Road Tripping With Toddlers

Between living 1300 miles away from all of our family and friends and two out-of-state adoptions, our family has done what seems to be more than our fair share of travel. While the thought of a road trip with toddlers might strike fear in the heart of many, I’ve slowly but surely gained some insight into what can help make the inevitably two-hours-longer-than-planned trip less stressful and more streamlined. Here are my top three tips for keeping your road trips as smooth and fun as possible:

1. Less is more. If you spend too much time on Pinterest (… guilty!), it may seem as though before you load up to head on the road with your toddlers or preschoolers you need to have an arsenal of busy bags, a stack of educational activities, multiple portable sensory experiences, and a fridge full of healthy whole foods. I beg you to consider the idea that less is more. For our first trip, I overdid it. We had matching games, flash cards, books, small toys, discovery tubes – you name it, I packed it. What did I end up with? Kiddos who were overwhelmed with options and a very, very messy van when all of the pieces to these great activities were thrown in a fit.

Now, I pack one or two books for each child – typically an “I Spy” or “Where’s Waldo?” kind of book that can take more energy and brain power, not to mention time – as well as a few favorite small toys such as a baby doll or some cars and trucks. Two things that ARE worth the space if our trip is longer than around 3 hours: a travel pillow and small blankie for each kiddo to snuggle up with. Even for my children who are old enough to not need naps, I think these extras not only make the ride more comfortable, but they also make it feel special and more exciting to them – which brings me to tip number two …

2. Everything is an adventure. You know the old phrase “attitude is everything”? It couldn’t be more true when it comes to road trips with kiddos! We usually do quite a bit of pumping the kids up about how fun and exciting it will be to go on our grand adventure. We talk about all of the time we will have together in the van, how excited we are to get to our destination – you name it! I’m basically singing a song with actions about how much fun it’s going to be. Snack time? WooHoo! Special road trip snacks! Actually, the exact same Pirate’s Booty that they would likely be eating at home – but to them, it’s all about the delivery. On the snack note – as I mentioned above, don’t pack too much! A stop at a convenience store can be so much fun for a kiddo to be able to exert some independence and choose a snack (within your parameters, of course!). We once did a 24 hour drive straight through with a 3-year-old, 2-year-old, and 6-month-old – and before we left, we had the kids so excited for our adventure that they were begging to sleep in the van for practice. It is always more fun for my husband and myself, as well, when we are all in a fun  frame of mind and excited about the journey.

3. Save the screens. I know that for a lot of people, us included, travel time is a lot more fast and loose when it comes to screen time. While we’ve had great luck passing the quick 2.5 hour trip to grandma’s house with a movie, we have found that for really long trips, it helps us if we save the screens for when we are all feeling cooped up and desperate. As mentioned above, we usually get our littles so hyped up about the adventure that they can keep themselves happy and entertained with not much help for the first few hours, and then we try to keep the stream of goodies slow and small. It’s usually pretty clear when they are ready for a DVD or a tablet – and it can really help all of us catch our second wind. Technology is an awesome tool, but you don’t want to use it too soon!

We have recently moved closer to family and haven’t had a long road trip in a few months; just the other day, my daughter asked me when we would get to go on another “grand adventure,” the name we gave to the drive to Kansas from Florida and back. It means so much to me that she remembers those long  hours in the car with fondness … so much, in fact, that we might be daring enough to do it again – just for fun.