We’re BIG fans of road trips and since getting my hybrid a few years ago, we’ve road tripped more than ever because it’s just so affordable and easy. My RAV4 is super reliable, it’s comfy, and it fits everything we need perfectly… Pair that with amazing fuel economy and we really have no excuse to NOT take road trips. (You can check it out here.) One of my favourite features of the particular model I have is the touchscreen infotainment system with Apple Car Play integration (hello, big clear navigation maps, Siri commands, hands-free calling and texting, JBL sound system, and multiple front and back USB ports!)
If you follow along over on Instagram or Facebook, you know I’ve been lucky enough to work with Toyota Pacific for the last three years and they’ve generously sponsored this post. They also have a fantastic giveaway happening right now, so be sure to read all the way to the end for details on how to enter.
We road trip A LOT and I love it. Our kids are great travellers and we all love adventuring and spending time away from home from time to time. Before heading out, I always prepare a few different things to listen to while road tripping and it makes long drives so much better! Here are my go-to options for things to listen to while road tripping with kids…
We’ve always loved a good road trip, but over the last couple of years we’ve done more road tripping than usual and it’s been so, so wonderful. If you follow along over on Instagram or Facebook, you know I’ve been lucky enough to work with Toyota Pacific for the last few years and upgrading to a new Toyota RAV4 Hybrid has definitely taken our road trip game to the next level. It’s by far the most reliable, efficient, and safe vehicle I’ve ever owned and it feels SO good knowing that everything is just going to work while we’re on the road. Also, the fact that it’s a hybrid has made road trips significantly more affordable, which is a massive plus given the current cost of fuel. Some of my favourite road trip features? Dynamic radar cruise control (seriously so helpful), rain sensing wipers (the best), lane departure alert (safety!), and the digital rear view mirror (perhaps my most loved feature). Toyota Pacific has generously sponsored this post, as well as an incredible giveaway to help out with your next road trip, so be sure to read all the way to the end for details on how to enter.
We’ve road tripped A LOT with our two kids and I must say – we’ve become pretty darn good at it! After YEARS of road tripping with kids, very often as the solo parent and driver, I’ve learned exactly what needs to happen for happy, low-stress road trips. Here are my best tips for taking road trips with kids…
Clean out the vehicle beforehand – If you want to start your road trip off on the right foot, this is where to start. A clean vehicle with all of the extra stuff taken out makes SUCH a difference for me. The night before we head out on a road trip, I wash and chamois my vehicle, take all of the garbage and extra stuff out, then vacuum the carpets and give everything a wipe down. While I’m out I also stop and top up both fuel and washer fluid if needed. Then when morning comes and you’re ready to head out, you’re actually ready to head out – no stops needed.
Pack lightly – I’m all about thinking ahead and having everything you’ll need, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned through all of the travel we’ve been lucky enough to do is that when it comes to STUFF, less is more. Too much usually just equals chaos in my opinion, and in a vehicle that stuff can very quickly end up sprawled out EVERYWHERE. We always try to bring one suitcase for the family and if we’re going to be gone a while, we only pack clothes for half of the days we’ll be away with the plan of washing them part way through. Each kid gets to bring one small backpack filled with things to occupy them, and that’s it. If it doesn’t fit, it generally doesn’t come.
Prepare an activity kit – Okay, so on top of backpacks filled with their personal belongings, I always keep an organizer filled with car-friendly activities in the backseat. These are generally things that are quiet, low-mess, and reusable or usable for long periods of time. Think sketchbooks with pencils and twistable crayons, sticker activities books, road trip bingo games, magic marker activity books, pen and paper game pads, paint-by-sticker books, and notepads with colourful pens… Nothing with itty bitty pieces or caps that can be lost in the shuffle. Before a road trip I’ll often clean up our organizer and switch out a couple of activities or add something new. Happily engaged kids make for easier road trips.
Bring books – This is a MUST for us being that our kids are such big book lovers. We pack them along in their backpacks and both kids spend a good amount of our road trips reading and flipping through books. Choosing good ones – books that’ll keep their interest for a long while – is something I often help them with. For Gracen, my veracious reader, lengthy novels with storylines that really pique her interest do the trick. For Sam, reference-style books with lots of illustrations that he can flip back and forth in without having to be able to read all of the text are best. If we’re headed to the ocean, we’ll often bring an ocean anatomy book. If we’re headed to the mountains, we might bring a nature anatomy book… Something that will spark conversation and be useful while at our destination too. That being said, any book with lots of detailed illustrations, bits of info, flaps with hidden things underneath, etc. are usually a big hit.
