Since our kids were babies we have loaded them up and traveled the world. We have learned…often the hard way…what to do and what not to do. We may have trained them up when they were young, but they also trained us as well.
I am going to share our Top 10 Favorite tips, tricks, and creations we have learned along the way.
#10 Get Organized
I don’t know about your kids, but when my kids get into a car or plane they seem to just produce clutter and trash. I am not sure where it all comes from, but what I know for sure is my son actually can conjure up nerf bullets where ever we are…it is a talent I never really appreciate.
On the Road
One of the best things I purchased for our road tripping was a behind-the-seat organizer.
This organizer from Amazon has great pocket sizes and a compartment for your tablet so you can set it up and they are hands-free. The clear compartment is awesome to set up a movie for your little guys, they can’t reach the tablet and therefore you don’t have to constantly turn around to “fix” it every time they touch the screen. You can put toys, books, art supplies, snacks, and everything has a place.
Buy a small portable trash can that they can reach. We have this collapsable trash can from Amazon and it has helped so much. My kids are notorious for just taking their trash and dropping it where ever they are. Adding the trash can helped a ton because 8 out 10 times the trash is getting in there.
In the Air
Make sure each of your kids has their own carry-on bag. Giving them their own bag was a game-changer for us. Prior to this, I would pack one backpack that was filled to the brim with everyone's water bottles, snacks, toys, jackets, lovies…you get the point. The backpack was so big I couldn’t extend my legs. Giving each kid their own bag made each bag more personalized and manageable.
For elementary-age kids, you can use their regular backpacks, but when my kids were little we got them these roller suitcases from Amazon and we still use them today and they are 10 and 8. They are a perfect size for under the seat, your toddler or preschooler can wheel it, it has a water bottle holder, it is a great size for all their activities, and it has a smaller pocket on the front. The other important piece to giving them their own carry-on is to let your kids pack their own plane bag. Let them pick the snacks, the toys, the activities they want to bring. I do put some boundaries on this because my daughter would have packed her bedroom if I didn’t. I would tell them to pick 4 snacks, 2 toys, a lovie if they wanted, their tablets, and maybe some simple coloring supplies. They would be so excited about what they packed and planned for the airplane it was a great way to keep them occupied and allow them to be in charge of their things.
The last thing that I always bring with me on the plane is a plastic grocery sack for trash. No matter how many times the flight attendants pick up trash we always have more. I bring disinfectant wipes and baby wipes even today when my kids are older, they help so much, and having my own trash bag doesn’t have me looking for the flight attendant every time I have a new piece of trash.
#9 Plan for the Bathroom Dilemma
In November of 2015 we were on a road trip to see my family for Thanksgiving. It was here at this opportune time 3 hours into our trip that our son decided that he was going to start using the “big boy potty”. What the F****!?
On the Road
There are two things we do when we are road tripping with little humans to help accommodate the bathroom situation. The first thing we did was buy a portable toddler potty so that we could just pull over on the side of the road if we had to. This potty from Amazon has saved us more times than I can count. It came in handy that fateful 2015 Thanksgiving trip as well. The potty can do a few things that make it super handy, it has little wings that pop down and make a little seat that you can just plan right on the ground. If they need to go #2…because of course they do…I would put a diaper or trash bag under it and seal it up after. The other cool thing is that the wings also pop out and make a travel toddler seat for the big toilets at the gas stations or rest areas. It is small enough to just store under a seat in the car.
The second thing I do is put my new potty trainers in a pull-up. I don’t know why but often times the car would just put them to sleep and I would be worried they would have an accident while they were sleeping. If they aren’t dry at night yet you might want to put them in a pull-up, it will save you from worrying about it or cleaning it up. I would also have a change of clothes for them in an easy and accessible spot because if you don’t you will need them and you will be unpacking your entire car to get to them.
In the Air
Obviously, it is not acceptable to bring your own potty on the plane, but you need to plan ahead! Like on a road trip I put my new trainers in a pull-up, even though the bathroom is on the plane with you doesn’t mean you can use it whenever you want. At take-off, turbulence, and landing that buckle sign could ruin your life! Having them in pull-ups can save you from accidents because they can’t get to the bathroom. So we go potty before we board, again once the buckle sign turns off, and before we start the landing process. I also bring them an extra set of clothes. Even if you do make it to the bathroom, those tiny bathrooms that bump around all while you are trying to help them to the potty… well you just want some options if you need it.
#8 Melissa and Doug Know What They are Doing!
For our trips, I have invested in all the glory that is Melissa and Doug travel toys. Here are a few of my favorites.
Reusable Puffy Sticker Book: My kids loved these. They would play alone and create a scene or story, or we could play together. They loved them and there are so many options for them to pick from.
Reusable Water Wow: These reusable watercolor books were so fun when they were little. All you need to do is refill the brush with water and it was a no-mess art project.
Felt Friends: This is a felt craft activity set that is awesome for on the go. Again so fun for them to play alone or together on the plane.
