Traveling with happy kids: 7 ideas for a peaceful car ride

Traveling with happy kids can be challenging. Long car rides with children can feel like a rollercoaster ride at Cedar Point. There are ups, downs and twists in every journey. The deescalate a situation in the car should be as quick as the sudden descent from the top of the rollercoaster. You will need several different things to help calm the car, quickly. You are driving after all and need to be able to drive with a clear head.

Here are my things I use and have when I am traveling with my kids. They do argue sometimes. I can redirect them by suggesting other things they can do on their own. Sometimes the arguing continues and I have to be specific in what they are going to. If that fails then bribing is my next step. If that fails, it’s time to stop the car and get some gas or to just get out of the car and stretch at a rest area.

Arguing

1. Use incentives
   • One example is to give each child $2 in quarters. Before or after you hand out the quarters, set your expectations. They need to know how they will lose their quarters. The quarters that are still in their possession at the end of the trip are theirs to keep for your trip.
   • Another is to promise a snacks of their choice at the next gas station. Set the expectations prior to moving the car. This would be great to use if they had been arguing before stopping for gas. You can set the incentive for the next 2 hours or so. A small and attainable goal.
2. Put up a sheet between them
   • I had heard of a mom who did this. If you are not able to separate them, this is a good option. With the sheet between them, they feel like they are in their own space.
3. Put on a movie
   • The DVD player option: I highly suggest using videos in the car. I have a DVD player that has two screens. The screens sit on the back of the front seats. The kids should pick out their movies before leaving the house. They must be agreed upon. If you don’t have DVDs you can check them out from the library.
   • The iPad option: Download movies to the kids iPad or something similar.
4. Separate them if possible
5. Car bag
   • I wrote about car bags in another post. These are the BEST way to keep happy. They bring what they like which means they are too busy to fight.

Bathroom Emergencies

The best way to avoid these:

1. Stop every 2 hours
2. Everyone has to try and go to the bathroom. No exceptions.
3. Limit the liquid intake.
4. After lunch, plan on stopping with the hour of eating.

Best time to travel

You know your kids. You know what time of day they are at their ‘worst.’ Think about this when traveling.

Travel during nap times.

Meals on the road

When traveling over meal time, I need to choose if I will pack or buy. This reminds me of school lunches. Anyways, it is a real decision to make. Some things to consider that help make up my mind are these:

1. Do I want to spend the money?
2. Do I have time to stop to pick up a meal and eat it in the car?
3. Are there places available to buy a meal? Look at restaurant possibilities where you will be at meal time.
4. Will my picky eaters like what is available?
5. Will I meet the needs of my kids who have dietary issues?

Regardless if I am packing or buying, I always bring a cooler with chilled drinks and fruit, I also bring a snack bag with granola bars, chips, trail mix, etc.. My kids will pack snacks in their car bag and well as bring their water bottle.

Games for the car

When kids need a different activity or just want to socialize, games are a perfect option!

1. Outside the window games
2. Deck of cards
3. Uno-There are many versions of this game now.
4. Stuffed animals-to play imaginary games with
5. Travel sized games-Othello, chess, Connect 4

Binders

Using a 1/2″ or 1″ 3 ring binder, I customize activities for each child. Here are ideas in which to create your child’s binder:

1. Paper games-
   • Solo games-Sudoko, word finds, US Map License Game, crossword puzzles
   • Two player games-Hangman, dot game
2. Coloring pages
3. Blank paper and lined paper
4. Travel journal pages-This is great way for them to remember their trip!
5. Maps-My son loves maps. So I print out the map for each day’s drive.

Car bags

These are the best way to keep kids happy. With your suggestions they can gather what they want to do on the car. I go through this is more detail in the post.

Here’s another post that helps having happy kids in the car trip: Traveling with happy kids: How to handle motion sickness

Tell me what you think of these 7 ideas! Do you have any that I should add? Be sure to pin this page!