ROAD TRIP? 4 ACTIVITIES TO KEEP KIDS BUSY

A long road trip can be a headache all on its own. Add in snowy road conditions and holiday traffic and it just gets worse. And then whining, bored kids in the backseat? Yikes. Is it possible to survive a long holiday road trip with kids? It might not be easy, but it’s definitely possible – especially if you try some of our tested activities to keep kids busy in the backseat all the way over the river and through the woods to grandma’s house.

4 Activities To Keep Kids Busy

1. Art on the Go: Turn to Pinterest and you’ll find unlimited ways to allow your kids artistic outlets in the backseat. Personally we love individual binders with pouches for crayons or markers, three-hole-punched coloring books, stickers, or just blank sketch pages. You can come up with drawing competitions inspired by a single word – “Superhero!” or Telephone, where each person draws for 30 seconds and then passes the drawing to the next participant. See what you end up with!
2. Treat Rotation: Food is always a great motivator and prime distraction. One popular option is to thread donut-shaped cereals (Fruit Loops, etc) onto yarn and then tie into a large necklace or lei for kids to wear and snack along the drive. Or create food boxes by color – the Orange box might have carrots, goldfish, orange slices, and Peachy-Os gummy candy. Eat everything in one color to open another! Don’t forget wipes for sticky fingers.
3. Car Karaoke: You’ve seen it on late night tv, now bring it to your backseat. Let each member of the family take turns picking a song and singing it at the top of their lungs. You can add an element of challenge by putting noise cancelling earphones on them so they can’t hear themselves, trust us that hilarity will ensue.
4. Movie Time!: One of the absolute best ways to keep kids occupied on a road trip is to watch crowd-pleasing classics. If you don’t have a DVD player in your car, you can always buy or rent personal DVD players or iPads for the family or carefully position a laptop where most members can see it.

Other tips to make your road trip easier are to get an oil change before you leave, leave early to avoid traffic and poor conditions, and keep your tank more than ¼ full at all times. It’s not always easy, but you CAN enjoy the time with your family and create lasting memories on this road trip.