Maybe it’s an inflammatory title, but I think we all know that traveling with children has the potential to become stressful, exhausting, and very long. So today I thought I’d share a few tips that might help take the edge off a long trip with your kids. Some of these ideas are common sense, and no doubt you’re doing them already, but there are some grandparents out there who haven’t had the opportunity to travel with the grandkids as much as the parents have and might be in for a shock! Sometimes it’s the simple things that can help create the longest diversion.
– Have each child pack their own backpack. This means each child will pack the items that they enjoy the most, and reduces the amount of guesswork on your part as to what they consider entertainment.
– Give each child their own map. Not only will they be able to track their progress, but it’ll allow them to see what’s coming up, what’s around them, as well as learn the geography of the route. In these days of GPS and Google maps, actually knowing where you are without electricity is becoming a rare talent, and kids should always know where they are and be able to figure out how to get where they need to go, and they’ll teach themselves that skill with this simple exercise.
– Pack a cookie sheet for each kid to use as their own desk. A lot of kids enjoy coloring and drawing on a road trip, but few bring anything solid to draw on. Cookie sheets are a cheap, effective, and highly portable way to help these kiddos out.
– Goody bags. As simple as a paper lunch bag with a few cheap, dollar store items to help entertain the kids. Could be as simple as a comic book, a Go Fish card game, little green army men, and a healthy snack like an apple or banana.
I think you’d be pleasantly surprised how far down the road you can get before the symphony of “How much longer? When will we get there? I’m bored!” begins, and how quickly that symphony can be changed into happy sounds by using the tips above.
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