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Travelling With Children - Tips from Our Members
Summer vacation means summer driving and that wonderful phrase that I am sure children learned while still in the womb, "Are we there yet?". Just think, everytime your child is saying this to you, somewhere, someplace, on another highway, in another vehicle, another child is saying exactly the same thing to their parents. You are not alone!
Luckily, we are SHEs and we are creative! We can come up with great ideas to keep those children occupied while on the long drives across country. Thank-you everyone who sent in their tips!
Remember however, safety first. We don't want a situation where a vehicle is filled with UFOs (untethered flying objects). This can be difficult sometimes - especially if your vehicle does not have a trunk. But do what you can to secure as much as you can in your vehicle. Even your cell phone can turn into a dangerous object if it decides to fly into the back of your vehicle in an accident. Minimize the amount of stuff your children have access to at one time. Use a "back of seat" vehicle organizer to keep as much of the paper, pens, books, etc contained as possible. Take frequent breaks to stretch the legs, clean out the seats, and change the kid activities. My two tips: don't bring crayons in the car if it is going to be hot - they melt! AND, don't be shy about bringing along a little potty and a roll of toilet paper (even if the smaller kids are already in school), when they have to go, you may be glad that you could just pull over and take care of it. Happy safe driving everyone!
Dear Flylady,
I am a Certified Child Passenger Safety Tech in Colorado and I applaud you in your efforts to protect those in cars from UFOs. In response to your email regarding having your car seat checked, over 80% of the car seats in the US are used improperly and not all local Fire and Police Departments have certified car seat techs, The best option is to go to www.nhtsa.com or www.safekids.org. There are links to find a certified tech in your area. They also list car seat check-up events. Our local fire/police can be a big help, but they also have other responsibilities. Please do not just show up at a station house. Call first, making an appointment can guarantee you undivided attention. Also, when you go try to have your instruction manual for not only the car seat but also for the car. Having you child there is a huge bonus also (most kids need instruction on how to stay safe in the car and a person of authority can help empower them to make the right choices). I encourage every parent to have their seat checked. Not only do we make sure the seat is installed correctly, but we instruct you on how not to make the same mistakes in the future.
Signed a Passionate SHE
Note from FlyLady - State laws may vary for child safety seat requirements. It is your responsibility to adhere to the laws of the state you are travelling in. If you are planning a trip in the US that involves crossing state lines please check here to make sure that you are obeying the child safety seat laws. Safety Seat Laws by State
- I had to make a car trip from Wyoming to Pennsylvania
with my three DD's and two dogs. My DH had to remain
at home because of work so I had to come up with a way
to make this trip as pleasant as possible for the
girls and myself.
My plan (which worked wonderfully) was as followed.
Rise at 4:00 am and load the car. Place sleeping
children and dogs in car and get driving. Drive until
10:00 am and stop at a nice rest area.
I had packed a bag specifically for these stops. It
contained the kids' clothing for the day, a hot pot
that plugged into the cigarette lighter of the car,
instant oatmeal and fruit, toiletries for the girls.
At the rest stop, I would have the girls change their
clothes, eat their breakfast( healthy one at that),
and wash their faces and brush their teeth. Here it
was 10:30 am, I had already driven 6 hours most or
them without a lot of traffic on the road and in
peace and quiet.
Then we would get back on the road but because we had
already had a good piece of road "under our belts"
already, we could stop wherever we saw fit and we did.
Whenever the girls saw something they wanted to see,
we would stop. We set no tight Itinerary, except a
loose plan to try to make such and such city by the
evening. The girls helped me plan this part. If it
didn't work out; no big deal. We usually called
twenty-four hours in advance for hotel reservations
because of the dogs but if we didn't make it, we could
usually find a place and the dogs slept in the car.
I would drive until 1:00 pm and stop for a quick lunch
of sandwiches I made and kept in a cooler. We'd have
a bathroom break if we needed it and then be on our
way again. I would then drive to 4:00 pm, stop at the
hotel for the evening. The girls would then play in
the pool for about 2 hours. We would have a nice
sit-down dinner; pack our cooler and bag for the next
morning; and everyone, including me, would then
settle down and go to bed at about 8:00- 8:30 pm.
