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Road tripping with kids can be a lot of fun. You’re out on the open road as a family, cruising the country, looking at the landscape, playing license plate bingo, and generally having a grand old time. Yeah, that lasts for about an hour, tops. Then the kids are bored or hungry or sitting to close to one another or one of a hundred other things that go along with children being in a confined space for any length of time. Of course, after you stop and stretch your legs, it’s back to the fun, so you will have a reprieve. So what do you do for those in-between moments when the kids are in that zone of “we’ve had enough”? Well, you never let them get there. I’ve put together some tips on how to make road tripping with kids go much more smoothly, so read on if you’re gearing up for a trip.
Road Tripping with Kids Checklist
There are three main things to address when you’re road tripping with kids – boredom, snacks, and boredom. Yes, I listed boredom twice. Let’s be honest, if you have kids there is one golden rule above all others: a bored kid is a cranky kid. Followed closely by a hungry kid is a cranky kid. That’s why these tips address these two key issues. So let’s get into it.
Snacks
When you’re traveling with kids, you need snacks. Lots and lots of snacks. The snacks you bring are up to you but consider portability and cleanup when choosing your snacks. I love to bring along individually sized bags of freeze dried apples and Ziploc bags filled with various cereals, pretzels, nuts, dried fruits, and the likes. That way the kids have all the snacks they need to keep their bellies full.
Drinks
You’ll need drinks to go along with your snacks. Again, portability and cleanup are key. I’m a big fan of sports bottles with the open and close tops. I bring along a small cooler and put several sports bottles in there. I fill them with things like sparkling water and 100% juice.
Frequent Pit Stops
Don’t forget, children’s bladders are smaller than ours, so frequent pit stops are a must. I make it a rule to stop at least every couple of hours to ensure that my kids never have an in-car emergency. All bladders are different, so your mileage may vary. 😉
Entertainment
This is a big one for road tripping with kids. Bring along a favorite toy and my new favorites for travel, Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition tablet and Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablet. These bad boys are the ultimate in keeping the kids occupied when you’re tired of playing road games. They allow the kids to enjoy their favorite apps, books, and videos at any time. They have fun apps and tools that let the kids do things like photo edit and draw so they can create their own travel memories. In addition, both tablets have parental controls, so you don’t have to worry about what the kids are doing or how much of it they’re doing.
One huge bonus of both the Fire 7 and Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablets is the Amazon FreeTime Unlimited content. FreeTime Unlimited gives kids access to 15,000 popular kids’ apps, games, videos and books. The best part of it is that you can download all their favorite things for them to enjoy in the car, which means they’ll never run out of things to do!
My daughter has been getting a lot of mileage out of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited. Their huge library gives her all sorts of options. Her favorites right now include:
- PBS Kids Video – Watch 1,000’s of educational videos, including full episodes of the kids’ favorite PBS Kids shows.
- PBS Kids Games – Features over 100 educational games starring favorite characters like the Sesame Street gang.
- Super Why! ABC Adventures – The cast of Super Why! help kids learn their ABC’s, literacy sounds, writing, and more.
- Teach Your Monster to Read – This app brings a new twist to phonics for the kids. They can make their own monsters and then “teach” them letter sounds, blending and segmenting, and more.
- Endless Alphabet – Animated monsters and interactive spelling puzzles make learning to spell fun!
- Endless Reader – The Endless Monsters and interactive puzzles help kids learn a large variety of sight words to improve their reading comprehension and skill level.
I like that she’s entertained as well as expanding her mind and developing a love of learning with these fun educational apps, books and videos.
Road Tripping with Kids is Better with the Right Equipment
Road tripping with kids is a lot of fun when the kids are happy, and the best way to keep them happy is to keep them entertained, full, and well-rested. With some good snacks and drinks, and the kind of entertainment you get with the Amazon Fire 7 Kids Edition and Amazon Fire HD 8 Kids Edition tablets, you’ll have everything you need for a fun road tripping experience.
