Tips for Traveling with Kids

If you are anything like us, you may be traveling for the holidays. Whether you travel by car or by plane, traveling with children can be a real challenge. With a little preparation and a couple clever solutions, you can take the headache out of those long trips. Today, we are going to share our tips for traveling with kids.

Pack a Bag for Each Child

Place a small tote bag at the foot of each child with age-appropriate activities that they can enjoy during the trip. Coloring books, a box of colored pencils, a pack of Colorforms(TM), a new book, perhaps even an electronic device or two. Make sure it is all stuff they haven’t played with lately so that there is a novelty to discovering what is inside.

Pack a Cooler & Snacks

Cut down on the number of stops you have to make along your drive by packing a cooler and a bag of snacks for in the car. You may even want to take the added step of portioning them out into ziplock bags so they are easy to pass out. This will also save you a fortune at gas stations, not that you won’t give in and give them a treat or two.

Be Prepared

Pack a bag that has various things you may need throughout the day. Extra batteries for electronics, power chargers, and wet wipes are always important things to keep on hand. You will never know when you will have a mess that needs cleaned up. The last thing you want to do is have 3 hours left of a drive and run out of batteries on a handheld device.

Talk About the Schedule

Depending upon the age of your children, you can really get them prepared for the trip by talking about the schedule and how long the travel is going to take. Give them a realistic expectation of how many hours you will be traveling. If they are too young to tell time, try putting paperclips on the sun visor. Put one paperclip for each hour that you are traveling and then take them down in one-hour intervals. They will be able to understand how much time is left in the drive without bugging you every five minutes.