The idea of keeping the kids busy and happy during our cross-country drive created the most anxiety for me. We have a portable DVD player (cue the hallelujahs), but wanted to rely on movies as little as possible during the drive. And so after much creative thinking and planning I came up with some workable solutions, and can report (considering the circumstances) that our five-day drive went surprisingly well. Videos were a special treat–not the default, and the kids rarely whined about being “bored.”
I’m definitely crediting the many answered prayers, and that advance planning.
{Mini whiteboards for drawing, tic tac toe, hangman, etc.}
1. Individual Entertainment Baskets
Preparing to keep them entertained started days before with a trip to the dollar store where I found sectioned baskets. Each kid got their own color-coded basket, and were responsible for keeping their things put away in these baskets. It took a bit of training and practice, but when they remembered and followed through with the put-it-back-in-the-basket rule, their things stayed fairly organized. 
{individual activity baskets for each child}
2. The Master Activity Basket
Besides the individual entertainment baskets, I packed an additional tub of activities. Each morning before hitting the road, I filled their individual baskets with a few independent activities (coloring books and crayons, stickers, books, mini whiteboard and marker, clipboard with drawing paper, small toys, etc.) from this master activity tub. Then half-way through the day (or not until the next morning, sometimes!) I’d trade out activities with “new” things.
The activity rationing helped rein in the mess because there were never too many things out at a time, but it also helped the kids savor what they had. Whether at home or on the road, I’ve often made the mistake of giving them too many activities at once, and every time they blow through and are “bored.”
Less is more and a lesson in contentment applied to this case.
{The master activity tub}
3. Good Read Alouds
We’re a family that loves to read, so of course a good stack of read-alouds journeyed with us. But for a change of pace we also downloaded some titles from Audible and enjoyed listening to several audio books during our drive. An inexpensive FM transmitter was handy too, and we were able to listen to the stories through the stereo speakers.
Jared and I also downloaded a few “adult” titles to listen to after the kids had fallen asleep each night. It helped the time on the long stretch of road pass quicker, and sparked some great discussion.
4. Fit in Physical Activity
Because kids and parents can get restless, we tried to incorporate bits of physical activity at every stop. Sometimes it was jumping jacks or a five-minute game of freeze tag at the rest area, other times we took our lunch to a park (found on the GPS).
Giving our kids some intentional exercise seemed to help considerably when it came time to drive again.
5. Snacks
My list wouldn’t be complete if I didn’t admit–snacks can be good entertainment as well! With moderation, of course! Tomorrow I’ll be talking more about how I tackled food on our long road trip.
So, tell me, what are some ways you’ve kept your kids entertained on long trips?
Take a break from driving for 10 to 15 when the kids, or teens get antsy. Everyone out of the car and stretch your legs, have a pee break, whatever. If things get bad in the back seat bring masking tape to seperate. Even better an old baby set. If you have more than two kids, may your God go with you!
Love those mini baskets! What a fun idea! I agree, when traveling less is more. I try to switch out activities every couple rest stops, making sure we get some wiggles out while there. Great tips!
We have the same buckets you do purely for snacks. Then we have a tub full of activities, and ( kid packed ) carryons
I love the idea of sectioned baskets. We have taken several 14-16 hour road trips, and often rely on our DVD player a little too much. Our most recent trip was to Myrtle Beach last spring, and I packed gallon sized bags with activities. I would dole out a new bag every 2-3 hours. This worked well, but it was hard to contain the mess and the kids did want to get into a new bag immediately after opening the old one. I think the basket idea works better, since you can dole things out at a slower pace. Pipe cleaners were a huge hit for our kids in the car. We use an FM system for my younger son so he can hear movies and our voices (not a cheapie transmitter, but a personal FM system that sends signals to his hearing aids). We also make sure we stop at fast food playgrounds, if they’re available. We usually go south and Morgantown, West Virginia is exactly 4 hours from our house. We leave at 5am on most road trips, so we hit Morgantown at about 9am, have breakfast at the McDonald’s there, and let the kids run off some energy!
This post is fantastic! For our 11-day trip I packed separate activities for each leg of the trip, but I just love the individual baskets idea. My husband hates how all of the “car” stuff seems to get scattered around.
Did you also notice, however, that we seemed to spend a ton of vacation money before we even went on vacation??? We had to buy new suitcases, I, too, hit the Dollar store for activities, we bought tons of snacks and cup noodles (which did save us money later). Our vacation fund dwindled before we even left!
funny enough on a road trip to Mi, a friend of mine packed our kids a small bag of things and one thing that kept them occupied was pipe cleaners and anything round, like cheerios, fruit loops, candy o’s-, and it really really kept them busy. Then at night she had packed glow sticks and they had a blast with those! Though seeing flying glow sticks in your rear view mirror after driving for so long, get a lil old. hehehe
We rely way too much on electronics to entertain our kids while we travel. Your post inspires me nt just for road trips but for play time at home too. I need to take more time to plan instead of just saying, ‘Play now.”