It isn’t just the activity for them but also the anticipation and excitement that you can bring. I bought several of these on-the-go activities from Melissa and Doug and would keep them only for the trips. When they would pack their bags I would pull them out and let them each pick 2 to 3 to bring. We only got to play with them on the plane or in the car. Sometimes I would even buy them a new one for a trip. I would make sure I told them on our drive to the airport or the day before we left that I got them a new activity but they couldn’t see it until we were on the plane or in the car. The best part was the anticipation for them. Not showing it to them before gave them time to explore it and most importantly occupy them on the journey.
#7 Travel Trays
This is more for the road trip in the car, but they were so helpful!! I bought colorful serving trays that had a good size rim around them and attached mesh bags, velcro and straps to make a travel tray for the car. These came in so handy for snacks, lunchtime, playing with toys, coloring, playdoh, or looking at books. Every car seat is a little different so you will have to design something to attach them to your seats, but this saved so many headaches for us. We have these munchkin snack bowls that have rubber bottoms on them that you can put some snacks in and put on their tray while they play with legos, toys, or playdoh and they won’t slip and slide all over the place. We would use the activity of lunchtime for driving because it gets you an activity that occupies them. The tray allowed us to set them up with some lunch and not have to turn around and help them every 2 seconds.
#6 Bring the Variety and Get Creative
Make sure you don’t show them all your cards. What do I mean? Pack hidden gems in their bags and plan a variety of activities. I don’t just bring their tablets, because I don’t want them staring at a screen for hours, I try and bring a multitude of activities. I bring them some playdoh, a coloring activity, a toy they haven’t seen or played with, in a while.
Container Activity
One activity I made for my babies when we traveled was a small cylinder container (think like an oatmeal container) that has a lid, I would then cut a hole on the top and fill the can with objects that fit through the hole. For example, large puffballs, colorful large popsicle sticks, and other treasures. On the plane or in the car I would dump the contents on their tray, put the lid back on the container and they would spend forever picking up the objects and putting them back in the can through the hole. They would take the lid off and on and pull things out and put them in. It sounds so simple, but it was for real their favorite when they were like 9 months to 2 years. Obviously, make sure they don’t eat the stuff, but it was a great activity for this age.
Lego Game
When my kids were a little older I made a lego game that we would play. I bought two zipper pencil bags and filled them with an assortment of legos. I then took 3x5 index cards and wrote ideas on what to build. For example, it would say something like, “build something that flies” or “build a robot”. I would then give each kid a lego bag and I would draw a card from the deck and they would build the thing. One of my favorites was when we drew the card that said, “Build something that starts with the letter ‘A’” and my daughter presents a flat lego sheet piece with all the lego people sitting with their hands extended out. I was like, “What is that?” and she says, “it is applause.” So good and so funny!
Road Trip Books
One of my kid's favorite things I do for them on long road trips is the road trip books that I make for them. What is this? Well, it is 3 ring binder with fun stuff inside. I would print out different things and put them in their notebooks. For example, mazes, a license plate bingo game for them, a United States map and they color the states we are driving through, coloring sheets of things they love, mad libs, crossword puzzles, word searches, I even made a felt board and made felt people and clothes to dress them, really the options are endless. I would restock them before we left and put all kinds of new activities. They loved them because they were only for our road trip and they were filled with new activities.
#5 Listening Equals Peace and Quiet
My kids love audiobooks and podcasts. They become engrossed in what they are listening to and it brings joy to everyone because you can hear yourself think again.
Audiobooks
My kids love being read to and audiobooks are the perfect way to do this on a trip. If we are on a shorter trip 1 to 2 weeks I would go to the library and get them audiobooks on CDs, or some have rentable MP3 players that have books on them. With the CDS we would listen in the car together, but with the MP3 books, all they had to do was plug their headphones into the player and push play.
Toddlers and Preschoolers Age
Disney has all kinds of books on “tape” that also comes with the book to follow along to. Even when my son was 12 months old he loved just sitting and listening to the story in the car. At this age, they sometimes fixate on that one Disney movie and you can tap into their obsession with the story for the car.
Preschool and Early Elementary Age
One of our favorite series at this age was the Magic Tree House by Mary Pope Osborne. She reads all of her books and they are so fun to listen to in the car.
Elementary Age and Older
My kids have loved so many audiobooks but here are a few of our favorites that you might love as well:
Harry Potter series
Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
Spirit Animals by Brandon Mull
The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
I Survived Books by Lauren Tarshis
I could go on and on.
Now that most cars don’t have CD players anymore we use platforms like Hoopla that allow us to download books from our library. On their tablets (see below for our favorite tablets) we added the Hoopla app and they can listen and access the books we download for them.