It was a wonderful trip. My girls still talk about it
as one of their most favorite vacations. We did the
plan both going and coming back and it worked like a
charm.
I think the most important part of traveling with
children is to have a plan but not such a rigid one
that there is no room for fun. Don't forget to
schedule sometime for fun along the way. Time
restraints are probably your biggest enemy so if you
can afford the time, take it. I still drove cross-
country in 4 days with the girls and everyone was
happy when we reached our destinations. The girls
were even looking forward to the return trip.
Thank you for all your help in getting my house in
order. I hope that these ideas help some other
flybabies to enjoy a trip with their children. We
work and save too hard for our vacations, they should
be fun for us and our children.
Thanks,
Flybaby in the desert
- I understand you are looking for vacation travel tips with kids, especially in the car. I used to travel 150 miles to my mom's with two small children on a regular basis. There were 18 small prairie towns along our drive and I used to give the kids an empty film canister and another that had 18 pennies in it. (You could use beans, marbles, anything small...even jelly beans!) They got to transfer one penny to the empty container for every town we passed. It saved a lot of "are we there yets?" and gave the kids a sense of time...ie: 1/2 way when there were 9 in each container. It made them responsible for paying attention and more interactive on the trip. There were lots of fun memories created around that little game. Please remember, this is NOT an appropriate thing to do with a toddler or young child as there is a risk of them putting them in their mouths.
Also...another was to wrap small gifts from the dollar store, or a treat or a snack (try to avoid sugary ones) and to allow them to open something that will give them something to play with along the trip at strategic intervals (1/4 of the way, 1/2 way, 3/4 etc) It doesn't have to be much. A game of "old maid" or some bubbles, etc. It made them behave also as they were anticipating the next little surprise.
Flying across the country ~ in Roberts Creek BC & Tweed Ont (We're in the process of moving!)
- This is actually my first time for writing to send in an idea. I just called my daughter who is traveling from Texas bringing my grandbabies back home for a visit to Ohio. I told her about your summer ideas for traveling and that you are going to post ideas and I'd keep her informed. She had just come up with a great idea herself, so I decided to share it with you and the readers. She found small folding lap tables about 12" x 18" with a 3/4" high lip all abound and folding legs about 6-8" high, in metal. She is going to use this for the kids in the car as they travel, to play games on and eat meals on. This way they can draw, use playdough, color with a smooth surface and nothing falling off because of the little lip to catch things, they can also use magnet alphabet to make words and the little magnet shapes to make designs. What a neet things for traveling. It also makes a great lunch tray so even if the pop tips over there is a little lip to catch most of the
mess. Just thought I'd share incase others had not thought of this. Happy traveling to all.
- Ohio Grandma
- My two year old and five year old love their Manadoodles in our van. They
can write , draw and create for long periods of time. Magnadoodles are the
draw and erase boards that use magnets to create the images. There is no
mess, the magnet pens are attached with cord- so they can't loose them-and
their are a number of different styles and sizes available in the stores.
Have fun-and quiet-this summer!
- One way we make traveling more fun is to get books on tape from the library.
I like to get the book in print as well for the kids the follow along. At the
discounts stores like Target and Walmart you can purchase the personal tape
players like walkman for about $5. The kids really enjoy picking out the
stories and they are improving their reading skills and don't even know it.
- My son made this game up over 8 years ago when he was only 4. we play the American flag game.
american flag = one point.
golden eagle on top of flag = 100 points.
Back then there really weren't many flags soo.. we added different things to the game. Actually every person ever to be in the car has added something. BUT it has to be something not on every where.
DoNot Enter signs= 2 points.
Stop signs not allowed.
Army trucks= 5 points.
Purple trucks= 1 point.
School buses only in summer = 1 point.
Motorcycles= 100 points. in winter= 1000.
name of street with your name or anyone in car= 10 points, family member not in car= 2 points.
Clock towers, light houses, out of state plates, personalized plates, names of stores with your name in it , street signs wilth your name etc.
flag of country you came from or your family , only day that doesn't count is Puerto Rico day :)tooo many even for the adults:)
you get the idea the kids and adults (they are the bigger babies) look for items and add and subtract as they go.
We haven't had a "are we there yet" in years!!!!
