Hi I'm Arya, mother to four lovely and highly active children, wife, photographer and blogger. I have a few tips that make my vacations a little less crazy and stressful that might be helpful to anyone else with kids.
Snacks - Bring a cooler packed with healthy snacks and foods that are easy to eat while in the car. Example of what I bring: sliced carrots in snack baggies, cut up melons in snack size tupperware, sandwich fixings (lunch meat, lettuce, mayo, sliced tomato, mustard and bread), granola bars, yogurt, string cheese, grapes, sliced apples, water, ect. Don’t forget the utensils! At any rest stop you can pull out whatever is needed for snacks or lunch. Bringing your own snacks and lunch stuff will save time and money too!
Self Entertainment - Bring plain paper, coloring/activity books, colored pencils, crayons, pens and pencils and books. Lap Desks are the easiest way to go for kids too and there are some neat ones out there that hold the items or can have a cup holder. When the kids get bored I ask them to pull out some blank paper and start drawing the scenery and animals they may be seeing along the road as we drive. You could also get portable DVD players with headphones and let the kids watch movies. Oh and you can’t forget toys. I let each child bring a small backpack full of their favorite toys and stuffies. I also pack a small box of toys for the baby too and hide it behind the driver seat for easy access for which ever parent isn’t driving.
Music – have fun upbeat music that you and your kids enjoy, it will make your trip go by faster and smoother if you like what is being played too.
Be organized. Have a place for your kids to put their stuff in the car, this will make for less fights if each child has a place to put their own stuff while traveling.
Stop at all rest stops. No matter what happens you stop at each and every one and let everyone out to use the potty and at every other rest stop let the kids play in the grass and get out some energy. Sure this adds more time to your drive but really how much fun are you going to have with kids fighting and screaming because they have too much energy to hold in? At each rest stop where the kids got to run around at I would have them look for unique plants, bugs and birds and tell me about what they found and saw. The kids found a cool birds nest in-between the guys and girls bathroom and it had three baby birds in it chirping for their mama. The kids loved it!
Check out local attractions on your route. Your drive doesn’t always have to be about getting from point A to point B but the fun you can have in-between. When we were driving from our home in Idaho to the Oregon Coast we stopped in at Multnomah Falls to let the kids see the beautiful falls, it was fun for all! You don’t have to spend money to have a good time – the Falls didn’t cost anything to visit and the kids learned some great stuff from the staff who had little booths set up talking about local wildlife. Free fun is always the best!
Destination – have fun, relax and enjoy because if you don’t you won’t have any fun at all and the whole point of a vacation is to make wonderful memories that you will cherish and enjoy!
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