them know exactly how the day is probably going to go down. Our youngest can’t tell time yet, so we broke it down into first, then, next steps she could understand. Like this: “We’re going to leave right after breakfast and drive until lunchtime. Then we’ll stop for lunch and then hop back in the car again. We’ll stop for dinner and then drive some more. We should get to our new place around bedtime.” Letting kids know what to expect manages the dreaded, “are we there yet?” and gives kids a sense of comfort and control!
Let’s Go!
I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly and seamlessly the hours in the car passed on our 18 hour road trip with kids! Even the kids remarked how quickly the time had passed (although they slept a good chunk of it!). With a little careful planning and prepping, you can most certainly handle an epic road trip with kids, too! Let the planning begin!
Oh! And one more quick tip: bring along a lap travel tray. It makes all of these car activities SO much easier for little kids if they have a level surface for coloring and playing. Game-changer!