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With Spring Break fast approaching and airline prices rising, a lot of families will choose to save some money by driving to their destination of choice. While road trips do save you a fair amount of money, driving in the car for 10-20 hours with the whole family can be trying!
Here are a few items you can include in your road trip kit to make things a little easier for everyone in the car!
Games
I’m sure most of you are thinking electronic games would be our first choice – well not with Mike Pehl at the wheel!
Mike says – It’s never to early to start teaching your children proper driving skills.
For instance do you remember the car bingo cards? Have younger kids play this great game in order to get their heads looking UP and OUT the window, find traditional car bingo cards here.
As you drive you can also discuss street signs or ask younger kids to tell you if its safe to go at a stop sign or talk about the things they see out the window -including bad drivers!
If you have older kids that can read give them a road map of where you are going and have them give you directions, or figure out how far it is to the next town or learn what specific signs and measurements mean on the map. These skills will help your youngster better understand our highway system, and navigation terms. Let them use traditional road maps while in the car on longer drives or road trips and letting them define the route and be your co-pilot.because a good co-pilot will develop good habits that can be transferred into the driver’s seat, find an atlas or road map here.
Okay, we aren’t altogether old fashion, eventually you may want your kids to watch a movie or play games on their electronics when it gets too dark to see and you want a break from all the FUN you’ve been having.
If you don’t already have an iPad and want to get something for the kids to play on that won’t break the bank, I highly recommend the Amazon Fire Tablet. The tablet alone is only $49.99 (with FREE two day shipping if you have Amazon Prime) or you can get the Fire Kids Edition Tablet for $99.99, which comes with a case, Unlimited, free access to 10,000 kid-friendly books, movies, TV shows, educational apps, and games with 1 year of Amazon FreeTime Unlimited included (that alone is $109 savings). Trust me when I say it’s totally worth it! 
Another non-screen time option comes from Kimber, who blogs over at The Pinning Mama, she created a list of the BEST Audiobooks for a Road Trip with Kids! These are audiobooks the whole family will love!
Photo Credit: The Pinning Mama
Must-Haves
- You are going to always want to keep a small First Aid Kit, in the car. Even when you aren’t on a long road trip, it’s always smart to have one on hand.
- Car sick bags, even if no one in your family gets car sick, they are always nice to have on hand!
- Portable Charging Device, that way you aren’t taking up all the outlets in the car.
- Roadside Emergency Kit, this is the kit to get. It also has jumper cables, a rain poncho, tools and more!
- Bogg Bag, what is a Bogg Bag you ask? The best thing ever invented. It not only stands upright (always) but it’s water proof, has a non-slip bottom, and if it gets messy you can hose it off! Bogg Bag is the perfect family bag for the beach, boat, pool, lake, camping, sports, market, picnic and more.
And lastly, a great book to always have on hand in the car is Roadside Survival, by Walt Brinker. This book is a collection of practical, low-tech wisdom and advice gained from over 2,000 free-of-charge roadside assists the author has performed as a hobby. Content is based on hands-on experience, not theory.
And there you have it! Any must-have items you bring on your road trips? Let us know below!
-DSRS