Podcasts
It has only been in the last two years we have discovered the joy of podcasts for our kids. We got the app Pocketcasts for them and download episodes from their favorite podcasts and they can listen to them even if we don’t have internet. Here are a few of our favorite podcasts we have found:
Dad and Me Love History: This is a cute podcast by historian dad Paul Letters and his son. We have found great episodes when we were studying Vikings, Indigenous Nations, and so much more.
Brains On: This is a podcast by American Public media that tackles fun questions each week, like, do dogs know they’re dogs, or why do feet sink. Very fun.
Wow in the World: This podcast is hosted by Mindy Thomas and Guy Raz that tackles science, technology, and innovation in a super fun and engaging way.
The Past and The Curious: This is another history podcast that is super interesting and fun for adults and kids, which is important if you all are listening together.
#4 Keep them Fed and Keep You Happy
One of the hardest things for us, while we are on the road, is healthy food options. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good road trip snack, but I like to pick what my guilty pleasure will be and I don’t like wasting that on something I am not going to enjoy. We combat this by being prepared ahead of time.
One of our best ideas for snacking in the car is snack trays. We bought these containers on Amazon and we each have our own color, we then fill them with fruits, veggies, nuts, cheese, meats, and hummus for an on-the-go charcuterie board! I am a sucker for charcuterie boards. The kids love them because they get to snack along the way and we love them because they are filled with great healthy choices.
The second thing we do is pack a lunch, we make sandwiches or wraps. Sometimes making lunch isn’t an option so we research ahead of time to find healthier options along the way and plan for the stop. It is hard to find a good option when you are in the moment and don’t know if something better might be up ahead.
We also love a good bag of chips, cookies, and candy, but use these to your advantage. Just like new activities, I keep these a secret until they are in need of a pick me up, then surprise them with the cookies you brought. Suckers are also a great tool for little guys. It takes them forever to suck on one and again it occupies their time. The sticky mess is the trade-off for silence and distraction.
#3 Get the Right Tablet
Tablets are a must for us since we travel 6+ months out of the year. We use them for education apps, podcasts, audiobooks, and movies. When our kids were little we purchased the amazon fires and to be completely honest I was not impressed and it was not a great fit. They would often freeze up, run out of storage, and didn’t have the ability to run the apps the kids loved. Tegan is also visually impaired and the fire did not have great accessibility for him. So what do we use? Well, we actually have two different kinds and they both work great. We got Tegan an iPad. We did this because apple has superior products when it comes to accessibility. He can create zoom windows to see things better and we can use it as a magnifier as well for some things. Rylan has a Samsung Galaxy Tablet and she has owned this for over 5 years and it is still doing great. It is not as expensive as the iPad, but it does everything we need it to do for her.
The best apps we have found for our kids really depend on what the app is for, so check out this post on my favorite kid apps for travel.
#2 Take Advantage of Your Kids Schedule
When our kids were little we road-tripped slow and steady. We put deliberate thought and preparation to take advantage of when they were sleeping, eating, and needing a break from the car.
Two to three times a year we make the 9-hour drive to Idaho to see my grandma. We have done this trip at least twice a year since Rylan was born, so…we have made this trip about 20 times in the last 10 years. We could do the drive in one day but it took careful planning and preparation to make it enjoyable for all of us.
We would get up early and leave around 4:30 to 5 am and just let the kids stay in their PJs. The kids were tired and sometimes would drift back to sleep, so we could usually get in 2 to 3 hours of driving before we would need to stop. We then would find a breakfast place. My kids love going to breakfast so this was an exciting treat all on its own. We would then would get them dressed and hit the road again. This is when they would pick a movie to watch, play with a special activity we brought, or listen to a book. This would usually buy us another 2 to 3 hours, and then we would find a place to play.
We look for rec centers or museums if it was winter or outdoor water shooter parks or swimming pools if it is summer. Our goal was to run/swim all their crazies out before lunch. We usually stay 1 to 2 hours playing somewhere and then would load them into the car, tired and hungry. We fed them lunch and then we would do quiet time. This usually bought us another 3 hrs. By the time they woke up from a nap we only had another hour or so to go. We would stop, stretch our legs, do bathroom breaks, and then finish the trip where they could pick a few more activities.
#1 Relax and Enjoy the Ride
I love traveling with my kids and their excitement and joy make it all just that much more exciting.
When my daughter was 3 and my son was 1 we were going on a trip to Mexico. We were young parents with young kids and we were stressed. We had to park our car at the park n’ ride and take the bus to the airport. Then we had to catch the airport tram to our terminal, and then we made it just in time to load onto the plane. Tired and overwhelmed was an understatement. I look over at my little girl so tiny in the big seat excitedly gazing out the window waiting for us to take off. She turns to me and says, “This is the best day ever!! We got to ride on a bus, then a train, and now we get to fly in an airplane!” I just wanted to cry…she brought me right back to the joy we were in. Kids can make you mindful if you slow down enough to let it. My advice for you is to try and see it all through their eyes, it makes you appreciate even the seemingly stressful and annoying things. Suddenly the bus, train, and plane feel like a great adventure.
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