Pack along a meal – So I know that there’s already SO much to do the night before a road trip, but I promise – if you’re able to make time to pack a couple of bento boxes and a few snacks, it’ll make for smooth sailing the next day. I always do our usual snacky lunch and focus on nutritious, easy-to-enjoy-in-a-moving-vehicle foods. All things the kids like – no spoons or forks required. Having a lunch packed and ready to go means that you’re prepared for whenever the kids are hungry and rather than trying to scout out a suitable option somewhere along the highway, you already have what you need and can just pass the bento boxes into the back seat.
Have a front seat basket – Speaking of bento boxes, I always keep a basket in the passenger seat that contains everything we’ll need during the trip. Lunches, my purse, our reusable water bottles, my reusable coffee cup, extra snacks, and anything else we may need. This makes them easily accessible, but tucked out of the way until they’re needed. One thing I try to keep in mind here (and when packing for a road trip in general) is that anything that’s loose in your vehicle has the potential to become a projectile in an accident. I try to keep things light and secured down as much as possible, but water bottles are definitely tricky.
Make time for stops – My number one tip for happy, low-stress road trips with kids… Don’t rush the trip. Plan for it to take a couple of hours longer than it “should”, make peace with that, and then make stops along the way. Let the kids out to stretch their legs. Stop at that beautiful roadside pull out. Visit the cute cafe in the little town you’re passing through. It’s so tempting to try and power through to your destination and make it there as quickly as possible, but for us, all that usually results in is stressed out parents and unhappy kids. Not worth it. Everyone seems to be happier and more chill when there’s no pressure to arrive in record time.
Bring thin blankets – You know those muslin blankets you have stashed away from when your kids were babies? They’re perfect for road trips. I actually learned this tip from my friend Lizzie and we’ve brought them along with us on our travels ever since. They’re super lightweight and fold up small, so they’re easy to pack along, but also, they’re good for allllll of the things. Use them for some extra warmth and coziness in the car, but also as a neck pillow, a sun shade, and a picnic blanket on your stop. They’re very multi-purpose and great to have on hand.
Pack along old phones + headphones – My secret travel weapon. We generally go fairly low tech when road tripping (just my preference – nothing wrong with doing it differently!), but old phones / iPods loaded with the kids’ favourite songs and audio books? LIFE SAVERS. I don’t pull them out until I need to, but in those final hours of a15 hour trip? Or on those days when you just can’t muster up the energy to answer question number 567? They’re the best. The kids love getting to use them and total silence on a long trip, even if it’s just for a short while, can be just what you need.
Well, that’s them!! What would you add? Do you have a tried and true road trip tip that makes travelling with kids easier or more stress-free? I’d love to hear if so!
ALSO – do you have a road trip planned this fall? Because Toyota Pacific has generously offered to fund one lucky winner’s next road trip with a $500 prepaid Visa card to help fuel all the fun! (Doesn’t get much better than having your adventures paid for, does it?!) You can enter for your chance to win here:
Contest closes at 5:00 p.m. PST on September 12, 2022. Retail value: $500.00 CDN. Must be 19+ and reside in BC or the Yukon to enter. Winner will be drawn at random at or around 9 A.M. on Tuesday, September 13, 2022 and will be announced here and via Instagram.
After travelling all over the world with Miss G {hello 36 hour treks to and from Kuwait!}, a six hour road trip really isn’t a big deal to us. That being said, our little lady is a huuuuuuuuuuge talker, and sometimes you just need to have a moment of quiet {or a moment to talk to your spouse} while in the car. That, and sometimes our little Sam Jam just needs a moment of silence in order to fall asleep… Big sisters’ animated stories and ramblings are much too interesting to doze off to {obviously}!
Tomorrow Miss G and I head out on a little Mama and Bubba road trip. A good friend of mine is getting married this weekend in my hometown in the Okanagan, and since Brad is in his final few days of work at his current job before transitioning over to his new teaching position, Grae and I are on our own. While the two of us have done the 5 or 6 hour drive sans Papa before, I must admit that I am a little nervous about it this time around (despite the fact that Grae was basically born travelling and has successfully made the 36 hour journey to Kuwait and the 36 hour journey back to Canada – if she can make it through that, she can make it through pretty much anything, right?)
