10 Tricks For Road Trips With Kids

Alaina
Aug 28, 2017
6 min read

*I am using affiliate links in this post to show you some of the times I liked. If you click the link I get a percentage and your price stays the same. I think you should go wherever you can find the best deal! I have also listed where I got the best deal!

I cannot believe summer is just about over!!! For some of you school is already back in session. My kids don't head back until after Labor Day which I really appreciate. Don't get me wrong, there have been many times when I was about to pull my hair out due to sibling fighting, but for the most part this summer was great. My kids are at such wonderful ages (9, 5, 1). They are getting a little more independent but are still so creative and fun to be around. They like to draw and create, but still like a good tickle match or fort building session. I am really trying to cherish these days.

We didn't do too much traveling this summer. We are currently living in my paradise, in a little beach town outside of Los Angeles. I enjoy my summers at the beach. This is actually our last summer here and I am pretty bummed about that. We are trying to squeeze in all California has to offer. So far we have seen, LA, San Diego, Malibu, Big Bear, and Disney Land. For this trip we decided to head up to Sequoia National Park for a few days.

Have you been there?? Man, it truly is magical. The trees are massive but actually a little hard to find. For some reason I expected them to be everywhere and easy to see, but this wasn't the case. We stayed at a little lodge called Buckeye Tree Lodge in Three Rivers, CA. It is literally five minutes from the entrance to the Sequoia Park. It is cute and on a river. However, we thought we had a river room but we were actually across these street with a “canyon view.” After we got over that disappointment we had a great time. They have a pool so the boys enjoyed swimming on our first day and last day there.

Although, the lodge was only five minutes to the entrance of the park, it is actually about 45 minutes to and hour to the actual Sequoias. So that meant about an hour drive each way every day, plus driving from site to site within the park. That was a TON of time in the car.

How did I make this work with three small children? Well, here are some of the things I found that worked to keep them entertained.

1. MODEL MAGIC- Model Magic is truly amazing stuff. It is similar to play-doh but it doesn't crumble and get all messy so it is great for the car, the hotel, even restaurants. Best of all it is wheat free so Dragon doesn't get all itchy when he uses it. It comes in different sizes. I had three colors that came in plastic containers so they are reusable. Model Magic will dry out and stay in the shape you create or you can pop it back in an airtight container. All three of my boys played with it throughout all 4 days of our trip. Here is a link for amazon, but I actually bought ours at Micheal's using a 40% off coupon.

2. Nesting Penguin Dolls – These penguins are the only toy my 1 year old plays with consistently. He got them for Christmas when he was 8 months old and it was the only toy he really cared about then!. WARNING!!! There are some really small penguins in this set. I only let my son play with the three largest. He opens them and throws them, and grabs them, and puts them back together. We love them.

3. Melissa and Doug Reusable sticker pad. Dragon (5) really enjoyed these sets of stickers. They come with blank scenes that you then put the stickers into. Dragon was a little frustrated at first because the pad was large and he couldn't hold the pad and stickers on his lap at the same time. We came up with the solution of him holding the pad with the scene and I then handed him the stickers(NoFace was driving, not me)! I bought ours at Marshall's, but I think they were actually the same price on Amazon. Maybe a dollar cheaper.

4. Vtech Turn and Learn Driver – Fair warning here, this toy is annoying. It is rather loud and repeats the same sounds over and over again, but to me it was better than a crying baby. Both Dragon (5) and Monkey (16 months) played with this toy.

5. Paper pads and crayons – I think this is a bit of a given, but my older boys enjoyed drawing the scenery from the windows.

6. SNACKS!!! - Snacks are probably every mother's number one trick. I had a ton of snacks and I handed them out often. Things I packed were, pirate's booty, fig bars, granola bars, bananas, apples, raisins, yogurt melts, and gummy packs. I had a few emergency lollipops and chips as well. I also packed sandwiches that I had intended to use for lunch but we ate them by 10am while we were in the park. This worked out well because by Noon we were all ready to rest and eat lunch out of the car. Both days we were in the park we ate at LodgePole. They have a little grill that makes burgers, hotdogs, and sandwiches. The little store next to it sells beer. This made lunch much more enjoyable for me =)

7. Tablets and DVD player – I wish I could say we were totally screen free on this trip, but I'm clinging to my sanity at this point. AND yes I know, once you take all those electronics away the kids get so much more creative and independent and brilliant, but honestly, I needed them quiet during Monkey's nap time. So, while Monkey napped, Dragon watched a movie and Rat played Minecraft. Perfection!

8. Break up the trip! - Our drive from LA to Three Rivers was only about 4 hours, but I think it took us closer to 5 and half with stopping for gas, dropping off the dog, and getting lunch.. We stopped half way at a Chick-fil-a with a playground. We definitely didn't eat the healthiest on this trip but that playground was a great way for the kiddos to get their energy out. I do think Monkey ended up with a cold from there but at least he got it on the way home.

9. Books – I picked up new books for Dragon and Rat from the library and bought books for Monkey at Marshalls. Dragon looked at books for about 5 minutes. Monkey immediately threw them to the floor. Rat, however, read a good portion of the trip. Nine is such a great age!

10. Funny Kids Songs - I don't typically play kids songs in the car. In fact, I remember going to a Mommy and Me class when Rat was a baby and they asked what kind of music does your baby like. Everyone answered classical or lullabies and I was all "we like hip hop and reggae." HA! I do have some sing-a-long CD's though. Do people even use CD's anymore? Well, however you get your music silly animal songs entertained Monkey for a bit.

11. Shoes – This may sound a little silly but for Monkey (16 mos) I found that if I put his shoes on before putting him in the car seat, he will spend the next 10 minutes working on getting them off. Easy, built in activity!

There you have it! My best tips for keeping the boys fairly happy. I have to say, my boys are pretty awesome in the car. They were also exhausted at the end of the day after hiking, climbing, and exploring. Monkey is just a super baby. He did cry the last hour of our trip home but stopped when I rubbed his head. No one likes sitting in traffic.