Enjoy and don't forgot the new item
FlyLady:):)
Love from LINY
- My 2 DSs and DD love playing "car bingo" when we go on a long journey. I just give them a piece of paper each, divided into squares. In each square I write a different item like green car , truck, cow, bird, motorbike, cafe, petrol station etc. As they see a thing on their sheet they can cross it off. The winner is the 1st to get a line. Then we carry on to try and find everything on the sheet.
For younger ones who can't read yet you can just draw (or stick) pictures of the items they are looking for.
I have a supply of sheets drawn up ready for the journey so we can play a few games on the way.
The good thing about this game is that it works for all ages and for single children. You can put things which are easy to find on the younger ones sheets to make it fair.
Then there's sequence story telling. You start a story with a couple of sentences. The next person has to say what happens next and their sentence starts with the word you ended with: eg - Once upon a time there was a frog who lived in a pond....ponds are very wet so the frog needed an umbrella........umbrella cruella was a princess who lived next door.........door steps in that country were always made of gold,,,etc - it's nonsense but it causes alot of giggles, and takes their minds off the travelling.
- FLYbaby in England
- Someone once told me that children in the hospital or on a long car trip,
love to play with Band-Aids. Under 5 dollars, and they stay busy a long
time. They just need to put the trash in a bag. It surprises the children
since they can't play with them at home.
- We like to get books on tape or cd for driving long distances. These are
available free from the library or practically free at Cracker Barrell
Restaurants (in the south). Last summer, we fell in love with "The Mouse
and the Motorcycle" "The Door in the Wall" and "Caddie Woodlawn" on our way
up to Virginia to visit my sister. The stories are beautifully read by
actors and I have friends who share their childhood favorites with their
children this way.
--Flybaby in New Orleans
- My kids love this game while driving in the car. We call it the ABC game. We just try to see things along the road that begin with the letter we are on. For example, we start with A. Andrew might see an ambulance. Then we go on to the letter B. We might see a barn. I have a 8 year old and a 6 year old and our goal is just to finish the alphabet. Sometimes I suggest things when it gets a little hard. For instance, the letter Z could be for zero. If you see a speed limit sign with the number zero, we would count that. No pun intended.
- FlyCrew, When my kids were real little and we were traveling I read a tip about wrapping little presents (like the "Happy" toys or Dover books) and keeping a bag of them for boredom times. I wrapped them in pages of an old magazine from the library and put those little foil star stickers on each to tell them apart by kid colors. Most of them came from their rooms a couple weeks before the trip with a few suprises added and worked great to slow or stop the whinies. Also lots of snacks that do not make too much mess like trail mix, granola bars, dried pineapple or craisins with lots and lots of water and a few packaged juices! Have fun everbody, in CA
- Put one or two inexpensive items in paper lunch bags, like playing cards, gum, tic tac toe game, stickers, etc. Label each bag with a different time ( an hour apart) or distance (60 miles) or milestones ( like a certain town ). At each point the child or children get a new bag. This gives them something to look foreward to and a treat to keep them entertained. Put a jump rope in one and they will get some exercise at the next rest stop.
On one vacation my husband made a binder for each child with questions and things for them to look for along the way, like certain crops, the capital of the state, landmarks, like a certain mountain, famous bridge or river, etc. It made it fun and educational as well.
A fun game: The first person says the first and last name of a celebrity or famous person, the next person in turn thinks of a name using the first letter of the last name, and so on. e.g. Hank Aaron- Abraham Lincoln- Lou Gehrig etc.
We have not allowed our children to use personal games or music players because the whole point is to enjoy each others' company. Works for us, and our kids have alot of great memories! -
Flybaby in Central CA
- My Dad got the kids mini etch n sketch toys which they love. After letting them play for awhile, I'm going to round them up and hide them for our Texas road trip in July. I know it will occupy my 4 DS; we'll see about my 2.5 year old DD.
Books are a real winner too and I'm not just saying it because I'm a former librarian! They can "read" it by themselves when they are feeling quiet and I can read it during those crazy moments to settle them down.
A Fly Librarian
- We play a car game which my children thoroughly enjoy.
