8 Essentials To Keeping Kids Happy While Road Tripping

Many families road trip with their kids at least once a year for the holidays, or even summer vacation. It’s often a challenge to keep kids entertained and happy while road tripping long distances. I remember being a kid and pestering my parents out of sheer boredom, and because I thought it was funny.

Here are some great tips to help your kids stay happy and entertained while road tripping:

Have them help plan the trip

Encourage your kids to get involved with the road trip plans. If they’re involved in the planning part, they’ll most likely look forward to the upcoming trip, and understand a bit better how long it will take to get from one place to another, and just how far you’ll be travelling.

Keep a travel diary

Have your kids make a travel diary about your journey. This way they not only have something to look back on years to come, but it also gives them something to do during the road trip. It’s also fun for the kids if you put them in charge of the camera while road tripping. Encourage them to snap fun travel pictures while road tripping for their travel diary.

Make frequent stops

Although stopping often makes your road trip journey longer, it’s a great idea for everyone to get out of the car and stretch. Plan frequent stops along your road trip journey to break up the journey and reduce boredom for your kids. This also gives them something to write about in their travel diary, and keeps them excited for your road trip.

Plan for down days

Road tripping can take a lot out of you. It’s important to not only include fun activities on your road trip, but also plan for down days so you and your family have time to relax and enjoy the trip. We often like to plan our down days near beach towns, or hiking spots. This gets us out of the car and allows us to explore the great outdoors.

Reward kids for good behavior

This is an important tip as it encourages good behaviour along the way. Treat your kids with rewards during your road trip. This could vary from a small ice cream treat, to surprise visits to an amusement parks on down days.

Snack time

Keep snacks in the car for your kids to munch on. It’s a great way to save money, avoid stopping too often and reduces the need to stop at places like McDonalds. I don’t know about you, but if if I’m stopped at McDonald's to get kids a snack, I’m most likely going to grab myself a cheeseburger as well.

Avoid traffic jams

This may be easier said than done as traffic jams are inevitable, but try to travel during non-rush hour times. Think of how your kids will act if you’re stuck in traffic for several hours not moving. I personally like to travel at night time as there’s next to no traffic on the roads, and kids often sleep throughout the night.

Don’t stress

This is the most important tip. Road trips are supposed to be a fun adventure for the whole family. Kids can put a lot of stress on a road trip, but they can also be a great asset to building travel memories. Make the most of your travels with your kids and keep the stress to a minimum.

What kind of road trip tips to you have for keeping your kids entertained while road tripping? Leave your comment below.