The thing is, at nearly two years old, Miss G is more active than ever. She loves to be on the go, naps in the car happen very rarely (they’re something we try our very best to avoid, so can’t blame her on that one), and without a second set of hands, there’s no one besides me to handout snacks, pass toys, or retrieve dropped items.
So, with all of this in mind, I decided to put together a little collection of simple, car-friendly activities to keep my busy body baby happy during our time on the road. Here’s what I’ve collected…
1. A Crayola Color Explosion mini notepad. I was actually on the hunt for the old-school colouring pads that came with just one white marker when I was little, but no luck on that front. While I don’t normally buy into all of the “gimmicky” products Crayola makes, this was the next best thing. One colourless {and therefore mess-free} marker with only one lid to potentially lose, but with the fun of all the colours in the rainbow? Yes, please. Sign me up.
2. A mini sparkly scratch notebook. Sparkly, fun, and virtually mess-free.
3. A magnetic pipe cleaner sensory bottle. Quiet fun + the easiest thing to put together ever = win!
4. A magnetic paperclip sensory bottle. Even better than the pipe cleaner one, and while it could be a little noisy when shaken, these plastic-coated paperclips don’t make that much noise.
5.Stickers and a notebook to stick them in. Pure magic in our house.
6. A homemade 3-in-1 travel board. Very easy to make and packs a big punch as it provides 3 activities all in one. All I did was spray an extra baking sheet I had on hand with a few coats of paint (this makes it prettier, but certainly isn’t necessary). Then I free handed three coats of chalkboard paint on this side, letting it dry well in between each coat. Afterwards, I conditioned it by rubbing a generous amount of chalk all over the board before erasing it. Voila! This side is not only a perfect lap-sized chalkboard, but it also doubles as a magnet board too.
For the other side, I cut out a piece of felt, glued it onto the baking sheet using craft glue, and cut out some felt dress up girls by modifying the patterns found here. Of course, the felt activity you create can be personalized to your child’s age and interests. Cutting out the letters of your child’s name so he or she can practice spelling it, creating felt pattern blocks, or making a matching game like the ice cream cone game I made previously are just a few ideas.
I’ve tucked all of the pieces for this travel board into separate containers so I can hand them out one at a time tomorrow and get the most use out of this board as possible.
7. Snacks. Lots and lots and lots of healthy snacks, each in small individual containers so they can be handed out one at a time. Dried fruit, nuts, dry cereal, fresh fruit and veggies, healthy bars, and freeze dried treats… All of Miss G’s favourites.
In addition to these things, we stocked up on new CDs from the library earlier this week, so we’ll have those to listen to too. Of course, I’m hoping for a nice long nap along the way, but if it doesn’t happen these goodies should take us through a 6 hour trip, right?
1. A Crayola Color Explosion mini notepad. I was actually on the hunt for the old-school colouring pads that came with just one white marker when I was little, but no luck on that front. While I don’t normally buy into all of the “gimmicky” products Crayola makes, this was the next best thing. One colourless {and therefore mess-free} marker with only one lid to potentially lose, but with the fun of all the colours in the rainbow? Yes, please. Sign me up.
2. A mini sparkly scratch notebook. Sparkly, fun, and virtually mess-free.
3. A magnetic pipe cleaner sensory bottle. Quiet fun + the easiest thing to put together ever = win!
4. A magnetic paperclip sensory bottle. Even better than the pipe cleaner one, and while it could be a little noisy when shaken, these plastic-coated paperclips don’t make that much noise.
5. Stickers and a notebook to stick them in. Pure magic in our house.
6. A homemade 3-in-1 travel board. Very easy to make and packs a big punch as it provides 3 activities all in one. All I did was spray an extra baking sheet I had on hand with a few coats of paint (this makes it prettier, but certainly isn’t necessary). Then I free handed three coats of chalkboard paint on this side, letting it dry well in between each coat. Afterwards, I conditioned it by rubbing a generous amount of chalk all over the board before erasing it. Voila! This side is not only a perfect lap-sized chalkboard, but it also doubles as a magnet board too.
For the other side, I cut out a piece of felt, glued it onto the baking sheet using craft glue, and cut out some felt dress up girls by modifying the patterns found 
7. Snacks. Lots and lots and lots of healthy snacks, each in small individual containers so they can be handed out one at a time. Dried fruit, nuts, dry cereal, fresh fruit and veggies, healthy bars, and freeze dried treats… All of Miss G’s favourites.