We call it the "farm game." Its actual name--I don't
know. Here are the rules. The people on the right
side of the car are on one team, the people on the
left side on another team. You count the farm animals
that you see on your side of the road. Most animals
are worth 1 point each, up to a total of 10 per
farm--so if the farm has 30 cattle, you still get 10
points--dogs and cats are work 3 points each and all
white horses are worth 15 points each. Here's the
excitement--if you pass a cemetary on your side of the
road, you lose all of your points and have to start
your points from 0. The first one to 100 points is
the winner!
Happy Traveling!
- This is a trick that I used when I was traveling with my dds - 4 and 2
at the time - on a 2 leg airplane trip, but it would work equally well
for older kids. I used plastic easter eggs (the kind that you fill
with candy for egg hunts) to wrap and hide small surprises for the
trip. Whenever the girls got restless, I would let them each pick an
egg and they would get the surprise that was inside. They were as
thrilled with the eggs as they were with the surprises! I used a
different color egg for each child, but kept the surprises the same. I
used simple things like stickers, small candies, or even tiny coloring
books and crayons. For an older child you could use coins to spend at
the next rest stop, small puzzles or travel games. I have also used
the same idea in the car for a several day trip, but I wrapped
everything in two different colors of tissue paper, so we didn't have
to cart the eggs around with us. Unfortunately, after we got home, my
children thought that even a trip to the grocery store warranted a
surprise (LOL)!
Other tips that I think are worthy of passing on - Crayola's Color
Wonder markers and coloring books are wonderful! The markers truly do
not write on most fabrics, including clothing, leather, carpeting and
car interiors (at least in our case) and the kids love to use markers
in the car. Keep them from rolling away by using an old cookie sheet
with sides as a travel desk. If you do that, you can also bring along
some of your refrigerator magnet collection and let the kids play with
those on the cookie sheet. Another idea is to use the same cookie
sheet but cover one side with felt for a portable felt board (again,
the sides should keep the felt pieces from falling all over the place.)
Most of all, have fun!
- Flitting about in KY
- Our DK's are almost 9 (DD), 7(DD) & 4.5(DS). We are planning a trip to Disney Land ( in two years) we are going to get a hold of some maps (through AMA) and give them to each child with a highlighter pen/pencil. We are hoping that at least the oldest will be able to chart our course as we travel it (even using her compass from Brownies) and be more aware of where we are and where we'll be next. We are hoping this will prevent the never ending question "Are we there Yet?".
Hope these ideas help some fellow travelers along the way to have a great trip!
P.S. limit sweet snacks and have fruit instead - lessons the nervous energy.;-)
Flybaby in Redcliff, AB, Canada
- For long trips that will cross numerous states, get an outline of the United States and have your kids color in the state as they spot a license plate from that state.
- We go to the library a day or two before our trip. Sing along and story
cassettes or CDs, books that show you how to do something or books that have songs
in them to sing together and movies if you happen to have the TV/VCR combo in
your vehicle(we don't). Our favorite books on our last vacation taught us
how to do string figures and games. Cat's cradle, Jacob's ladder and some very
complicated ones that I'd never heard of! Younger ones would like the clings.
You just put them on the window and peel to change the scenes. Babies like
links. Just attach to your baby seat and many toys can attach to them too.
The best thing to do with kids traveling is to plan a 10 minute break every
hour or so. Carry a inflatable beach ball, frisbee, jump rope etc to play with
during the breaks. Tag games are fun too!
Carry drinks and snacks for when hunger strikes. Have an extra set of
clothes handy for everyone just in case. It is not fun to take everything out to
get to the bottom suitcase for a set of clothes!
For drawing, pencils are a good compromise. Crayons will melt, regular
markers stain. Crayola has a type of marker that only marks on its special paper
that's nice. -
Headed for the Beach in TX
- My aunt has found a good game for when she's traveling with her
grandchildren. She will start the line of a story, and then each child
takes turns in adding a sentence. The stories get crazy and bizarre and the
kids love it! It holds their attention for a long time.
- We traveled nearly across country-from Seattle,
Washington to Houston, Texas-in our van with 3 small
kids (ages 2,5 & 7) and my mother in law, for
vacation. Before we left we got a roll of dimes for
each child. WE put them in a ziploc bag and gave them
to each child when we began our trip. Whenever one of
them whined or fussed, we would take a dime from them.
Whatever dimes they each had left when we got to
Houston they got to spend. After taking the first 3
or 4 dimes from each of them, there was very little
fussing, fueding, and whining! We did collect a few
more dimes throughout the trip but it was very few-
They wanted to keep those dimes! What a wonderful trip
it was! That idea was definately a God send! One
we'll definately hold onto!
Blessings from Va.
- I don't have children of my own, but several years ago my sisters & their daughters & I drove to Disneyland from Albuquerque, NM. I came up with several games to keep the girls occupied on the long drive. One of the favorites was a twist on the license plate game. I made copies of U.S. maps & gave everyone in the car one of those & some crayons. When someone spotted a license plate from a state that hadn't been seen before, that person got to color the state on their map. The person with the most states colored by the end of the trip won a prize, which I had packed in a tote bag to take along. Everyone had a great time & it helped pass the time peacefully!
Flying in Albuquerque
- Our family loves the alphabet game. You simply start looking for words that start with the letters of the alphabet beginning with "a" then "b" etc. You can find the words on any billboards, street signs, sings on buildings or vehicles but not in the middle of a word or on a license plate.
Another one is to have everyone choose a number between 1-20 and the next vehicle that either you pas or passes you is you car of the future. I love it when my teenager gets to "own" a mini-van for her future vehicle!
- All 3 of my boys (2-years to 7-years) enjoy playing "We're going on a bear hunt." You sing/chant "we're going on a bear hunt and here's what we'll take (name something that starts with "a"). Then the second verse is "We're going on a bear hunt and here's what we'll take (name the first item and then something that starts with a "b") etc. go through the alphabet.
- A few years ago, I undertook the ambitious adventure of a 10 hour car ride
alone with 2DD's, ages 2 & 5, to visit my brother. Before I left I broke the
trip into 3 equal sections and filled three different color duffel bags with
toys and snacks. For the first leg they were allowed to open the red bag, After a
rest stop break at a playplace McD's they were allowed to open the blue bag
and after one more playplace reststop they were allowed to open the black bag
(which contained the noisy, annoying toys that I didn't want to deal with the
whole trip). The kids were perfect angels the whole ride and looked forward to
the drive home. Five year old DD even helped repack the bags. Now this is a
part of our routine for every trip!
FlyBaby L in Buffalo
- Excellent timing--I just heard this one on the radio this morning. If you're traveling in the car, get Colorforms for your kids. They're little clings that can be stuck and unstuck from the window. They are cheap, take up almost no space, won't block your view, and are entertaining for hours. I remember having these as a kid--they are like paper dolls for your window, but without the tape.
FL Flybaby
- My number 1 suggestion for entertaining children while traveling is to go to the library and check out books on tape, buy a walkman for each child, and stock up on AA batteries. Because they can watch out the windows while they "read" they don't get carsick, and there are absolutely no fights. All we hear is periodically someone will calmly call, "I'm ready for the next tape."
- We just completed a 2400+ cartrip with our 2 year old DS. The most helpful items to keep him occupied in the care were board puzzles, medium sized trucks & Thomas train cars (2-3 pieces did it). He also colored in the car, but not much. We pointed out interesting things we passed--construction equipment, dump trucks, different animals---cows, horses, etc & talked about them. He knows about the map from Dora, so we worked with that idea too, giving him things to look for. Soon, he was pointing things out to us!! LOL
During those cranky times, we put in children's music that he could clap to & "dance" in his carseat (The Wiggles were best). We used soft lullabies if he was irritable & just needed a nap. We allowed him to run on empty sidewalks (away from traffic) in rest areas to get out his excess energy & found that to be especially helpful. I brought his toy-carrying backpack into restaurants, so he always had access to his coloring books, etc & found that worked very well in unfamiliar places.
For survival reasons, we also had his potty bucket in the car with us (just in case DS needed to go between stops) & found it to be incredibly useful for tiny bladders that are almost potty-trained. Gross, but true!
A LA FlyBaby
- Here's a neat idea I read about years ago.. not sure where it originated, but was fun when my kids were young and it is still relevant today. When travelling a long distance I gathered together several new games, colouring books, puzzles, little cars comic books and even some snacks... basically dollar store items. I then wrapped each item in bright paper and placed them in a nice bag in the front of the vehicle. When my boys were getting tired of "I spy" and other word games, they could each chose one item from the bag.(I gave a maximum 2 items for each of my four boys per day) I think they had a lot of fun from it and it entertained them and later they would trade them until they had all played with each other's item. I also wrapped up gifts like this for a friend when they moved a long distance away, moving was stressful enough for her children and it was very much appreciated.
BC Flybaby
- We always play a game of I Spy when in the car - even when it is a short trip. My 6 year old came up with a game of his own. He picks a word and tells us the first letter and the last. We have to guess the word. We can ask for one hint. The winner gets to pick the next word. We stick to two syllable words. The game usually lasts about a half hour with every one laughing.
- My 16- and 12-year-olds have fun with this: Our license plates usually have
three digits and three letters. We take the three letters from the plates of
cars we pass on the road and try to make a word out of them. For example, the
letters TOG might become "together" or "toggle" or "photograph." When the
younger one has a hard time coming up with a word, I'll give her a definition
as a clue. It's fun, but pretty challenging when the letters are mostly Qs or
Xs.
From Tallahassee, Florida
- Aside from the usual songs and the alphabet game, we play a "country" game.
If we pass a Chinese restaurant, we're in China, so we talk about how we'd
dress, what we'd eat, and what we might see if we were there. If we pass a
sign with a horse on it, we're in the Wild West - and talk about what we'd
wear, eat, do as cowgirls. Ad for a Harry Potter movie - we're in England,
and so on.
I print out coloring pages and activity pages from the internet (the ones
from pbskids.org are fun). Each child has a fluorescent clipboard (from a
$1 store) and gets a new pack of markers. Since I print different things for
each trip, my DDs look forward to the "surprise". Individual pages are
easier to color than a book and I've discovered (the hard way) that crayons
melt but washable marker mess can be cleaned with soap and water!
I ALWAYS bring water bottles and snacks! I also bring non-mushable fruit
(apples, oranges, raisins, but NOT grapes or bananas) and zip-lock baggies
to put cores, peels, etc. in (so the fruit smell doesn't get too bad).
I usually bring a couple of small toy surprises, too - the kinds that need
imagination. Small books of colorform - type stickers, sticker books,
miniature dolls (I have girls), "paper" dolls with velcro-type clothes. I
pick these up from the dollar store when I see them and keep them in a "trip
bag" (we travel a lot!)
I bring a beach ball, frisbee, and pack of balloons for activity time at
rest stops. The balloons I also use in hotels for when the weather is bad -
lets the kids get some energy out but the balloons won't break anything.
For long trips (we regularly drive 10-12 hrs), we bring a small tv/vcr -
this is a life-saver - my DH calls it "the best $200 investment" he ever
made! It plugs into the cigarette lighter, and we attach it to a box which
is itself "hooked" onto the floor (we have a van) so it won't become a UFO.
Here is the critical part: we got an attachment that allows multple
earphones to hook into the TV, plus an extension so the wires reach to the
back seat - and good earphones for each child. THEY can listen to the TV
but WE don't have to - and can talk or listen to the radio, etc. Sometimes,
I'll get "new" tapes from the library and ask for an extended return date -
and save these for the retrun trip! The VCR has a remote, so the kids can
control it themselves - and it's something they can watch it in the dark!
- The best investment we ever made for bringing peace to our 15 hour car trips
was to purchase each of our four children their own cassette player. We also
buy a new Focus on the Family Odyssey story album for each trip. Each album
equals 6 hour of new stories. (They can be purchased at Family Bookstores.)
The library will loan you lots of books on tape, as well. Ask for "vacation
check-out" so you can keep the tapes longer. Now my husband and I have hours to
TALK! Be sure to monitor the younger listeners for volume control.
Also, our favorite car game is the Alphabet Game. Each person must
find each letter of the alphabet--in order--on signs, other vehicles, or
buildings (anywhere OUTSIDE of your car). The first one to get to "Z" wins.
- My 7 year old love to listen to her CD player on long rides. My 2 year old loves to take pictures with her camera. Now hers is a toy, but you could very well give them a disposable one and let them make their own photo album of the vacation.
Alaska
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